Orchard Lake fishing: Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Muskellunge

Target species: Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Muskellunge, Rainbow Trout, Bluegill, Cisco, Rock Bass
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Orchard Lake, 3 lanes.

The lake

Orchard Lake covers 865 acres in Michigan, across Oakland County. It is a lake: 90.2% of it is 70 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 111 feet (33.8 m). Our records hold 10 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 111 ft (33.8 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 90.2% of the water is 70 feet or shallower. We hold 26 depth contour lines for this water.

West Bloomfield Township, Michigan with Orchard and Cass Lake in the Background (14203785525).jpg
Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • 0–10 ft: 32.5% of the water
  • 10–20 ft: 20.9% of the water
  • 20–30 ft: 11% of the water
  • 30–40 ft: 8.3% of the water
  • 40–50 ft: 6.4% of the water
  • 50–60 ft: 6.2% of the water
  • 60–70 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 70–80 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 80–90 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 90–100 ft: 0.9% of the water
  • 100–110 ft: 0.1% of the water

7 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass

  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Muskellunge — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Cisco — Feeding water: 40–60°F.
  • Rock Bass — Feeding water: 65–75°F.

Also recorded here: Pumpkinseed, Brown Trout, Common Carp.

Stocking: 97,030 fish, 1979–2017

Michigan DNR records list 97,030 fish released into this water from 1979 to 2017. The latest stocking on record is from 2017, more than three years ago.

Orchard Lake Michigan.jpg
Ted Miller · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Brown Trout: 57,000 in 1981–1983
  • Rainbow Trout: 40,000 in 1979–1980
  • Muskellunge: 30 in 2017

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp.

  • Orchard Lake — 3 lanes, open 4am–11pm. Orchard Lake, Dodge 4 State Park. 4060 Orchard Lake Road 48323 · phone 248-682-7323

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

  • 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.