What is the best fishing lake near Detroit?

Cordley Lake Central Basin; Hamburg Township in Livingston County is the top-ranked fishing lake near Detroit, with a water quality grade of A (43 miles away).

How many lakes are near Detroit for fishing?

24 lakes within driving distance of Detroit match the fishing filters used on this page.

Best Lakes for Fishing Near Detroit

Michigan

24 fishing lakes within driving distance of Detroit, Michigan, ranked by water quality and fishing-specific filters. Filtered for documented fish species (3+) and public access. Ranked by water quality and species diversity.

Within reasonable driving distance of Detroit sit 24 graded lakes — a lake-dense area that gives residents real choice on any given weekend. The average grade across the nearby set is C.

Filtered for fishing, the nearby-lake list narrows further. fishing-specific signals — fish species, public access, depth profile, motor-boat congestion — interact with the LakeGrade rubric in different ways depending on the use case.

#	Lake	County	Grade	Distance	Clarity	Depth
1	Cordley Lake Central Basin; Hamburg Township	Livingston	A	43 mi	-	-
2	Ore Lake West Basin; Hamburg Township	Livingston	A	39.8 mi	10 ft	-
3	Silver Lake	Washtenaw	A	47 mi	11.5 ft	-
4	Otter Lake	Oakland	B	25.7 mi	10 ft	-
5	Round Lake	Oakland	B	35.1 mi	10 ft	-
6	Clark Lake	Livingston	B	41.7 mi	12 ft	-
7	Base Line Lake Northeast Basin; Hamburg Township	Livingston	B	43.7 mi	10.5 ft	-
8	Portage Lake South Basin; Dexter Township	Washtenaw	B	45.1 mi	13 ft	-
9	Silver Lake	Washtenaw	B	47.1 mi	11.5 ft	-
10	Silver Lake	Genesee	B	48.3 mi	12 ft	-
11	Pleasant Lake	Oakland	C	24.4 mi	9 ft	-
12	Pleasant Lake; West Bloomfield Township	Oakland	C	24.5 mi	9.5 ft	-
13	Sylvan Lake; Sylvan Lake Township	Oakland	C	24.9 mi	9.5 ft	-
14	Sylvan Lake	Oakland	C	25.1 mi	9.5 ft	-
15	Twin Lakes	Oakland	C	30.4 mi	5 ft	-
16	Cranberry Lake; Center of Deepest Basin; Independence Township	Oakland	C	34.8 mi	8 ft	-
17	Cranberry Lake	Oakland	C	34.8 mi	7.3 ft	-
18	Tamarack Lake	Livingston	C	43.5 mi	8 ft	-
19	Tamarack Lake North Basin; Hamburg Township	Livingston	C	43.5 mi	7 ft	-
20	Pleasant Lake Central Basin; Freedom Township	Washtenaw	C	47.3 mi	7.2 ft	-
21	Pleasant Lake Northwest Basin; Freedom Township	Washtenaw	C	47.6 mi	5.8 ft	-
22	Twin Lakes	Oakland	D	30.5 mi	5 ft	-
23	First Sister Lake	Washtenaw	F	38.4 mi	3 ft	-
24	Second Sister Lake	Washtenaw	F	38.6 mi	3 ft	-

Other activities near Detroit

Swimming near Detroit →Kayaking near Detroit →Boating near Detroit →All lakes near Detroit →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.