Michigan Lake Depths

Ancient fish · bowfin family

Bowfin

Amia ocellicauda (formerly Amia calva) · also called dogfish

Recorded in 185 Michigan lakes and bays
Illustration of a bowfin in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Typical adult
15–27 in, 1–5 lb
Breathes air
Its swim bladder works as a lung in low-oxygen water
Spawns
Early April to early June, in weedy shallows
Eats
Mostly fish; also crayfish, frogs and insects
Lives
Up to about 10 years in the wild
Michigan record
14 lb, 35 in — Crooked Lake, Livingston County, 1981

Where bowfin have been recorded

185 of the 1,288 Michigan lakes on this site with fish records list bowfin, across 53 counties, including 5 Great Lakes bays. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Saginaw Bay, Bay CountyLake St. Clair, St. Clair CountyGrand Traverse Bay, Grand Traverse CountyLittle Bay de Noc, Delta CountyHoughton Lake, Roscommon CountyBurt Lake, Cheboygan CountyMullett Lake, Cheboygan CountyBlack Lake, Cheboygan CountyHiggins Lake, Roscommon CountyCrystal Lake, Benzie CountyFletcher Pond, Alpena CountyHubbard Lake, Alcona CountyTawas Bay, Iosco CountyGrand Lake, Presque Isle CountyLake Leelanau, Leelanau CountyHamlin Lake, Mason CountyBrevoort Lake, Mackinac CountyMuskegon Lake, Muskegon CountyDouglas Lake, Cheboygan CountyGun Lake, Barry CountyPlatte Lake, Benzie CountyLake Mitchell, Wexford CountyPortage Lake, Manistee CountyMartiny Lake, Mecosta CountyGull Lake, Kalamazoo CountyGreen Lake, Grand Traverse CountyBear Lake, Manistee CountyLake Macatawa, Ottawa CountyColdwater Lake, Branch CountyTawas Lake, Iosco CountyVan Etten Lake, Iosco CountyBelleville Lake, Wayne CountyCass Lake, Oakland CountySanford Lake, Midland CountyLake Cadillac, Wexford CountyWixom Lake, Gladwin CountyAustin Lake, Kalamazoo CountyMillecoquins Lake, Mackinac CountyKent Lake, Oakland CountyPaw Paw Lake, Berrien CountyLake Fenton, Genesee CountyLittle Platte Lake, Benzie CountySage Lake, Ogemaw CountyOrchard Lake, Oakland CountyWamplers Lake, Jackson CountyChippewa Lake, Mecosta CountyCenter Lake, Jackson CountyIndian Lake, Kalamazoo CountyCrystal Lake, Montcalm CountySilver Lake, Oceana CountyMona Lake, Muskegon CountyWhite Lake, Oakland CountyLobdell Lake, Genesee CountyUpper Herring Lake, Benzie CountyWall Lake, Barry CountyNorth Lake, Branch CountyLong Lake, Kalamazoo CountyDuck Lake, Calhoun CountyWhitefish Lake, Montcalm CountySand Lake, Lenawee CountyUnion Lake, Oakland CountyHorsehead Lake, Mecosta CountyLower Herring Lake, Benzie CountyCrooked Lake, Lower, Barry CountyLincoln Lake, Kent CountyNepessing Lake, Lapeer CountyBaw Beese Lake, Hillsdale CountyEight Point Lake, Clare CountyJordan Lake, Barry CountyWabasis Lake, Kent CountyThornapple Lake, Barry CountyPortage Lake, Jackson CountyWolf Lake, Jackson CountyRound Lake, Emmet CountyLake of the Woods, Branch CountyUpper Straits Lake, Oakland CountyHaymarsh Lakes, Mecosta CountyFish Lake, Cass CountyLake Chemung, Livingston CountyMurray Lake, Kent CountyLake Mecosta, Mecosta CountyTipsico Lake, Oakland CountySaddle Lake, Van Buren CountyMorrison Lake, Branch CountyJehnsen Lake, Mecosta