Big Star Lake

Seach Big Star Lake Listings

Big Star Lake is in Lake County and Lake Township. It is a 912 - acre lake in southwestern part of Lake County in the Pere Marquette River Watershed. It is the largest body of water in the county.

Big Star Lake has no inlet and one intermittent outlet with a lake-level control structure. Water that flows out of Big Star Lake through the outlet flows through a  series of wetlands into Jenks Creek, a tributary of Danaher Creek, which is a tributary of the Pere Marquette River. Big Star Lake has a maximum depth of 25 feet at normal lake level; however, the lake is susceptible to fluctuations with the groundwater table. During unusually dry or wet conditions the water level can fluctuate several feet.

Due to its shallow nature, Big Star Lake has abundant aquatic vegetation. Big Star Lake stocked with bluegill, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, and bluegill, walleye, and northern pike.

The country surrounding the lake is hilly and forested, with predominantly sandy soils. Big Star Lake consists of three different "arms" or basins that are similar in size, and
with normal water levels at least 70% of the lake is shallower than 15 feet. Substrates in Big Star Lake are predominantly sand and organic muck and the west basin contains a shallow, weedy bay. A few stumps and deadheads provide fish cover. The shoreline of Big Star Lake is heavily developed and Hay (1995) estimated 317 houses or cottages occurred on it at that time. Public access to Big Star Lake is provided at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) site on the western shore