Thornapple Lake fishing: Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass

Target species: Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye
Boat: 2 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Charlton Park, 2 lanes.

The lake

Thornapple Lake covers 406 acres in Michigan, across Barry County. It is a lake: 91.9% of it is 24 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 30 feet (9.1 m). Our records hold 5 species for this water.

Stocking: 2,504,508 fish, 1989–2025

Michigan DNR records list 2,504,508 fish released into this water from 1989 to 2025.

  • Walleye: 2,460,252 in 1986–2019
  • Muskellunge: 44,110 in 1997–2025
  • Largemouth Bass: 125 in 1991
  • Northern Pike: 21 in 1991–2001

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 30 ft (9.1 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 91.9% of the water is 24 feet or shallower. We hold 58 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 6.1% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 8.2% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 7.7% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 7.6% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 7.9% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 8.9% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 12.1% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 10.8% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 8.6% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 5.3% of the water
  • 22–24 ft: 4.6% of the water
  • 24–26 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 26–28 ft: 2.8% of the water
  • 28–30 ft: 0.7% of the water

4 target fish, led by Muskellunge

  • Muskellunge — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.

Also recorded here: Brown Trout.

2 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps.

  • Charlton Park — 2 lanes, restrooms. Barry County. phone 269-945-2454
  • Thornapple Lake — 1 lane, open 4am–11pm, restrooms. Yankee Springs State Recreation Area. phone 269-795-9081

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 2 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 2 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.
  • 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.