For additional information, call the Southern Lake Michigan Management Unit at (269) 685-6851, or Heinamin's Taxidermy at (517) 278-9026. The Branch County Tourism Bureau can be reached at 1-800-968-9333.

FLETCHER POND
Located west of Alpena in the northeastern corner of the Lower Peninsula on the Alpena-Montmorency County line, this nearly 9,000-acre "pond" is one of Michigan's hottest bass fisheries going.

"Fletcher is on fire right now for largemouth bass," DNR biologist Tim Cwalinski said. "The largemouth bass in Fletcher are probably the best-kept secret in the state. The last few years, we've experienced a huge surge in the bass population, and it's nothing to see 18- to 20-inch bass in there."

According to Cwalinski, the DNR surveyed the bass population in 2005 and confirmed the upswing.

"You can just take off on that lake and explore, it's so large," Cwalinski said. "You can pull up into some of the back bays and fish places where no one has been for a while. The whole lake is only 6 or 7 feet deep, and fertile with a lot of zooplankton, vegetation and panfish. The habitat is ideal, and it's no wonder the bass have taken off."

By summer, the largemouths will be scattered in the weedbeds and in the stumpfields covering much of Fletcher. Anglers wanting to fish the wood will find plenty of it in the northwestern part of the floodwater.

Hawk Island Lake is part of the county park system within the city limits of Lansing. The lake was once an abandoned gravel pit that has since been rejuvenated to create a swimming area and urban fishery. Since 2000, thousands of largemouth bass have been stocked into this lake, and the results have been satisfying.

"The bass are up in the stumpfields in the north end,in the old river mouth and on the side of the lake," said Clark Campbell, manager of Brown's North Shore Resort. "The weeds are also good spots to take bass up in the 5- to 6-pound range."

In 2005, Tim Graber received a Master Angler Award for catching and releasing a 23-inch Fletcher largemouth on a two-bladed spinner. Andrew Smolen caught a 22-inch bucketmouth the same year on a topwater lure.

Dave Robinson, general manager of Jack's Landing, is very impressed with Fletcher's bassin'.

"We had an 8-pound largemouth brought into the resort in 2006 that was caught out on the lake," Robinson said. "Five-pounders are becoming more common, and we see a fair number of them."

The public launch is located on the north side of Fletcher off Jack's Landing Road. For more information, call the Northern Lake Huron Management Office at (989) 732-3541, Jack's Landing at (989) 742-4370 or the Alpena Visitor's Bureau at 1-800-425-7362.

LAKE LANSING
"Bass numbers are high, with a lot of sub-legal and 14- to 16-inch fish to keep anglers busy," said Jay Wesley from the DNR about Lake Lansing, which is actually east of East Lansing off I-69. "Most anglers are looking for largemouths in Lake Lansing, and they find them along the northern and southern shorelines."

Lake Lansing also gets the "thumbs up" from Bob Couvreur of Dick's Sporting Goods.

"I've found Lake Lansing to be a very good bass lake, one of the few in the central part of the Lower Peninsula," Couvreur said. "There's a lot of good weed growth in the shallows."

Couvreur tells anglers to pack their Rapalas and spinnerbaits along with soft plastics for the hotter weather. Start fishing in the shady spots along weed edges and under docks, then work your way out into deeper water. Structure to key on includes the slightly deeper channel that lies about 100 feet offshore and runs around this entire shallow lake, which averages from 6 to 8 feet deep. Two holes are found on the northern and southern ends where bass can escape the busy boating traffic during the daytime. The sandbar on the eastern side of the lake and the bar in the northeastern corner near the boat club are often overlooked by largemouth anglers.

For more fishing information, call the Southern Lake Michigan Management Unit at (269) 685-6851 and Dick's Sporting Goods at (517) 702-1300. For lodging info, call the Greater Lansing Visitor's Bureau at 1-888-2LANSING.

HAWK ISLAND LAKE
Hawk Island Lake is part of the county park system within the city limits of Lansing. The lake was once an abandoned gravel pit that has since been rejuvenated to create a swimming area and urban fishery. Since 2000, thousands of largemouth bass have been stocked into this lake, and the results have been satisfying. Many local anglers spend the evening catching plenty of smaller bass, but occasionally a 5- or 6-pounder is caught.