Thumb Lake, also known as Lake Louise, is a kettle lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 located in Hudson Township, Charlevoix County, Michigan

Hudson Township, Charlevoix County, Michigan

Hudson Township is a civil township of Charlevoix County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 639.-Geography:...

. The epithet

Epithet

An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...

 Thumb Lake derives from the lake's bathymetry

Bathymetry

Bathymetry is the study of underwater depth of lake or ocean floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry. The name comes from Greek βαθύς , "deep", and μέτρον , "measure"...

. An islet

Islet

An islet is a very small island.- Types :As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability....

 protrudes from the lake's west basin. The total surface area of the lake is 484 acres (2 km²), with maximum depths of 152 feet (46.3 m).

The lake is nestled in the highlands east of the village of Boyne Falls

Boyne Falls, Michigan

Boyne Falls is a village in Charlevoix County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 370 at the 2000 census. The Boyne Falls post office first opened September 5, 1874....

, centered at 45°11′N 84°45′W, and is surrounded by wooded hills. Because of its depth and the dearth of run-off into the lake, its waters are exceptionally clear. The lake is inhabited by splake

Splake

The splake is a hybrid of two fish species resulting from the crossing of a male brook trout and a female lake trout...

, a stocked hybrid species (lake trout

Lake trout

Lake trout is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, lake char , touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, they can also be variously known as siscowet, paperbellies and leans...

 and brook trout

Brook trout

The brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...

), rainbow trout

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

, 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...

, 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...

, 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...

, smelt. Public access is available on the eastern shore of the lake in the form of a park with swimming beach, and on the southwestern shore in the form of a boat launch.

External links

• Thumb Lake Inventory Map, produced and published by the Institute for Fisheries Research (IFR)