# Versluis Park in GR



## Xtremefisher (May 28, 2008)

I was just wondering if anyone fishes here and if they ever do any good. I am not looking for any secrets about the lake or the park, just someplace to shore fish around the grand rapids area. Any information would be greatly appreciated.


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## waterfoul (May 18, 2005)

You can shore fish for smallies at the 6th street park... either side of the river. Versluise park is a rip off if you ask me. It's expensive and I've never seen a park with more "NO XXXXXXXXX (insert your favorite activity here)" anywhere else in America.

You can also shore fish at the boat ramp at Selkirk Lake (south of Wayland). Wabasis Lake offers a lot of shore fishing. Cambell Lake near Caledonia too. Most lakes in the area with a decent public boat launch offer some kind of shore fishing opportunities.


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## Quack Wacker (Dec 20, 2006)

Versluis Lake is a private lake owned by the Condo community that is on it, the only place to fish for the public is at the park. You can't have a boat on it unless you live on it. It is an all electric lake, little structure. It is a an old gravel quary and has pretty much every specie in it. However again I said it is a private lake. My father in law lives on it and is the chairman for the community. FYI- the people who live there pay to have the lake maintained and do not like people tresspassing. They watch the lake very and I mean very closely and have a great relationship with the DNR to come out and kick people off quickly, this is also true about the winter. If you ice fish more than a hundred yards off of the public beach area expect a visit from the DNR and they count how many lines you have in the water before calling the DNR. They will inform the DNR when they call if you are violating. About every third house has spotting scopes in the condos to view if people are tresspassing. You can see the zits on your face if you are at the beach so for them describing who you are to the DNR is no problem. 

Hope that was enough info. If you try to fish off of the public beach, which is small it is a waste of your time. Most of the good fishing is located on the oposite end. 

I am not saying not to try it, but be cautious.


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## thedude (Jul 20, 2004)

Quack Wacker said:


> Versluis Lake is a private lake owned by the Condo community that is on it, the only place to fish for the public is at the park. You can't have a boat on it unless you live on it. It is an all electric lake, little structure. It is a an old gravel quary and has pretty much every specie in it. However again I said it is a private lake. My father in law lives on it and is the chairman for the community. FYI- the people who live there pay to have the lake maintained and do not like people tresspassing. They watch the lake very and I mean very closely and have a great relationship with the DNR to come out and kick people off quickly, this is also true about the winter. If you ice fish more than a hundred yards off of the public beach area expect a visit from the DNR and they count how many lines you have in the water before calling the DNR. They will inform the DNR when they call if you are violating. About every third house has spotting scopes in the condos to view if people are tresspassing. You can see the zits on your face if you are at the beach so for them describing who you are to the DNR is no problem.
> 
> Hope that was enough info. If you try to fish off of the public beach, which is small it is a waste of your time. Most of the good fishing is located on the oposite end.
> 
> I am not saying not to try it, but be cautious.


thats interesting... technically if there is a public frontage on the lake, you can access private water any way you want.. unless you are not allowed to bring a kayak or something into the park by park rules.


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## crosscobra (Aug 5, 2007)

i plan on doing some ice fishing there this year as it is right down the road from me


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## Dave Ash (May 3, 2006)

He is right, If there is public acess to a lake you can bring a kayak in and fish it. A kayak that is not under the power of a motor or sail is the same as an intertube. 

So unless the public park has a ban on it, the people in the condo's cant do much. They do not own the bottom of the lake.


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## waterfoul (May 18, 2005)

The lake doesn't fish that well anyway.  There are much better places to fish that don't cost a dime to get in. And Dave, like I said... I've never seen a park with more "No this" and "No that" signs in it!!!

Reeds Lake offers some pretty good shore fishing... 100's of feet of it in fact. FREE.


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## Xtremefisher (May 28, 2008)

Thanks for all the information. I was just wondering about the park, maybe trying to get some crappie, I might just have to see if I can get kicked outta there. :lol: but a few smallies around 6th street are never a bad thing to tie into.


