Big Star Lake has a Lake Association, as well as its own  Lake Webcam and even a Historical Website  with tons of interesting stories, pictures and postcards. And, of course,I don’t want to forget to include the link to the Lake Map.

Star Lake Drive will get you around Big Star Lake.  Many private roads and private drives run off this blacktop street. The area is well wooded, but can be rather busy at times.

The DNR manages a public access site to Big Star Lake. You can find this on the southwest section of the lake. A hard surface boat launch is there, as well as vault style toilets and plenty of parking. Looks like there is a sandy beach there, but not sure swimming is allowed.

Fishermen enjoy Big Star Lake and report catches of Bluegill, Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Pumpkinseed, Tiger Muskellunge, Walleye and Yellow Perch. Surrounding Big Star are several smaller lakes, also lined with cottages, trailers and year round homes. Oxbow Lake, Reed Lake, Rainbow Lake, Orchard Lake, Gifford Lake, Honeymoon Lake, Cecilia Lake and Basford Lake, just to name a few, are some of the lakes surrounding the lake.

There is a lot to do in the area. Be sure to try one of my favorites, Jones Ice Cream.

Take time to enjoy a Michigan Lake!

It’s Sunday, it’s summer and it’s off to enjoy one of Michigan’s lakes.

Big Pine Island Lake is located in Gratten Township, Kent County, Michigan. It is a lake of 223 acres of surface water, conveniently located just outside of Grand Rapids, 1 mile north off M44 off either Lessiter Ave or Lincoln Lake Ave.

It is a fisherman’s paradise, with fishermen boasting  of the lake’s perch, bluegill and largemouth bass.

Big Pine Island Lake frontage is mainly lined with year round homes with homeowners working in Grand Rapids. There is a public access site on the west side of the lake at the end of Dream Isle Drive NE.

It is topwater time. Magic time.

I am standing on the shore of Hall Lake in the Yankee Springs Recreational Area, casting my trusty tan-and-white Pop-R into the mirror-smooth water.

In a scattering of small boats, a handful of other fishermen are similarly engaged across the lake. A boat is nice, but on this mellow evening, shore fishing will do just fine for me.

I make a cast, watching the lure as it arcs through the air and splashes down, rippling the mercury-like surface. My fishing line settles down after it, tracing a hair-thin trail over the water. I wait a few seconds, enough time for any nearby bass to make a first play, them begin my retrieve, twitching my pole the way one does with this kind of lure—twitch, sploot!…twitch, sploot!…

If ever there is a time when I’m likely to get a strike, it is now. I do well with topwater fishing, “well” meaning, in my case, that from time to time I actually catch a fish. Other kinds of lures just don’t produce for me. I know, because I own every conceivable kind of lure there is. People mistake my tackle box for a pole barn with a handle on top. Look inside it and you’ll find a galaxy of stickbaits, spinnerbaits, plastic worms and grubs, lures of every size and denomination, all sharing one common characteristic: they repel fish lips. At least, they do in my hands.

My fishing buddy Jack refers to my fishing technique as “dredging.” I find his terminology lacking in refinement. I prefer to think of what I do as “un-fishing.” During most hours of the day, un-fishing is my customary practice, one I have honed to an art form.

But at topwater time, I fish.

Hmmm…the Pop-R isn’t producing. Might be time to try something different. A crankbait, maybe? I try one, make a few casts…mmmph. Nothing.

Okay, a Jitterbug. Yes, time for a Jitterbug, definitely. Topwater time isn’t complete without using one. And, what the heck—let’s just take off the shoes and socks, and gain some yardage out of the fact that I’m wearing shorts.

I wade out into the lake, out to where the water is above my knees. After a few casts, I feel something bump into my leg and something else tickle the top of my right foot. Looks like I have visitors. Small fish are showing up, evidently to investigate the new source of cover that has entered their territory.

Ignoring them, I continue to cast. Time passes. The sun slips below the treeline. The boats are coming in.

The mosquitoes are coming in as well, and they’re setting up drilling operations on my skin as freely as if they’d been granted mineral rights. It’s time to leave. There will be other topwater times this summer, hopefully many of them.

With its abundance of lakes and rivers, Michigan brims with both fish and opportunities to catch them. And topwater time is the great equalizer, when anyone can eventually catch a fish who wants to—even an un-fisherman like me.

There must be a dozen or more lakes in Michigan named Pickerel Lake, but this one is special. This Pickerel Lake is located on Ramsdell Drive in Cannon Township in central Kent County.

There are not many areas like this any more. Pickeral Lake is an undeveloped lake of eighty acres nestled within two hundred acres of woods, trails and nature located in what is called The Pickerel Lake and Fred Meijer Nature Preserve.

If you like to fish you may find Bluegill, Large Mouth Bass and Sunfish. Or just watch the wildlife and be someplace secluded, check out this West Michigan treasure.

 Its Saturday, Its Summer, Its off to enjoy the lake.

Wabasis Lake is a very popular Michigan lake in northern Kent county. Wabasis boasts of over 410 acres of surface water with depths of 55 feet. Conviently located in Oakfield Township, just south of Cedar Springs and a short drive from Grand Rapids.

If you are a fisherman, Bluegill, Crappie, Perch, Northern Pike or Largemouth Bass may await you here.

Kent county presents a wonderful park of over 150 acres of woods, lots of lake frontage, sandy beach, ball courts, horseshoe pits, boat launch and a nice spacious modern campground.

Wabasis Lake is still largely undeveloped. From on the shore or out on the water, for an afternoon or for the weekend, Wabisis Lake is worth investigating.

Here is a reminder of some of the boating rules when using one of Michigan’s lakes.

1.  All motor boats operating after sunset and prior to sunrise must have a green/red combination light on the front (bow) and a white light on the rear (stern).
2.  All watercraft are required by law to operate counterclockwise around the lake.
3.  All watercraft pulling a skier, tuber, toboggan, etc., are required to have on board an observer and a 170” mirror.
4.  Please do not drive under the influence of alcohol. It is against the law and is dangerous.
5.  All watercraft must observe the “slow no-wake” rule within 100 feet of swim areas, swimming or diving docks, launching ramps, anchored or drifting boats and diver flags.
6.  All motorized boats, sailboats twelve feet or longer, and rowboats over sixteen feet must be registered.
7.  All watercraft must have on board a Coast Guard approved personal floatation device (pfd) in good serviceable condition for each person on board. Watercraft under sixteen feet must have one type l,11,111,or lV for each person, Boats over sixteen feet must have one wearable type l,ll or lll for each person and have at least one throw able type lV.
8.  All passengers must be seated in a seat. No riding on the deck or the gunnels