Fishing Shavehead Lake

Shavehead Lake offers Michigan's best black crappie fishing with excellent growth (growth index +1.4) and 79% of fish at harvestable size, mostly in the 9-10 inch range with potential for 14-inchers. The cisco population is a rare treat - this state threatened species thrives in the cool, deep water between 20-56 feet and shows above-average growth (+1.3). Largemouth bass fishing provides outstanding action with catch rates of 0.557 fish per hour, but only 4% reach the 14-inch minimum due to intense competition for forage. The lake's predator-heavy fish community (51% of biomass) creates a unique dynamic where bass grow fast to age 3 then struggle, taking until age 6 to reach legal size. Bluegills are abundant but dominated by small fish due to heavy predation from bass, bowfin, longnose gar, and spotted gar. The horseshoe-shaped lake features two basins with maximum depths of 70 and 58 feet, steep drop-offs, and limited shallow areas. Marl substrate dominates the littoral zone with muck and marl offshore. Dissolved oxygen remains above 3 ppm to 56 feet in the deeper east basin, supporting the cold-water cisco population. The unique oxygen supersaturation in the metalimnion creates ideal conditions for stenothermal algae. Historic cisco netting was popular here through the 1950s, and these native fish still provide a connection to the lake's fishing heritage. Summer fishing pressure is moderate at 24.7 angler hours per acre, with most effort targeting panfish rather than the excellent bass fishing opportunity.