Muskegon Lake fishing: Muskellunge, Walleye, Freshwater Drum

Target species: Muskellunge, Walleye, Freshwater Drum, Brown Trout, Golden Redhorse, Shorthead Redhorse, Silver Redhorse
Boat: 9 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Fisherman's Landing, 7 lanes.

The lake

Muskegon Lake covers 4,207 acres in Michigan, across Muskegon County. It is a lake: 90.1% of it is 45 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is 78.7 feet (24 m). Our records hold 19 species for this water.

Muskegon skyline and lake.jpg
bigmikesndtech · CC BY 2.0

Depth: down to 78.7 ft at the deepest measured point

Deepest measured point: 78.7 ft (24 m). 90.1% of the water is 45 feet or shallower. We hold 176 depth contours for this water, drawn from 1,551 soundings.

Muskegon Michigan harbor entrance.jpg
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, photographer not specified or unknown · Public domain
  • 0–5 ft: 22.7% of the water
  • 5–10 ft: 10.2% of the water
  • 10–15 ft: 6.9% of the water
  • 15–20 ft: 6.3% of the water
  • 20–25 ft: 7.4% of the water
  • 25–30 ft: 9.2% of the water
  • 30–35 ft: 9.9% of the water
  • 35–40 ft: 9.8% of the water
  • 40–45 ft: 7.7% of the water
  • 45–50 ft: 5.5% of the water
  • 50–55 ft: 2.1% of the water
  • 55–60 ft: 1.2% of the water
  • 60–65 ft: 0.6% of the water
  • 65–70 ft: 0.4% of the water
  • 70–75 ft: 0.1% of the water

7 target fish, led by Muskellunge

  • Muskellunge — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Freshwater Drum — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Brown Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Golden Redhorse — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Shorthead Redhorse — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Silver Redhorse — Feeding water: 60–75°F.

Also recorded here: White Sucker, Cisco, Flathead Catfish, Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp, Grass Carp, Tadpole Madtom, Banded Killifish, Golden Shiner, Brook Silverside, Gizzard Shad, Alewife.

Sunrise on the Muskegon Lake channel (9098974331).jpg
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory · CC BY-SA 2.0

Stocking: 10,479,923 fish, 1983–2025

Michigan DNR records list 10,479,923 fish released into this water from 1983 to 2025.

  • Walleye: 10,447,757 in 1993–2025
  • Muskellunge: 32,166 in 2013–2024

9 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 5 trailer ramps and 4 boat ramps.

  • Fisherman's Landing — 7 lanes. City of Muskegon.
  • Hartshorn — 6 lanes. City of Muskegon.
  • Muskegon State Park - Snug Harbor — 6 lanes, restrooms. Muskegon State Park. phone 231-744-3480
  • Grand Trunk — 4 lanes. City of Muskegon.
  • Cottage Grove — 3 lanes. City of Muskegon. website mcgi.state.mi.us/MRBIS/BASDetail.aspx?basid=A-61-010
  • Adelaide Pointe Marina — Muskegon. 400 Adelaide Circle, Muskegon 49441 · phone +1 231-246-4500 · website adelaidepointe.com/marina
  • Great Lakes Marina — Muskegon. 1920 Lakeshore Drive, Muskegon 49441 · phone +1 231 759 8230 · website shmarinas.com/locations/safe-harbor-great-lakes
  • Harbour Towne Marina — Muskegon. 3429 Fulton Avenue, Muskegon 49441 · phone +1 231 755 2218 · website htownemarina.com
  • Lakeshore Yacht Harbor — Muskegon. 1200 Lakeshore Drive, Muskegon 49441 · phone +1 231 726 5770 · website lakeshoreyachtharbour.com

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 9 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

Only 9 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.
  • NOAA National Geodetic Survey / Office for Coastal Management — NOAA topobathymetric lidar DEMs: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2020.
  • 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.
  • Michigan EGLE — Michigan EGLE: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • EPA NLA — EPA National Lakes Assessment: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
  • 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.