Baseline lake

Baseline Lake is the second lake in the Portage Chain of lakes. The fish in this 254-acre lake are not especially big, but there are lots of bluegills, crappies, walleyes and yellow perch, plus smallmouth bass and rock bass. Bluegills run 6 to 8 inches, and crappies average 8 to 10 inches. Smallmouth bass are in the 12 to 14 inch range, and there are plenty to be had. The DNR stocks walleyes in Base Line, though you’ll have to work to find them, says one of the owners of Log Cabin Hardware and Golden Drake Fly Shop, 9280 McGregor Road, Pinckney, MI 48169, (734) 426-2256. He suggests fishing the 10 to 15 foot depths near the lake’s sunken islands, using nightcrawlers, leeches, and big minnows, if you are after those elusive walleyes. Anglers may also have luck in the same area drift-fishing or casting with spinners or big jigs tipped with minnows or nightcrawlers. The inlet on the lake’s eastern shore is also a good spot to search for rock bass, bluegills, and an occasional pike. Work the area just outside the inlet and then within it. The lake’s panfish can often be found in areas with a muck bottom along the shores of the lake. Base Line gets a quite a bit of recreational boat use, especially on weekends, so if you want undisturbed angling, avoid midday crowds. There isn’t a lot of natural structure, but you may have success by working steep drop-offs around much of the lakeshore. Maximum depth of the lake is 64 feet. To test the waters of Base Line Lake, put boats in on Portage Lake, use the channel on the southeast corner of that lake, and move briefly into the Huron River before heading north into Base Line. There is a hard-surfaced ramp on the south shore of Big Portage Lake.
There are usually some excellent waterfront properties on Baseline Lake ranging from the mid $100,000’s to mid $500,000’s. For information on waterfront properties and area lakes visit http://www.anthonyemartin.com or call me at 734-552-1804.