CountyLong Lake, Montmorency CountyColdwater Lake, Isabella CountySouth Dease Lake, Ogemaw CountyStony Lake, Oceana CountyGeddes Pond, Washtenaw CountyOxbow Lake, Oakland CountyDonnell Lake, Cass CountyThompson Lake, Livingston CountySand Lake, Iosco CountyWoodland Lake, Livingston CountyEagle Lake, Kalamazoo CountyWolverine Lake, Oakland CountyLong Lake, Clare CountyEast Crooked Lake, Livingston CountyBlue Lake, Mecosta CountyMarl Lake, Roscommon CountyDickerson Lake, Montcalm CountyHalfmoon Lake, Washtenaw CountyBig Pine Island Lake, Kent CountyGourdneck Lake, Kalamazoo CountyEagle Lake, Allegan CountyFarewell Lake, Jackson CountySilver Lake, Washtenaw CountyBig Lake, Osceola CountySouth Scott Lake, Van Buren CountySouth Lake, Branch CountyClifford Lake, Montcalm CountyJoslin Lake, Washtenaw CountyMaple Lake, Van Buren CountyLittle Whitefish Lake, Montcalm CountySugarloaf Lake, Washtenaw CountyGreat Bear Lake, Van Buren CountyBudd Lake, Clare CountyFlat Rock Impoundment, Wayne CountySeven Lakes, Oakland CountyFish Lake, Barry CountyRound Lake, Mecosta CountyPatterson Lake, Livingston CountyBennett Lake, Livingston CountyStone Lake, Cass CountyBig Lake, Allegan CountyHemlock Lake, Hillsdale CountyLong Lake, Barry CountyCedar Island Lake, Oakland CountyZukey Lake, Livingston CountyThreemile Lake, Van Buren CountySugarloaf Lake, Kalamazoo CountyDuck Lake, Allegan CountyRobinson Lake, Newaygo CountyClear Lake, Jackson CountyMuskellunge Lake, Montcalm CountyEast Lake, Menominee CountyBruin Lake, Washtenaw CountyLee Lake, Calhoun CountyMorrison Lake, Branch CountyBear Lake, Hillsdale CountyFinch Lake, Cass CountyCub Lake, Hillsdale CountyBush Lake, Oakland CountyBishop Lake, Livingston CountyLake Sixteen, Oakland CountyLeach Lake, Barry CountySaddlebag Lake, Cass CountyWilkinson Lake, Barry CountySaddlebag Lake, Osceola CountySelkirk Lake, Allegan CountyArgo Pond, Washtenaw CountyLake Lavine, Branch CountySchool Section Lake, Van Buren CountySouth Bar Lake, Leelanau CountyStearn's Bayou, Ottawa CountyWilliamsville Lake, Livingston CountySauble Lake #1, Lake CountyEagle Lake, Kalamazoo CountyWabascon Lake, Calhoun CountyWoodard Lake, Ionia CountyWhite Lake, Jackson CountyClear Lake, Van Buren CountyWoodburn Lake, Livingston CountyHubbell Pond, Oakland CountyBerry Lake, Wexford CountyFreymuth Lak, Jackson CountyHarts Lake, Calhoun CountyCarter Lake, Barry CountyBergess Lake, Mecosta CountyLittle Island Lake, Iosco CountyBelas Lake, Cass CountyMoss Lake, Oakland CountyDickinson Lake, Oakland CountyTen Mile Lake, Livingston CountyBass Lake, Alger CountyBevins Lake, Oakland CountyRose Lake, Clinton CountyChenango Lake, Livingston CountyBanks Lake, Kent CountyLake Ann, Menominee CountyMiddle Lake, Barry CountySilver Lake, Washtenaw CountyTwin Lakes, Cheboygan CountyBlack Lake, Kent County

Recorded here Other lakes with fish records

How we know

  • 156lakes where an angler registered one (Master Angler)
  • 53lakes where a DNR fisheries survey netted them

A lake can appear in more than one line. A lake that isn’t listed may still have them: records exist only where someone caught, netted or stocked them.

