Fishing Donnell Lake

Donnell Lake offers a productive warmwater fishery with excellent northern pike that grow well above state average (+3.2 growth index) and reach 29 inches, bucking the declining trend seen in other southwestern Michigan lakes. This 246-acre lake holds impressive bluegill including the first 10+ incher caught in years in this district, though growth is average and only 51% reach 6+ inches. Yellow perch grow well above average (+1.0) up to 12 inches with very good recruitment across seven age classes. Largemouth bass are abundant with excellent recruitment but grow slowly (-1.6 growth index) with less than 5% reaching the 12-inch mark. The thermocline sits at 17-27 feet with oxygen dropping below 3.0 ppm at 23 feet, limiting deeper fishing options but concentrating fish in the upper water column. Shoal areas less than 20 feet deep make up 35% of the lake, providing good habitat structure along with sparse Chara and submergent vegetation in the littoral zone. Black crappie grow well above average (+1.4) when present, and both brown and yellow bullheads reach impressive sizes up to 15 inches. The lake historically supported cisco but they've been extirpated, likely due to low oxygen in deeper water. Despite having quality fish populations, anglers consistently report difficulty catching fish here - a complaint dating back to 1956 and attributed to abundant natural forage including millions of burrowing mayflies. The eastern inlet brings water from Lime, Buck, and Lewis lakes while the southwestern outlet feeds Paradise Lake, creating good water flow through this natural glacial lake. A 2-acre island on the east side adds structure, and the hard-bottom lake reaches 63 feet deep with excellent water clarity typically better than the 6.5-foot Secchi reading recorded during the survey.