Otsego Lake is located in northwest Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 at 44°57′20"N 84°41′32"W,south of the city of Gaylord

Gaylord, Michigan

Gaylord is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 3,681. It is the county seat of Otsego County. The city is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gaylord; it is by far the smallest settlement serving as the location of an active Roman...

 in Otsego County

Otsego County, Michigan

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 23,301 people, 8,995 households, and 6,539 families residing in the county. The population density was 45 people per square mile . There were 13,375 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...

. The lake spans the boundary between Otsego Township

Otsego Township, Michigan

Otsego Township is a civil township of Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,854 at the 2000 census. The City of Otsego is located within the township, but is administratively autonomous.-Geography:...

 to the south and Bagley Township

Bagley Township, Michigan

Bagley Township is a civil township of Otsego County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,838 at the 2000 census.- Communities :...

 to the north. Otsego Lake State Park

Otsego Lake State Park

Otsego Lake State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Michigan. The park is located on the southeast shore of Lake Otsego in Otsego Lake Township, Otsego County.-Facilities:* Beach House* Boat Launch* Campground - 155 Sites* Picnic Area...

 is located on the southeast shore of the lake and Otsego County Park is on the northwest shore. The lake has many private cottages and homes with direct access to the lake and parks.

History

In 1942, which was the year of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Lake Otsego was the home of Arthur Compton

Arthur Compton

Arthur Holly Compton was an American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his discovery of the Compton effect. He served as Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1945 to 1953.-Early years:...

. Arthur Compton was awarded the Nobel Prize

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

 for physics in 1941 for his work with the x-Ray

X-ray

X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...

. Shortly after receiving the award he was put on the Manhattan Project

Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...

 working on the atomic bomb.

Dimensions

Lake Otsego is 1972 acres (8 km²), and 5 miles (8 km) long and 1 miles (1.6 km) at its widest. The max depth of the lake is recorded at 23 feet (7 m) with the bottom shoal

Shoal

Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...

 composed of sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

 and light gravel

Gravel

Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...

. The lake is full of vegetation

Vegetation

Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...

 which is submerged at the bottom of the lake with very few floating vegetation.

Lake activities

There are an abundance of boats that frequent the lake during the busy times of year which bring along many skiers and boarders, as well as many tubing activities. Fisherman

Fisherman

A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...

 can also be seen scattered throughout the lake as well as the occasional seaplane

Seaplane

A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...

.

Fish

• Muskelunge
• Lake Sturgeon
• Northern pike
  Northern Pike
  The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
  
  
• Largemouth bass
  Largemouth bass
  The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...
  
  
• Smallmouth bass
  Smallmouth bass
  The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...
  
  
• Rock bass
  Rock bass
  The rock bass , also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, or red eye is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller...
  
  
• Bluegill
  Bluegill
  The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...
  
  
• Yellow perch
  Yellow perch
  The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...
  
  
• Pumpkinseed
  Pumpkinseed
  The pumpkinseed sunfish is a freshwater fish of the sunfish family of order Perciformes. It is also referred to as "pond perch", "common sunfish", "punkys", and "sunny".-Range and distribution:...
  
  sunfish