Lake · Ontonagon, Michigan

Courtney Lake

At a glance

Area: 14 ha (33 acres)
Mean depth (estimated): ≈ 2.9 m (10 ft)

Mean depth: HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016)

This lake's year

A ring of the twelve months, January at the top: the outer band is the ice cover, the inner rings the spawning months of the lake's species, and a needle marks the day this page was updated. The list beside it says the same.

No published ice dates for this lake.
1. Lake trout spawns: Sep–Nov (months cited for Great Lakes populations)
Needle: Oct 25, the day this page was updated

Spawning months from each species' cited source for this region, for its five best-recorded species here; ice dates from the published record (sources below). Summer layering and fall turnover are drawn only for lakes the USGS has modelled (in the U.S. Midwest).

Who lives here

Brook trout Salvelinus fontinalisStocked · 2025 · Fish stocking: Michigan Department of Natural Resources (Fish Stocking Database)
Lake trout Salvelinus namaycushStocked · 2020 · Fish stocking: Michigan Department of Natural Resources (Fish Stocking Database)

Not listed doesn't mean no fish.

Stocking

Year	Species	Number
Dec 19, 2025	Brook trout	100
Dec 17, 2025	Brook trout	100
May 20, 2025	Brook trout	59
May 20, 2025	Brook trout	170
May 6, 2025	Brook trout	500
May 1, 2025	Brook trout	82
May 10, 2024	Brook trout	300
Apr 15, 2024	Brook trout	250
May 16, 2023	Brook trout	200
Jun 8, 2022	Brook trout	500
Oct 27, 2020	Lake trout	80
Oct 27, 2020	Lake trout	80
May 15, 2020	Brook trout	260
Apr 29, 2019	Brook trout	62
Apr 29, 2019	Brook trout	62
Nov 14, 2018	Brook trout	797
Jun 27, 2018	Brook trout	500
Jul 5, 2017	Brook trout	125
Jun 9, 2017	Brook trout	250
Jun 7, 2017	Brook trout	250

As the agency publishes it. Newest first: 20 of 28.

Getting on the water

Courtney Lake Boat LandingBoat launch · USDA Forest Service, INFRA Recreation Sites

Listed by public agencies. A listed site doesn't make the water or its shore open to fishing: when in doubt, it's unknown. Check signs and local rules.

The rules

Summary, not the law. Check the official regulations before you fish.

HuntGrid has no rules for this water yet.

Official regulations: Michigan Department of Natural Resources

What's biting

This water is too small for community summaries: on a small water a summary could point to someone's spot.

About this page

Sources and licences:

U.S. Geological Survey, National Hydrography Dataset Plus High Resolution (NHDPlus HR); U.S. Census Bureau, TIGER/Line® Shapefiles 2025: counties and states · Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. §105)
Lake mean depth: HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016, Nature Communications 7:13603), CC BY 4.0 · CC BY 4.0
Fish stocking: Michigan Department of Natural Resources (Fish Stocking Database) · State of Michigan open data terms (https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=fc7739be5f5247e7bf7f2c6bc9471140, read 2026-10-19): "This dataset is a public record and, as more fully described below, there are no restrictions on the use, reproduction, or distribution of this dataset." The terms also carry a release of claims and an unlimited indemnity, accepted under the owner's 2026-10-19 rule. Credit the agency; remove the layer if the agency asks.
USDA Forest Service, INFRA Recreation Sites · CC BY 4.0 (data.gov listing); US Government work
Michigan DNR, Institute for Fisheries Research · Public record: no restrictions on use, reproduction or distribution (State of Michigan open data terms, provided as is)

Spawning months:

Lake trout: Marcus, M.D., W.A. Hubert and S.H. Anderson. 1984. Habitat suitability index models: Lake trout (exclusive of the Great Lakes). U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. FWS/OBS-82/10.84 (habitat use information: temperature that cues spawning (varies by lake)); p. 3 (spawning months: Great Lakes, New York, New Hampshire, Maine; mid-August to mid-September in Great Bear and Great Slave lakes)

The outline is drawn from the official water data credited above, without a basemap. These pages show no angler's catches, spots or tracks.