Birch Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Walleye, Flathead Catfish

Lake · Michigan

Birch Lake, Michigan: Northern Pike. 92.4% of it is 28 feet deep or less. 1 trailer ramp. At least 50 ft deep.

Birch Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Walleye, Flathead Catfish 1

Lake

Surface area: 332 acres0.5 mi²from the mapped waterbody polygon; varies with water level
Maximum depth: 50 ftdeep
Average depth: 17.9 ft
Fish species: 3
Access points: 1
Access: open to the public

Birch Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Walleye, Flathead Catfish

Target species: Northern Pike, Walleye, Flathead Catfish
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Birch Lake, 1 lane.

The lake

Birch Lake covers 332 acres in Michigan, across Antrim County. It is a lake: 92.4% of it is 28 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 50 feet (15.2 m). Our records hold 3 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 50 ft (15.2 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 92.4% of the water is 28 feet or shallower. We hold 29 depth contours for this water, drawn from 7,762 soundings.

Birch Lake sunset (30420705622).jpg — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region · Public domain

0–2 ft: 16.7% of the water
2–4 ft: 8.5% of the water
4–6 ft: 6.5% of the water
6–8 ft: 5.6% of the water
8–10 ft: 5.1% of the water
10–12 ft: 5.1% of the water
12–14 ft: 5.3% of the water
14–16 ft: 5.8% of the water
16–18 ft: 6.4% of the water
18–20 ft: 7.3% of the water
20–22 ft: 6.7% of the water
22–24 ft: 7% of the water
24–26 ft: 3.6% of the water
26–28 ft: 2.8% of the water
28–30 ft: 2.3% of the water
30–32 ft: 2.2% of the water
32–34 ft: 3.1% of the water

3 target fish, led by Northern Pike

Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
Flathead Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.

Stocking: 126,230 fish, 1980–2001

Michigan DNR records list 126,230 fish released into this water from 1980 to 2001. The latest stocking on record is from 2001, more than three years ago.

Walleye: 79,230 in 1998–2001
Northern Pike: 47,000 in 1980–1987

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp.

Birch Lake — 1 lane, open 4am–11pm, restrooms. Traverse City State Park. phone 231-922-5270

The place listed has no fee or opening hours on file: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

What is hard here

Only 1 public ramp is on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

NOAA National Geodetic Survey / Office for Coastal Management — NOAA topobathymetric lidar DEMs: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2019.
NOAA Digital Coast — NOAA Digital Coast bathymetric lidar: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2011.
NOAA National Bathymetric Source (S-102 ed3.0.0) — NOAA S-102 bathymetric surfaces: contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
Michigan EGLE — Michigan EGLE: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.