Fishing Lake Cadillac

Lake Cadillac is a 1,150-acre urban lake that offers excellent panfish action but requires stocked walleye to maintain that fishery. The lake's once-famous self-sustaining walleye population collapsed in the late 1990s after thriving for over 60 years without stocking, with natural reproduction now essentially non-existent. Brown bullhead dominate the fish community, producing 38 Master Angler awards since 1994, while black crappie provide the best panfish action despite growth rates declining from excellent in 1980 to below average today. Northern pike grow slower than average but the lake has produced two impressive 24.5-pound Master Angler entries. The 2006-2007 creel survey documented intense fishing pressure with over 37,000 angler trips generating more than $900,000 in economic activity. Largemouth bass have become abundant since the 1980s when they were absent from surveys, and biologists suspect they may be preventing walleye reproduction by eating juveniles. The lake's maximum depth is 28 feet with 50% shallower than 15 feet, featuring primarily sand and organic substrates with some remnant slabwood from 1870s lumbering. Zebra mussels arrived in 2010 and Eurasian milfoil in 2003, requiring annual herbicide treatments to prevent the invasive plant from choking out fishing areas. The loss of brown drake mayfly hatches over the past 20-25 years, possibly from historic copper sulfate treatments for swimmer's itch, may have impacted fish growth and the food web. With 85% of shoreline hardened by development compared to 28% average for similar Michigan lakes, habitat alteration has been extensive, though the lake maintains 15.7 docks per kilometer and good public access through multiple parks and boat launches. Current walleye stocking occurs every other year with 60,000 spring fingerlings, and recent surveys show these fish growing slightly above state average, reaching up to 16 years old.