Inland lakes on this list run from 4 to 19,592 acres (median 251) and from 3 to 175 ft deep (median 40 ft).

When and how big bowfin are caught

From 1,456 Master Angler entries, 1981–2025, from all Michigan waters including the Great Lakes. An entry needs a fish at least 27 in, so these describe big fish that anglers chose to register — where and when people fish, not how many fish a lake holds.

Entries by month

The busiest month is June (29% of entries); 4% come in December–February (lighter bars), mostly through the ice.

Size of registered fish

Half were 28.1 in or less, and 9 in 10 were under 30.2 in.

Method

Still Fishing40%
Spincasting31%
Bowfishing15%
Spearfishing5%
Drift Fishing3%

Bait

Live bait (type not given)28%
Minnows and baitfish25%
Artificial lures18%
Worms and crawlers17%
Cut bait and prepared baits4%
Other4%

Share of entries that recorded a method (1,404) or a bait (946).

Lakes on this site with the most entries

  1. Muskegon Lake, Muskegon 120
  2. Lake St. Clair, St. Clair 87
  3. Houghton Lake, Roscommon 67
  4. Lake Mitchell, Wexford 67
  5. Hamlin Lake, Mason 44
  6. Fletcher Pond, Alpena 30
  7. Saginaw Bay, Bay 26
  8. Lake Cadillac, Wexford 22
  9. Martiny Lake, Mecosta 21
  10. Gull Lake, Kalamazoo 19

Master Angler entries matched to each lake. A busy lake gets more entries; this is not a ranking of fishing quality.

Often found with

Share of these lakes that also list each fish.

How to recognize it

A long, low dorsal fin running most of the back, a short anal fin, a rounded tail, and a scaleless head. Males carry a dark eyespot ringed in green at the base of the tail.

Don’t confuse it with

Northern snakehead (invasive; not recorded in Michigan lakes) — Its anal fin is long — more than half the length of the dorsal fin — its head is flatter and more pointed, and its lower jaw juts past the upper. Bowfin are native and are often mistaken for snakeheads.

Up close

Illustration of a bowfin's head from below and to the side, showing the bony gular plate between the halves of the lower jaw and short tubular nostrils.
Bowfin: a bony plate (the gular plate) under the lower jaw, and short tube-shaped nostrils.

AI-generated close-ups, not photographs, drawn from the cited descriptions. They show what to look for; they are not a substitute for an expert identification (provenance).

Life in a Michigan lake

Bowfin are a primitive fish group that has changed little since the age of dinosaurs. They prefer calm, clear, weedy water, and can survive in stagnant, low-oxygen water by gulping air at the surface — even out of water for a while.

Males clear nests in shallow weeds, then guard the eggs and the school of young on their own until the fry reach about 4 inches. Bowfin are ambush predators that come into the shallows at night to feed.

Source: the sources below.

Rules and eating

Check the rules before you keep fish. Each lake page shows the regulations that apply there, and the Michigan Fishing Guide is the official source. Before eating fish from a particular lake, check Michigan’s Eat Safe Fish guidelines.

All 185 lakes with bowfin

Show every lake, by county

Alcona County 1

Hubbard Lake

Alger County 1

Bass Lake

Allegan County 4

Big Lake, Duck Lake, Eagle Lake, Selkirk Lake

Alpena County 1

Fletcher Pond

Barry County 11

Carter Lake, Crooked Lake, Lower, Fish Lake, Gun Lake, Jordan Lake, Leach Lake, Long Lake, Middle Lake, Thornapple Lake, Wall Lake, Wilkinson Lake

Bay County 1

Saginaw Bay

Benzie County 5

Crystal Lake, Little Platte Lake, Lower Herring Lake, Platte Lake, Upper Herring Lake

Berrien County 1

Paw Paw Lake

Branch County 7

Coldwater Lake, Lake Lavine, Lake of the Woods, Morrison Lake, Morrison Lake, North Lake, South Lake

