Otsego Lake fishing: Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Walleye

Target species: Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Walleye
Boat: 3 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Otsego Lake State Park, 2 lanes.

The lake

Otsego Lake covers 1,990 acres in Michigan, across Otsego County. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is at least 23 feet (7 m). Our records hold 3 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 23 ft (7 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. We hold 153 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 0.8% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 2% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 3.2% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 4.4% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 7.6% of the water
  • 10–11 ft: 9.1% of the water
  • 11–12 ft: 6.7% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 8.8% of the water
  • 14–15 ft: 9.7% of the water
  • 15–16 ft: 12.7% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 8.8% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 26.2% of the water

Stocking: 27,429,095 fish, 1995–2026

Michigan DNR records list 27,429,095 fish released into this water from 1995 to 2026.

  • Walleye: 26,593,250 in 1994–2026
  • Northern Pike: 718,954 in 1988–2013
  • Muskellunge: 47,031 in 2006–2026

2 more species on the stocking list.

3 target fish, led by Muskellunge

  • Muskellunge — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.

3 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps and 1 boat ramp.

  • Otsego Lake State Park — 2 lanes, open 8am–10pm, restrooms. Otsego Lake State Park. phone 989-732-5485
  • Otsego Lake County Park — 1 lane, restrooms. Otsego County. phone 989-731-6448
  • Custom Marine & Machine Service — Gaylord. 1440 Beaver Dam Road, Gaylord 49735

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.

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.