Michigan Lake Depths

Game fish · trout and salmon family

Brown trout

Salmo trutta · also called brownie

Introduced to MichiganRecorded in 57 Michigan lakes and bays

Native to Europe and Asia; brought to Michigan in 1883.

Illustration of a brown trout in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Arrived
1883, among the first US states to import them
Favors
Water of 50–65°F; more heat-tolerant than other trout
Spawns
September–October, in stream gravel
Eats
Insects, crayfish, snails, frogs, small rodents and fish
Michigan record
41 lb 7 oz, 43.75 in — Manistee River, Manistee County, 2009

Where brown trout have been recorded

57 of the 1,288 Michigan lakes on this site with fish records list brown trout, across 34 counties, including 6 Great Lakes bays. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Saginaw Bay, Bay CountyGrand Traverse Bay, Grand Traverse CountyThunder Bay, Alpena CountyKeweenaw Bay, Baraga CountyLittle Bay de Noc, Delta CountyTorch Lake, Antrim CountyBurt Lake, Cheboygan CountyLake Charlevoix, Charlevoix CountyMullett Lake, Cheboygan CountyHiggins Lake, Roscommon CountyCrystal Lake, Benzie CountyIndian Lake, Schoolcraft CountyTawas Bay, Iosco CountyElk Lake, Antrim CountyGlen Lake, Leelanau CountyLac Vieux Desert, Gogebic CountyMuskegon Lake, Muskegon CountyPlatte Lake, Benzie CountyPortage Lake, Manistee CountyGull Lake, Kalamazoo CountyLake Margrethe, Crawford CountyLake Macatawa, Ottawa CountyLake Bellaire, Antrim CountyMillecoquins Lake, Mackinac CountyKent Lake, Oakland CountyAu Train Lake, Alger CountyMona Lake, Muskegon CountyWhite Lake, Oakland CountyLime Lake, Leelanau CountyLittle Traverse Lake, Leelanau CountyNinth Street Pond, Alpena CountyAvalon Lake, Montmorency CountyBoardman Lake, Grand Traverse CountyBear Lake, Kalkaska CountyStony Lake, Oceana CountyGuernsey Lake, Barry CountyStarvation Lake, Kalkaska CountyLittle Shag Lake, Marquette CountyLake Angeline, Marquette CountyMcCormick Lake, Montmorency CountyClam Lake, Antrim CountyLake George, Ogemaw CountyLake Fifteen, Montmorency CountyGrousehaven Lake, Ogemaw CountySporley Lake, Marquette CountyLittle Long Lake, Clare CountyGuernsey Lake, Kalkaska CountyTwinwood Lake, Newaygo CountyWeber Lake, Cheboygan CountyBig Trout Lake, Marquette CountyPeanut Lake, Luce CountyReid Lake, Alcona CountyHowes Lake, Crawford CountyO'Brien Lake, Alcona CountyFord Lake, Otsego CountySpring Mill Pond, Livingston CountyHemlock Lake, Cheboygan County

Recorded here Other lakes with fish records

How we know

  • 33lakes where an angler registered one (Master Angler)
  • 7lakes where a DNR fisheries survey netted them
  • 24lakes the DNR has stocked since 2016; 21 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 18,998 acres (median 389) and from 8 to 285 ft deep (median 48 ft).

When and how big brown trout are caught

From 1,088 Master Angler entries, 1994–2025, from all Michigan waters including the Great Lakes. An entry needs a fish at least 24 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 July (20% of entries); 6% come in December–February (lighter bars), mostly through the ice.

Size of registered fish

Half were 32.2 in or less, and 9 in 10 were under 35.8 in.

Method

Trolling72%
Spincasting13%
Still Fishing5%
Ice Fishing4%
Fly Fishing3%

Bait

Artificial lures64%
Live bait (type not given)11%
Spawn and eggs6%
Flies6%
Minnows and baitfish5%
Combination3%

Share of entries that recorded a method (1,083) or a bait (463).

Lakes on this site with the most entries

  1. Grand Traverse Bay, Grand Traverse 21
  2. Saginaw Bay, Bay 14
  3. Burt Lake, Cheboygan 12
  4. Higgins Lake, Roscommon 10
  5. Muskegon Lake, Muskegon 8
  6. Tawas Bay, Iosco 8
  7. Elk Lake, Antrim 6
  8. Torch Lake, Antrim 6
  9. Crystal Lake, Benzie 4
  10. Boardman Lake, Grand Traverse 3

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 square tail, light pectoral fins, and 9–10 rays in the anal fin. Stream fish are spotted; lake-run browns are mostly silver with the spots hard to see.

Don’t confuse it with

Rainbow trout — Small spots along the rays of the whole tail and 10–12 rays in the anal fin.
Atlantic salmon — Very similar; the DNR publishes a separate guide to telling trout and salmon apart.

Life in a Michigan lake

Brown trout provide good fishing in a number of mostly northern Michigan inland lakes; the DNR names Higgins, Burt, Mullett, McCormick and Bear (Kalkaska County). In spring they cruise shallow, rocky areas.

They run up tributary streams to spawn in September and October, gathering near stream mouths in late summer. The female digs a nest in the gravel and covers the eggs afterward.

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 57 lakes with brown trout

Show every lake, by county

Alcona County 2

O'Brien Lake, Reid Lake

Alger County 1

Au Train Lake

Alpena County 2

Ninth Street Pond, Thunder Bay

Antrim County 4

Clam Lake, Elk Lake, Lake Bellaire, Torch Lake

Baraga County 1

Keweenaw Bay

Barry County 1

Guernsey Lake

Bay County 1

Saginaw Bay

Benzie County 2

Crystal Lake, Platte Lake

Charlevoix County 1

Lake Charlevoix

Cheboygan County 4

Burt Lake, Hemlock Lake, Mullett Lake, Weber Lake

Clare County 1

Little Long Lake

Crawford County 2

Howes Lake, Lake Margrethe

Delta County 1

Little Bay de Noc

Gogebic County 1

Lac Vieux Desert

Grand Traverse County 2

Boardman Lake, Grand Traverse Bay

Iosco County 1

Tawas Bay

Kalamazoo County 1

Gull Lake

Kalkaska County 3

Bear Lake, Guernsey Lake, Starvation Lake

Leelanau County 3

Glen Lake, Lime Lake, Little Traverse Lake

Livingston County 1

Spring Mill Pond

Luce County 1

Peanut Lake

Mackinac County 1

Millecoquins Lake

Manistee County 1

Portage Lake

Marquette County 4

Big Trout Lake, Lake Angeline, Little Shag Lake, Sporley Lake

Montmorency County 3

Avalon Lake, Lake Fifteen, McCormick Lake

Muskegon County 2

Mona Lake, Muskegon Lake

Newaygo County 1

Twinwood Lake

Oakland County 2

Kent Lake, White Lake

Oceana County 1

Stony Lake

Ogemaw County 2

Grousehaven Lake, Lake George

Otsego County 1

Ford Lake

Ottawa County 1

Lake Macatawa

Roscommon County 1

Higgins Lake

Schoolcraft County 1

Indian Lake

Sources

← All fish of Michigan