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## duckman#1 (Sep 22, 2002)

Dave Ash said:


> He is right, If there is public acess to a lake you can bring a kayak in and fish it. A kayak that is not under the power of a motor or sail is the same as an intertube.
> 
> So unless the public park has a ban on it, the people in the condo's cant do much. They do not own the bottom of the lake.


Actually they do own the bottom of the lake as in raperien rights (spelling)
but as long as you don't drop anchor or get out of the boat and stand on the lake bottom then your fine.
As mentioned, as long as you can legally launch a kayak, canoe, ect, then theres nothing that stuck up lake association can do!

However, I would like to know why the DNR can kick someone off the lake while ice fishing more than a few hundred yards from the public land???
seems as long as you have public access then you can ice fish anywhere on it???

Maybe we should have a MS ice outting this winter out there? That could be interesting lol


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## Dave Ash (May 3, 2006)

Duckman, Thats what i meant thanks for clearing that up for me


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## Quack Wacker (Dec 20, 2006)

duckman#1 said:


> Actually they do own the bottom of the lake as in raperien rights (spelling)
> but as long as you don't drop anchor or get out of the boat and stand on the lake bottom then your fine.
> As mentioned, as long as you can legally launch a kayak, canoe, ect, then theres nothing that stuck up lake association can do!
> 
> ...


I think what I typed about DNR kicking people off was missunderstood. You can fish it, but they watch you and if you are fishing with to many lines the DNR will come and kick you off and ticket you. Also if you come down onto the lake behind the stores you are tresspassing, so they get you that way too. 

Sorry for the confusion.


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## WMUAngler (Oct 18, 2007)

If you pay the money, you can bring your kayak in through the public park. My girlfriend and I brought our kayaks down there and fished for a couple of hours. It looked like they must put a lot of chemicals in the lake because the water was a strange blue color. We caught a few small bass and decided that the lake was not worth the money when there are plenty of free lakes in the area. I probably won't be back there anytime soon...


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## Quack Wacker (Dec 20, 2006)

WMUAngler said:


> If you pay the money, you can bring your kayak in through the public park. My girlfriend and I brought our kayaks down there and fished for a couple of hours. It looked like they must put a lot of chemicals in the lake because the water was a strange blue color. We caught a few small bass and decided that the lake was not worth the money when there are plenty of free lakes in the area. I probably won't be back there anytime soon...


 
It is that color because it is an old gravel quary, and taps into the natural underwater springs. No chemicals have been used in the lake that I have heard of.


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## wyldkat49766 (Apr 21, 2007)

There is also Millenium Park for fishing too.


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## Ugly Stick (Mar 25, 2004)

Its been a while since I have fished the lake, 4 or more years. We caught some nice SmallMouth right from the fishing dock. We saw some huge Carp cruising the shallows. Blue gills everywhere. We even caught some trout one night.


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## ezyeric (Jul 14, 2004)

Ive fished the lake south of it, other side of Northland drive many times from shore. They recently plowed the entire north side down and restablished no trespassing on the fence. But if you can get in the side of the lake closest to the grand has a steep dropoff and is still fishable.


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## eriklane (Jan 10, 2008)

I've fished Versluis a lot, and find good bluegills on the south shore off the condos, and in the far east bay. Caught a large pike but he got off, right by the bay mouth as it opens into the main lake. Caught some decent smallies also on the south side. Been all over the lake with a graph, but cannot find anything that looks like walleyes grouped up on the bottom. I think they suspend and are scattered. Never caught a decent walleye, but did catch a small one or 2(less than 10"). Also caught some 13" largemouths, again, nothing huge. Got talked to by the DNR because I had an elec. motor on my 14' flat bottom boat with no reg. numbers. Got that taken care of and I got permission to put in behind blockbuster, and do go there frequently. They stock it with bluegills I think. But most of the owners I've talked to have been nice. Decent gills also on a sunken island mid lake toward the south, but I cannot find it with regularity. Lines up with the cell tower to the south, and with the main power pole on the west. Nice clean, quiet lake, but dang, no walleyes.