Calhoun County 4

Duck Lake, Harts Lake, Lee Lake, Wabascon Lake

Cass County 6

Belas Lake, Donnell Lake, Finch Lake, Fish Lake, Saddlebag Lake, Stone Lake

Cheboygan County 5

Black Lake, Burt Lake, Douglas Lake, Mullett Lake, Twin Lakes

Clare County 3

Budd Lake, Eight Point Lake, Long Lake

Clinton County 1

Rose Lake

Delta County 1

Little Bay de Noc

Emmet County 1

Round Lake

Genesee County 2

Lake Fenton, Lobdell Lake

Gladwin County 1

Wixom Lake

Grand Traverse County 2

Grand Traverse Bay, Green Lake

Hillsdale County 4

Baw Beese Lake, Bear Lake, Cub Lake, Hemlock Lake

Ionia County 1

Woodard Lake

Iosco County 5

Little Island Lake, Sand Lake, Tawas Bay, Tawas Lake, Van Etten Lake

Isabella County 1

Coldwater Lake

Jackson County 8

Center Lake, Clear Lake, Farewell Lake, Freymuth Lak, Portage Lake, Wamplers Lake, White Lake, Wolf Lake

Kalamazoo County 8

Austin Lake, Eagle Lake, Eagle Lake, Gourdneck Lake, Gull Lake, Indian Lake, Long Lake, Sugarloaf Lake

Kent County 6

Banks Lake, Big Pine Island Lake, Black Lake, Lincoln Lake, Murray Lake, Wabasis Lake

Lake County 1

Sauble Lake #1

Lapeer County 1

Nepessing Lake

Leelanau County 2

Lake Leelanau, South Bar Lake

Lenawee County 1

Sand Lake

Livingston County 12

Bennett Lake, Bishop Lake, Chenango Lake, East Crooked Lake, Lake Chemung, Patterson Lake, Ten Mile Lake, Thompson Lake, Williamsville Lake, Woodburn Lake, Woodland Lake, Zukey Lake

Mackinac County 2

Brevoort Lake, Millecoquins Lake

Manistee County 2

Bear Lake, Portage Lake

Mason County 1

Hamlin Lake

Mecosta County 9

Bergess Lake, Blue Lake, Chippewa Lake, Haymarsh Lakes, Horsehead Lake, Jehnsen Lake, Lake Mecosta, Martiny Lake, Round Lake

Menominee County 2

East Lake, Lake Ann

Midland County 1

Sanford Lake

Montcalm County 6

Clifford Lake, Crystal Lake, Dickerson Lake, Little Whitefish Lake, Muskellunge Lake, Whitefish Lake

Montmorency County 1

Long Lake

Muskegon County 2

Mona Lake, Muskegon Lake

Newaygo County 1

Robinson Lake

Oakland County 17

Bevins Lake, Bush Lake, Cass Lake, Cedar Island Lake, Dickinson Lake, Hubbell Pond, Kent Lake, Lake Sixteen, Moss Lake, Orchard Lake, Oxbow Lake, Seven Lakes, Tipsico Lake, Union Lake, Upper Straits Lake, White Lake, Wolverine Lake

Oceana County 2

Silver Lake, Stony Lake

Ogemaw County 2

Sage Lake, South Dease Lake

Osceola County 2

Big Lake, Saddlebag Lake

Ottawa County 2

Lake Macatawa, Stearn's Bayou

Presque Isle County 1

Grand Lake

Roscommon County 3

Higgins Lake, Houghton Lake, Marl Lake

St. Clair County 1

Lake St. Clair

Van Buren County 7

Clear Lake, Great Bear Lake, Maple Lake, Saddle Lake, School Section Lake, South Scott Lake, Threemile Lake

Washtenaw County 8

Argo Pond, Bruin Lake, Geddes Pond, Halfmoon Lake, Joslin Lake, Silver Lake, Silver Lake, Sugarloaf Lake

Wayne County 2

Belleville Lake, Flat Rock Impoundment

Wexford County 3

Berry Lake, Lake Cadillac, Lake Mitchell

Sources

← All fish of Michigan