Portage Lake fishing: Walleye, Cisco, Brown Trout

Target species: Walleye, Cisco, Brown Trout
Boat: 3 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Onekama Village Park, 2 lanes.

The lake

Portage Lake covers 2,081 acres in Michigan, across Manistee County. It is a lake: 90.8% of it is 45 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 60 feet (18.3 m). Our records hold 4 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 60 ft (18.3 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 90.8% of the water is 45 feet or shallower. We hold 36 depth contours for this water, drawn from 16,631 soundings.

Portage Lake on the Keweenaw Waterway, Michigan.jpg
Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA · CC BY 2.0
  • 0–3 ft: 13.7% of the water
  • 3–6 ft: 10% of the water
  • 6–9 ft: 8.4% of the water
  • 9–12 ft: 6.7% of the water
  • 12–15 ft: 6.6% of the water
  • 15–18 ft: 6.8% of the water
  • 18–21 ft: 6.4% of the water
  • 21–24 ft: 5.6% of the water
  • 24–27 ft: 5.7% of the water
  • 27–30 ft: 5% of the water
  • 30–33 ft: 4.3% of the water
  • 33–36 ft: 3.4% of the water
  • 36–39 ft: 2.7% of the water
  • 39–42 ft: 2.6% of the water
  • 42–45 ft: 2.9% of the water
  • 45–48 ft: 3.7% of the water
  • 48–51 ft: 5.5% of the water

Stocking: 5,377,090 fish, 1994–2026

Michigan DNR records list 5,377,090 fish released into this water from 1994 to 2026.

  • Walleye: 1,454,237 in 1998–2026
  • Brown Trout: 483,219 in 1991–2010

2 more species on the stocking list.

3 target fish, led by Walleye

  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Cisco — Feeding water: 40–60°F.
  • Brown Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.

Also recorded here: Common Carp.

3 ramps and launches on this water

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

Portage Lake Lift Bridge Michigan 2020-1413.jpg
James Conkis · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Onekama Village Park — 2 lanes. Onekama, Village of Onekama. 4919 Dock Street, Onekama 49675 · phone 231-889-3308
  • Portage Lake — 2 lanes, restrooms. Orchard Beach State Park. phone 231-723-7422
  • Onekama Marine — Onekama. 4378 Crescent Beach Road, Onekama 49675 · phone +1 231 889 5000 · website onekamamarine.com/onekama-marine-inc

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

  • NOAA National Geodetic Survey / Office for Coastal Management — NOAA topobathymetric lidar DEMs: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2019.
  • USACE eHydro — USACE eHydro channel surveys: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • NOAA ENC — NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts: soundings: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • Michigan EGLE — Michigan EGLE: 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.
  • NOAA ENC — NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts: 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.