Lake Bellaire fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Muskellunge, Lake Trout, White Sucker
Boat: 3 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Fisherman's Paradise, 1 lane.

The lake

Lake Bellaire covers 1,832 acres in Michigan, across Antrim County. It is a lake: 93.6% of it is 85 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 95 feet (29 m). Our records hold 15 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 95 ft (29 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 93.6% of the water is 85 feet or shallower. We hold 37 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–5 ft: 12% of the water
  • 5–10 ft: 10.1% of the water
  • 10–15 ft: 5.2% of the water
  • 15–20 ft: 4.5% of the water
  • 20–25 ft: 4.6% of the water
  • 25–30 ft: 5.2% of the water
  • 30–35 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 35–40 ft: 2.8% of the water
  • 40–45 ft: 2.8% of the water
  • 45–50 ft: 2.6% of the water
  • 50–55 ft: 2.7% of the water
  • 55–60 ft: 3.2% of the water
  • 60–65 ft: 4% of the water
  • 65–70 ft: 6.5% of the water
  • 70–75 ft: 8.7% of the water
  • 75–80 ft: 7.3% of the water
  • 80–85 ft: 6.5% of the water
  • 85–90 ft: 4% of the water
  • 90–95 ft: 2.3% of the water

7 target fish, led by Northern Pike

  • Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Muskellunge — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Lake Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • White Sucker — Feeding water: 50–70°F.

Also recorded here: Bluegill, Cisco, Rock Bass, Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Brown Trout, Longnose Gar, Banded Killifish.

Lake Bellaire
cletch · CC BY 2.0

Stocking: 1,356,964 fish, 1979–2026

Michigan DNR records list 1,356,964 fish released into this water from 1979 to 2026.

  • Walleye: 943,826 in 1992–2026
  • Brown Trout: 75,041 in 1979–1991
  • Muskellunge: 2,660 in 2023

One more species on the stocking list.

3 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps and 1 hand launch.

Lake Bellaire
cletch · CC BY 2.0
  • Fisherman's Paradise — 1 lane, open 4am–11pm, restrooms. Young State Park. phone 231-582-7523
  • Lake Bellaire North — 1 lane. Young State Park. phone 231-582-7523

Car-top and kayak launches — no trailer

  • Steiner Road — Forest Home Township. phone 231-533-8003

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 3 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.

Water and conditions

Water clarity runs 9.5–15 feet on our readings, averaging 12.8 feet, from 64 readings. These readings span 2017–2022. The latest reading is from 2022, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.

What is hard here

Only 3 public ramps are on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • 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.