Graves Lake

[Scott M]

My dad used to talk about the huge Bluegill in this lake on Hwy 38 by Grand Rapids. He said he went with my grandpa, his father-in-law, to this guy who lived on the lake who did taxidermy and had huge Gill mounts all over the shop. Wonder if the fishing is any good in the winter. I checked the regs once and saw it was a 5 fish limit. Can you pick any spot and catch them, and are they still big?

[Brian Jones]

I fished Graves this past season and didn't think it was anything to get too exited about. We caught some nice bluegills but not the wall hangers I have also heard about in the past. The lake has a lot of structure and steep breaks so you can't just fish anywhere...cabbage is key. Looks like it could be a tough lake to access in the winter too. Hope this helps you out.

[bmc]

2 winters ago I fished the south west side of the lake and caught gills out of every hole I punched. Most of them were in the 8-9" range, but there are fish over 10" there for sure. My kids and I had a blast up there this summer gill fishing, lots of CPR'ing them gills. We did manage a couple near the 10" mark, but nothing over. The bonus walleye here and there was nice too. If a guy has a sled or atv, you could cover alot of ground out there and get into some decent gills. Remember the limit is 5!

Brian

[captainshane]

I HAVE HEARD THAT YEARS BACK SUNFISH WERE A DIME A DOZEN ON THAT LAKE. THE NUMBERS ARE DOWN NOW AND THATS WHY THERE IS A LIMIT OF 5. THEY ARE TRYING TO GET IT BACK TO WHAT IS WAS. IT IS STILL A NICE LAKE TO FISH THOUGH.

SHANE

[bmc]

#'s are down?, It sure didn't seem that way last summer. We had to work a bit to find the gills, they sure weren't everywhere, but when you found them they were really nice and lots of them. I think the 5 fish limit is to protect the gills from being overharvested and to get the size back up to what it once was. Lots of gills in that 8'9" range with a good shot at a 10"+ fish. The same is true for Bass Lake by Cohasset.

Brian