Thornapple is a designated broodstock lake for muskies, so fisheries managers make sure that it is well stocked. The lake gets a dose of 1,600 10- to 13-inch muskies every other year. Combine this with a ban on spearing, a 50-inch size limit and an unlimited food supply, and you have the makings of a muskie factory.

Covering a little over 400 acres, Thornapple Lake is located just east of Hastings in east-central Barry County. The lake has depths to 30 feet and an irregular shoreline that features many points, bays and contours that are muskie hangouts. Jumbo spinnerbaits, stick baits and jerkbaits all take their share of Thornapple muskies for those who are persistent. There are boat launches on both ends of Thornapple Lake.

On a side note, a couple of other southern Michigan muskie lakes of note, according to Wesley, include Kent County's Murray Lake and Lake Ovid in Clinton County.

"We've been planting Murray Lake with about 1,600 muskies every other year and we're starting to see some results," Wesley claimed. "Lake Ovid has a good population of muskies. It is kind of an ongoing project and we're using the muskies for predator control, but the fishery is developing a small following."

Wesley said other southern Michigan lakes with fishable muskie populations include St. Joseph County's Long Lake and Van Buren County's Round and Bankson lakes. The DNR has made modest muskie plants in these lakes in recent years and there are some trophy Esox in them.

For more information on southern Michigan muskie lakes, contact the Southern Lake Michigan Management Unit of the DNR at (269) 685-6851.

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If you have your sights set on catching your first or 100th muskie this year, be sure to check out these waters. They'll take you to the limit!