Burt Lake fishing: Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass

Target species: Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout, Atlantic Salmon, Yellow Perch
Boat: 2 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Burt Lake State Park, 3 lanes.

The lake

Burt Lake covers 17,426 acres in Michigan, across Cheboygan County. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is at least 73 feet (22.3 m). Our records hold 21 species for this water.

Burt Lake (November 2019).jpg
Notorious4life (talk) (Uploads) · CC0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 73 ft (22.3 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. We hold 92 depth contours for this water, drawn from 876 soundings.

Burt Lake 1.jpg
H.G. Judd · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • 0–5 ft: 12.1% of the surveyed bottom
  • 5–10 ft: 9.1% of the surveyed bottom
  • 10–15 ft: 7.7% of the surveyed bottom
  • 15–20 ft: 9.1% of the surveyed bottom
  • 20–25 ft: 10.7% of the surveyed bottom
  • 25–30 ft: 8.5% of the surveyed bottom
  • 30–35 ft: 10.7% of the surveyed bottom
  • 35–40 ft: 14.1% of the surveyed bottom
  • 40–45 ft: 10.6% of the surveyed bottom
  • 45–50 ft: 6.5% of the surveyed bottom
  • 50–55 ft: 1.1% of the surveyed bottom

7 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass

  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Atlantic Salmon — Feeding water: 45–60°F.
  • Yellow Perch — Feeding water: 45–75°F.

Also recorded here: Brown Trout, White Sucker, Bluegill, Cisco, Rock Bass, Green Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Bowfin, Longnose Gar, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, Mottled Sculpin, Emerald Shiner, Spottail Shiner.

Burt Lake State Park (November 2019).jpg
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Stocking: 300,672 fish, 1983–2025

Michigan DNR records list 300,672 fish released into this water from 1983 to 2025.

  • Rainbow Trout: 194,963 in 1987
  • Walleye: 88,976 in 1989–1993
  • Atlantic Salmon: 38 in 1986

One more species on the stocking list.

2 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps.

  • Burt Lake State Park — 3 lanes, open 8am–10pm, restrooms. phone 231-238-9392
  • Maple Bay State Forest Campground — 2 lanes, restrooms. phone 231-238-9392

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 2 places in this list: 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

Wind is the limit, not the fish: 17,426 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle. Only 2 public ramps are on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • NOAA ENC — NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts: soundings: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • USACE eHydro — USACE eHydro channel surveys: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • Michigan EGLE — Michigan EGLE: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • NOAA ENC — NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • NOAA National Bathymetric Source (S-102 ed3.0.0) — NOAA S-102 bathymetric surfaces: 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.