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## Wanderin'_Angler (Apr 12, 2008)

eriklane said:


> .........Nice clean, quiet lake, but dang, no walleyes.


No walleyes?! I caught two pretty nice sized walleye there two weeks ago. Nothing huge, but nice fish!

G


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## crosscobra (Aug 5, 2007)

anyone ever fish that lake behind the micky 'ds? i saw a guy in a shanty there last year but that was it


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## ezyeric (Jul 14, 2004)

crosscobra said:


> anyone ever fish that lake behind the micky 'ds? i saw a guy in a shanty there last year but that was it


See my reply above


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## crosscobra (Aug 5, 2007)

ezyeric said:


> See my reply above


 you didn't say how u did though lol


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## Tomatoe Paste (Aug 17, 2016)

Quack Wacker said:


> Versluis Lake is a private lake owned by the Condo community that is on it, the only place to fish for the public is at the park. You can't have a boat on it unless you live on it. It is an all electric lake, little structure. It is a an old gravel quary and has pretty much every specie in it. However again I said it is a private lake. My father in law lives on it and is the chairman for the community. FYI- the people who live there pay to have the lake maintained and do not like people tresspassing. They watch the lake very and I mean very closely and have a great relationship with the DNR to come out and kick people off quickly, this is also true about the winter. If you ice fish more than a hundred yards off of the public beach area expect a visit from the DNR and they count how many lines you have in the water before calling the DNR. They will inform the DNR when they call if you are violating. About every third house has spotting scopes in the condos to view if people are tresspassing. You can see the zits on your face if you are at the beach so for them describing who you are to the DNR is no problem.
> 
> Hope that was enough info. If you try to fish off of the public beach, which is small it is a waste of your time. Most of the good fishing is located on the oposite end.
> 
> I am not saying not to try it, but be cautious.


_*Anyone *can fish at Versluis, yes the only way to get there is basically through the park, or if your a resident at the condos, they have their own personal/private access. You must carry your boat/canoe etc. onto the water, battery only, no gas. Versluis is an extra water reservoir for the Township. The DNR plays a significant part in the rules/regulations of the park. Make sure you have your fishing license. Information can be found on the Plainfield Website, plainfieldmi.org. Versluis has had several visitors fishing there this season and they have been extremely happy with what they have caught. Versluis hosts a large variety of fish in its lake: Bluegill, Carp, Catfish, Croppies, Gar Pike, Large Mouth Bass, Northern Pike, Rock Bass, Small Mouth Bass, Sun Fish and Walleye._


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## Tomatoe Paste (Aug 17, 2016)

thedude said:


> thats interesting... technically if there is a public frontage on the lake, you can access private water any way you want.. unless you are not allowed to bring a kayak or something into the park by park rules.


_Sorry, but you can bring a kayak onto Versluis, there have been several there this summer. If you go in through the park, you need to carry it. Trailers are not allowed._


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## Tomatoe Paste (Aug 17, 2016)

WMUAngler said:


> If you pay the money, you can bring your kayak in through the public park. My girlfriend and I brought our kayaks down there and fished for a couple of hours. It looked like they must put a lot of chemicals in the lake because the water was a strange blue color. We caught a few small bass and decided that the lake was not worth the money when there are plenty of free lakes in the area. I probably won't be back there anytime soon...


_They can't put much if anything in that lake as it's an extra water reservoir fir the township!_


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## Tomatoe Paste (Aug 17, 2016)

Tomatoe Paste said:


> _They can't put much if anything in that lake as it's an extra water reservoir fir the township!_


Fish have been added occasionally over the years, Plainfield Township and the condo association have split the cost. No chemicals added


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