orchard lake in oakland county.
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I really only fish it in the summer, but I want to try in the winter. I've caught pike, small mouth, large mouth, Gills, Rock bass, and I've heard of Crappie in the spring too.
It's really deep in spots so it takes a long time to freeze. Be careful when you do head out and good luck!
Oh yeah, as for bait shops there might be some up in waterford, but none that I know of really close to Orchard Lake.
MDH
It's really deep in spots so it takes a long time to freeze. Be careful when you do head out and good luck!
Oh yeah, as for bait shops there might be some up in waterford, but none that I know of really close to Orchard Lake.
MDH
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4,660 Posts
mainly a pike lake on the dropoff of the east shore. good small gill fishing at the boat launch basin and behind the island near the church.
no bait shops nearby. gander mountain --Novi, K-d sports Waterford,lake view party store off cooley lake and cedar island road .
no bait shops nearby. gander mountain --Novi, K-d sports Waterford,lake view party store off cooley lake and cedar island road .
(Six's) Lake view party store is on cooley lake rd & round lake rd.
Thank god they still have bait!
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I have never fished the lake myself, but I have heard of some very nice pike taken out of that lake. If you do a forum search on Orchard lake I'm sure you will find a few posts but one in particular comes to mind- A very nice spring crappie post with pics. It is a pretty big lake and most people that access the lake at the public launch tend to fish around the launch, I'm not sure if thats due to size of the lake or the fact that they are catching fish.
rwbaker please fill out a little more info on yourself so we know where about you are -That will help us on bait shop locations. I would recommend K&D bait in waterford(if you are near that area) they have a great selection, are very fair, and will have up to date info on the lake itself-which is alway a plus for trying out new lakes. Be safe out there and tight lines.
rwbaker please fill out a little more info on yourself so we know where about you are -That will help us on bait shop locations. I would recommend K&D bait in waterford(if you are near that area) they have a great selection, are very fair, and will have up to date info on the lake itself-which is alway a plus for trying out new lakes. Be safe out there and tight lines.
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I have been a customer there for a few years (since they are very close to the lakes and house) but dont usualy buy my bait from them, due to mainly their hours in the summer- I recently started using this store since the guy who runs it finally decided to open at a "decent" hour on weekends (7:00 am) and I also belive strongly in supporting my local businesses - To my dismay I have had a few problems with there service and would not recommend them to anyone when trying to buy bait. I dont mind getting shorted every now and again, but it seems every time I go in there the bait count and quality is getting worse - I have been in to buy from him 6 times in the past 2 weeks so its not like the guy didn't have a chance to make up for it. Sorry about the rant and Hi jacking the thread I may give the place another shot in a month or so (I know they are just starting their bait business back up), but from now on I will be going twice the distance for bait.
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sorry about the wrong name. i have only bought bait there once and never again. He actually counted 12 minnows and they were useless fatheads , then charged me some ridiculous amount. I left there ,unhitched my boat and drove to k.d for some real minnows. I just put it out there as an option. The store was closed and reopened recently ,so hopefully it has a new owner. There is also a bait store/party store on kent lake road near the buno road entrance to kensington . good place.
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Wew....I thought I'd get ripped up for speaking my mind after you guys posted the places name, but I dont like seeing people getting taken advantage of and felt I had to say something. Sorry to hear I'm not the only one getting poor service over there. I laughed the first time he counted out the minnows for me, the second time I was less impressed, then got shorted on some walleye minnows (which seemed over priced to me as well). Same owner too by the way. I have purchased from K&D in the past with no problems at all and thats where I will be doing all of my bait shopping for the remainder of the season. Twice the drive but worth it!!!
There's much better lakes to fish than Orchard in that vicinity. Orchard Lake is one of the shallower lakes around, and the last fish trap survey was'nt very impressive. You'd have much better luck on Union, Cass, Pontiac, or any lake with a drop-off. Orchard is pretty sandy, with a mild slope that only gets about 40', I think. The DNR lake maps make it alot easier to find fish, or just fish where everyone else is fishing.
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I beg to Differ. Orchard has 3 large, deep basins of 60, 80 and 110' with sharp drops from 4 to 20 plus feet. Big pike, nice gills and good perch when you can find them. Lots of bass with some real giants. I beleive the lake record is 9/12 Lbs, caught by an older gentleman who wieghed the fish at the old Lakeside takle on Grand River about 10 years ago. I still run into Chuck out there occasionaly. In recent years LBV has reduced the number of bigger Largemouths, but the number of big smallies has increased. Icefishing can be tough because there is so much water and structure to cover. This is also one of the last lakes to freeze because of the depths.
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