Lower Herring Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass

Target species: Northern Pike, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, White Sucker, White Bass, Black Crappie, Bluegill
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Lower Herring Lake, 1 lane.

The lake

Lower Herring Lake covers 449 acres in Michigan, across Benzie County. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is at least 50 feet (15.2 m). Our records hold 15 species for this water.

7 target fish, led by Northern Pike

  • Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • White Sucker — Feeding water: 50–70°F.
  • White Bass — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Black Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.

Also recorded here: Rock Bass, Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, Emerald Shiner, Spottail Shiner, Banded Killifish.

Herring Creek Floating Dock.jpg
Lesley O. Regan · CC BY 4.0

Stocking: 227,080 fish, 1990–2025

Michigan DNR records list 227,080 fish released into this water from 1990 to 2025.

  • Walleye: 227,080 in 1990–2025

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 50 ft (15.2 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. We hold 70 depth contours for this water, drawn from 2,293 soundings.

Lower Herring Lake from Boo Hoo View Road - panoramio.jpg
papadakp · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • 0–2 ft: 7.6% of the surveyed bottom
  • 2–4 ft: 6.9% of the surveyed bottom
  • 4–6 ft: 6.2% of the surveyed bottom
  • 6–8 ft: 5.9% of the surveyed bottom
  • 8–10 ft: 5.8% of the surveyed bottom
  • 10–12 ft: 5.8% of the surveyed bottom
  • 12–14 ft: 5.8% of the surveyed bottom
  • 14–16 ft: 6.1% of the surveyed bottom
  • 16–18 ft: 6.8% of the surveyed bottom
  • 18–20 ft: 8.4% of the surveyed bottom
  • 20–22 ft: 11.7% of the surveyed bottom
  • 22–24 ft: 11.1% of the surveyed bottom
  • 24–26 ft: 7.1% of the surveyed bottom
  • 26–28 ft: 3.3% of the surveyed bottom
  • 28–29 ft: 1.6% of the surveyed bottom

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp.

  • Lower Herring Lake — 1 lane. Orchard Beach State Park. phone 231-723-7422

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.

Lower Herring Lake Public Access flood.jpg
Lesley O. Regan · CC BY 4.0

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 70°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. These readings span 2022–2023.

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.