Michigan Lake Depths

Game fish · trout and salmon family

Brook trout

Salvelinus fontinalis · also called speckled trout

Native to MichiganRecorded in 88 Michigan lakes and bays

Michigan’s state fish.

Illustration of a brook trout in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
State fish
Brook trout are Michigan’s state fish
Typical size
7–9 in in streams; Great Lakes “coasters” to 25 in
Lives
Usually no more than 6 years
Spawns
October–November, over gravel with springs or current
Eats
Insects above all; also zooplankton, worms and fish
Michigan record
9 lb 8 oz, 28.1 in — Clear Lake, Houghton County, 1996

Where brook trout have been recorded

88 of the 1,288 Michigan lakes on this site with fish records list brook trout, across 28 counties, including 3 Great Lakes bays. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Grand Traverse Bay, Grand Traverse CountyKeweenaw Bay, Baraga CountyLittle Bay de Noc, Delta CountyMullett Lake, Cheboygan CountyLake Gogebic, Ontonagon CountyBlack Lake, Cheboygan CountyHubbard Lake, Alcona CountyIndian Lake, Schoolcraft CountyElk Lake, Antrim CountyLake Michigamme, Marquette CountySouth Manistique Lake, Mackinac CountyLake Gratiot, Keweenaw CountyMillecoquins Lake, Mackinac CountyOtter Lake, Houghton CountyBeaver Lake, Alger CountyJordan Lake, Barry CountyAvalon Lake, Montmorency CountyBear Lake, Kalkaska CountyGolden Lake, Iron CountyBass Lake, Marquette CountyLake Roland, Houghton CountyPendills Lake, Chippewa CountyEast Crooked Lake, Livingston CountyLake Fanny Hooe, Keweenaw CountyClear Lake, Barry CountyLittlefield Lake, Isabella CountyLog Lake, Marquette CountyOcqueoc Lake, Presque Isle CountyLake Angeline, Marquette CountyWolf Lake, Marquette CountyShupac Lake, Crawford CountyMcCormick Lake, Montmorency CountyClam Lake, Antrim CountyGrousehaven Lake, Ogemaw CountyCamp Eight Lake, Luce CountyWeber Lake, Alger CountyTrout Lake, Alger CountyTwilight Lake, Schoolcraft CountyEmily Lake, Houghton CountyKaks Lake, Luce CountyLake Arfelin, Marquette CountyNorway Lake, Dickinson CountyNorway Lake, Iron CountyPerch Lake, Marquette CountyIsland Lake, Marquette CountyRoland Lake, Baraga CountyMirror Lake, Alger CountyGreen Bass Lake, Schoolcraft CountyLake Perrault, Houghton CountySitka Lake, Alger CountyTank Lake, Luce CountyBear Lake, Delta CountyCourtney Lake, Ontonagon CountyCastle Lake, Gogebic CountyDutch Fred Lake, Schoolcraft CountyRedboat Lake, Gogebic CountyWeber Lake, Cheboygan CountyClear Lake, Houghton CountyLake On-Three, Houghton CountyPratt Lake, Luce CountyJust Lake, Marquette CountyCornelia Lake, Gogebic CountySpring Lake, Delta CountyHowes Lake, Crawford CountyMishike Lake, Gogebic CountyNeds Lake, Schoolcraft CountyDeer Lake, Luce CountySyphon Lake, Luce CountyRock Lake, Alger CountyHike Lake, Alger CountySkyline Lake, Iron CountyFord Lake, Otsego CountyHamilton Lake, Luce CountySid Lake, Luce CountyChurchill Lake, Oscoda CountyDillingham Lake, Luce CountyPenegor Lake, Houghton CountyNaomikong Lake, Chippewa CountyKilldeer Lake, Iron CountyTrueman Lake, Alger CountyMoccasin Lake, Marquette CountyNaomikong Pond, Chippewa CountyMadelyn Lake, Iron CountyYoung Lake, Luce CountyHolland Lake, Luce CountyLittle Trail Lake, Gogebic CountyBed Spring Lake, Marquette CountyHemlock Lake, Cheboygan County

Recorded here Other lakes with fish records

How we know

  • 62lakes where an angler registered one (Master Angler)
  • 3lakes where a DNR fisheries survey netted them
  • 46lakes the DNR has stocked since 2016; 23 of them are listed on that stocking alone

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.

Lakes listed on stocking alone are ones the DNR has stocked since 2016. Older stocking isn’t counted, because trout in most inland lakes don’t reproduce.

