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There are three Manistique Lakes in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Upper Penisula is accessed by car only by way of the Mackinac Bridge or by boat. The lakes include North Manistique Lake, Big Manistique Lake, and South Manistique Lake. The towns surrounding the lakes are Curtis, Germfask, and Helmer. The lakes are known for vacationing and fishing. They are also in close proximity to other natural sights such as the Great Lakes, rivers, and smaller lakes as well as the Canadian border, the Soo Locks, Mackinac Island, parks, and museums.

Tourism and Recreational Activities

Tourists visit the Manistique Lakes year-round as both warm and cold recreation are available.

Warm weather

Warmer temperatures start in late April. The warm weather opens activities including fishing, swimming, snorkeling, and water skiing. Boats, motors, and jet skis can be rented from local dealers. There are many public access sights on the lakes for boating in the town of Curtis, Michigan.

Cold Weather

Ice begins to form in early December. Winter sports and ice fishing events are available from late December to mid-April .

North Manistique Lake

North Manistique Lake is located in Luce County, Michigan. The lake has about 1700 acres of surface area. Springs on the northern and eastern shores and a small inlet on the western shore flow into the lake. Helmer Creek provides the only outlet moving south in to Big Manistique Lake. Both private and commercial residences populate most of the shoreline while some public land is comprised of county parks and boat launches.

The bottom of the lake is bowl shaped. It contains some shallow flat areas and a deep area in the middle. Nearly half of the lake is less than fifteen feet deep while the maximum depth is approximately fifty feet .

In the deep sections of the lake, the substrate found at the bottom is peat, and in the shallow sections of the lake, the substrates found at the bottom are sand and marl. On the western shore, there is a shallow rock reef. While aquatic vegetation is rarely found, some plants are able to grow in North Manistique including rushes, Chara, and Potomageton.

Fish Community

• same species as many inland lakes of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
• Fish stocking for over 80 years
• Some species include: walleyes, northern pike, trout, splake, and smallmouth bass
• Walleyes/Yellow Perch: mid-1930s to early 1940s
• Rainbow trout: 1947-1961, 1982
• Northern Pike: 1962-1977, 1988,1989,1991,1993,1998, 2000
• Brown trout: 1980-1984, program discontinued after 1984
• Walleye fry/Fingerlings: late 1970s - Present
• Adult Lake Trout: 1982-1999
• 11 State of Michigan Master Angler award for Rock Bass and Smallmouth Bass caught in North Manistique from 1994-2000

Big Manistique Lake

• Luce and Mackinac Counties, Michigan
• Surface area: Approximately 10,000 acres
• Fed by Helmer Creek on north and Portage Creek on South
• Portage Creek flows from South Manistique Lake into Big with Portage Creek Dam for elevating water level for summer recreation for South Manistique Lake
• Portage Creek Dam lets fish passage in both directions
• Helmer Creek - trout stream - outlet of North Manistique and connects to Big Manistique
• Tressler Dam - downstream fish passage is more likely
• Manistique River is outlet on west Big Manistique and drains to Lake Michigan
• Manistique Lake Dam 4 miles downstream of lake and immediately downstream of confluence with Fox River
• Dam blocks upstream fish flow through Manistique River to Big Manistique
• Fish can move upstream between Fox River and Big Manistique Lake
• Shoreline developed with private and commercial residences
• Public land at 4 boat access sites
• Maximum depth is approx. 20 feet
• Uniform bathymetry
• Most of lake is less than 15 feet deep
• Shallow substrate: Sand, gravel, rock
• Deep Substrate: sand and organic matter
• Aquatic vegetation is sparse - in shallow areas and submerged beds

Fish Community

• Cyprinidae, Catostomidae, Centrarchidae, Esocidae, Ictaluridae, Percidae, and Slamonidae, minnows, white suckers, shorthead redhorse, silver redhorse, panfish, and lake herring, yellow perch, rock bass, walleye, bluegill
• Stocking: Walleye fry - 1935, 1970-1980, 2005, Lake Sturgeon - 1983, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1990, Smallmouth Bass - 1998
• 3 State of Michigan Master Angler award fish from Big Manistique during 1994-2005 - Northern pike, rock bass, smallmouth bass

South Manistique Lake

• Also known as Whitefish Lake
• 4001 acre lake
• Northwestern Mackinac County in Portage and Newton Townships, Michigan
• Curtis located on north shore between South and Big Manistique Lakes
• Surrounding land - uplands with mix of herbaceous and woody wetlands
• Surrounding soil - sand, and coarse sand, loam and loamy sand???
• 2 designated trout streams, Norton Creek and Taylor Creek; Strom Creek and Shoepac River flow into lake
• Only outlet is Portage Creek located on north end of lake in Curtis and empties into Big Manistique
• Substrate on shore: Sandy with bays of sand, much, and fibrous peat
• Maximum water depth is 29 feet
• Recreation: summer and winter, 4 public access boat launhes, Recreational boating and personal watercraft, Ice-fishing

Fish Community

• Walleye, lake supports natural reproduction; stocked in the early 1970s to the mid 1990s
• Bluegill - poor fishery - high angler harvest, predation from walleye and other predation
• Yellow Perch
• Smallmouth and largemouth bass
• Rainbow trout
• Splake
• Muskellunge stocked in 1972, after 1980 every 2-4 years, reduced stocking in the 1990s
• Most fish populations, except muskellunge which are still stocked, are sustained through natural reproduction
• Management goal to maintain the health of the fish community and support muskellunge stocking and maintain health of aquatic ecosystem and improve conditions for fish

Aquatic Plants

• convert sunlight and nutrients into living plant tissue than can be used by the lake's bacteria, fish, waterfowl, insects, and mammals as food.
• Rooted plants create varied environment for fish and important for their reproductive activities

Rivers in Manistique Lakes Area

• The Manistique River: from west end of Big Manistique Lake to town of Manistique and empties into Lake Michigan, 80 miles long, 2-10 feet deep, sand/gravel bottom, fishing for Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass and Walleye
• The Fox River: from Alger and Northern Schoolcraft counties, 4 Campgrounds on river, Brook Trout fishing
• The Two Hearted River: mainstream is from mouth of Dawnson Creek to mouth of East Branch, wading, canoeing, fishing - Brook and Rainbow Trout
• The Tahquamenon River: Canoeing, Brook and Brown Trout, Walleyes, and Muskies