Indian River

Burt and Mullett lakes are part of the famous “Inland Waterway”, a 40-mile long navigable system of lakes and rivers that flow from Crooked Lake northeast to Lake Huron. Maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the boating channel has a minimum depth of 5 feet and a width of 30 feet. Buoys mark a safe channel through Cheboygan, Indian and Crooked rivers. Flashing lights have been placed at the river entrances in Burt and Mullett lakes. Keep red channel markers on the right when going upstream and the black channel markers on the right when going downstream. Many restaurants, motels, marinas and stores are found along the entire route. The Coast Guard Cutter “Mackinaw” has its home port in Cheboygan, Michigan.

Mullett Lake:Smelt, alewife and cisco are the primary forage for walleye, trout, northern pike and muskie. Smelt numbers have remained stable, while a decline in cisco population has been noted. Perch are highly abundant and offer an excellent forage for walleye. Sucker, golden shiner, spottail shiner logperch, trout-perch and other minnows are also common. Round goby are an exotic species that has appeared in the entire Great Lakes system. They do have adverse affects to the typical food chain, but are fast becoming a key forage species, especially for smallmouth bass. Burt Lake: Larger predators utilize perch and alewife. Emerald shiner, logperch, Johnny darters and other minnow species are common. Crayfish are an important component of the smallmouth bass diet. The mud flats hold good numbers of mayfly larvae and bloodworms.

Mullett Lake:In early spring, smelt run up Mullett Creek to spawn. Smelt dipping is not permitted in the creek. There is a small run of walleye up the Indian River and a few migrate downstream into the Cheboygan River. Some believe a portion of the Mullett walleye population moves into Burt in spring to spawn, since that lake offers more suitable spawning habitat. Burt Lake: Walleye spawn along the rock and gravel bottom at the northeast corner of the lake. A small run of fish also occurs up the Sturgeon River. In fall, brown trout spawn in the Maple and Sturgeon rivers.