Inland lakes on this list run from 5 to 16,680 acres (median 39) and from 5 to 192 ft deep (median 40 ft).

When and how big brook trout are caught

From 725 Master Angler entries, 1991–2025, from all Michigan waters including the Great Lakes. An entry needs a fish at least 14 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 May (25% of entries); 10% come in December–February (lighter bars), mostly through the ice.

Size of registered fish

Half were 17 in or less, and 9 in 10 were under 20 in.

Method

Spincasting62%
Still Fishing14%
Ice Fishing10%
Fly Fishing6%
Trolling5%

Bait

Artificial lures36%
Worms and crawlers28%
Live bait (type not given)21%
Minnows and baitfish4%
Flies3%
Spawn and eggs3%

Share of entries that recorded a method (695) or a bait (510).

Lakes on this site with the most entries

  1. Roland Lake, Baraga 17
  2. Weber Lake, Cheboygan 13
  3. Dutch Fred Lake, Schoolcraft 11
  4. Lake Perrault, Houghton 11
  5. Mirror Lake, Alger 11
  6. Young Lake, Luce 10
  7. Bear Lake, Delta 7
  8. Clear Lake, Houghton 7
  9. Shupac Lake, Crawford 7
  10. Deer Lake, Luce 6

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

Worm-like light markings on a dark back, red spots with bluish halos on the sides, lower fins edged white then black, and a square or slightly forked tail. Spawning males turn bright orange-red below.

Don’t confuse it with

Splake — A lake trout × brook trout hybrid, mostly raised in hatcheries. Splake can live 5–10 years and reach 16 lb.
Lake trout — Light spots on a gray body and a deeply forked tail.

Life in a Michigan lake

Brook trout need cold, clean water: spring-fed streams, rivers, lakes and the Great Lakes. They are found across northern Michigan and especially the Upper Peninsula, and by summer stream fish often move into colder headwaters.

Females dig nests (redds) in gravel with flowing, oxygen-rich water in fall; the eggs take 3–4 months to hatch. Brook trout mature at about 1.5–2.5 years.

Source: Michigan DNR species page.

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 88 lakes with brook trout

Show every lake, by county

Alcona County 1

Hubbard Lake

Alger County 8

Beaver Lake, Hike Lake, Mirror Lake, Rock Lake, Sitka Lake, Trout Lake, Trueman Lake, Weber Lake

Antrim County 2

Clam Lake, Elk Lake

Baraga County 2

Keweenaw Bay, Roland Lake

Barry County 2

Clear Lake, Jordan Lake

Cheboygan County 4

Black Lake, Hemlock Lake, Mullett Lake, Weber Lake

Chippewa County 3

Naomikong Lake, Naomikong Pond, Pendills Lake

Crawford County 2

Howes Lake, Shupac Lake

Delta County 3

Bear Lake, Little Bay de Noc, Spring Lake

Dickinson County 1

Norway Lake

Gogebic County 5

Castle Lake, Cornelia Lake, Little Trail Lake, Mishike Lake, Redboat Lake

Grand Traverse County 1

Grand Traverse Bay

Houghton County 7

Clear Lake, Emily Lake, Lake On-Three, Lake Perrault, Lake Roland, Otter Lake, Penegor Lake

Iron County 5

Golden Lake, Killdeer Lake, Madelyn Lake, Norway Lake, Skyline Lake

Isabella County 1

Littlefield Lake

Kalkaska County 1

Bear Lake

Keweenaw County 2

Lake Fanny Hooe, Lake Gratiot

Livingston County 1

East Crooked Lake

Luce County 11

Camp Eight Lake, Deer Lake, Dillingham Lake, Hamilton Lake, Holland Lake, Kaks Lake, Pratt Lake, Sid Lake, Syphon Lake, Tank Lake, Young Lake

Mackinac County 2

Millecoquins Lake, South Manistique Lake

Marquette County 11

Bass Lake, Bed Spring Lake, Island Lake, Just Lake, Lake Angeline, Lake Arfelin, Lake Michigamme, Log Lake, Moccasin Lake, Perch Lake, Wolf Lake

Montmorency County 2

Avalon Lake, McCormick Lake

Ogemaw County 1

Grousehaven Lake

Ontonagon County 2

Courtney Lake, Lake Gogebic

Oscoda County 1

Churchill Lake

Otsego County 1

Ford Lake

Presque Isle County 1

Ocqueoc Lake

Schoolcraft County 5

Dutch Fred Lake, Green Bass Lake, Indian Lake, Neds Lake, Twilight Lake

Sources

← All fish of Michigan