Torch Lake

[Smitty244]

Headed to torch lake in a couple weeks. Anyone on here ever been there before? Ismts close to a 7 hour drive for me. We rented a lake house for 5 days in Alden. Does the lake get very choppy on a windy day for a 19’ or does it stay fairly calm.

 

[Babin Farms]

Been there many times and yes it can get very choppy to the point they put out small craft advisories. If your staying on the lake I HIGHLY recommend mooring your boat and not docking it if there's going to be much wind. Our pontoon was docked and the winds picked up overnight and threw the fenders on the dock so the boat was scraping against the dock most of the night. If it does get choppy head to Clam lake. It is protected from the winds and a nice lake for most anything.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/torch-lake-michigan.24637/

 

[Smitty244]

I think I’ll probably just be pulling it out every day. Is clam lake close to Alden?

 

[Smitty244]

How does clam compare to torch in water clarity? Does it look as nice?

 

[Babin Farms]

Clam Lake is North of Alden

Clam Lake Boat Launch (Bellaire, MI) · 7989 Hoy Dewey Dr, Bellaire, MI 49615

★★★★☆ · Boat ramp

goo.gl

The clarity is not as clear as Torch but it's a clean lake. If you head to the East end of Clam lake you can go up the Grass River which is crystal clear and go all the way to Lake Bellaire. Just remember that Torch River and the Grass River are both No Wake rivers.

 

[Smitty244]

On a map it looks like clam river is right at dockside restaurant or is that torch river. Did I read something about stumps in one of those rivers also? Thanks for the pointers

 

[Babin Farms]

Yes Clam River which is basically an inlet from Clam lake to Torch lake is also no wake and right by The Dockside restaurant. Torch and the Grass rivers are easy to navigate. The only place that you need to watch is where the Torch river dumps into Lake Skegemog. There are trees & stumps that are in the mouth of the river but it is marked out well for easy navigation and still in the No Wake zone

 

[Smitty244]

One last question, how is lake skegemog and elk lake? Are they worth the cruise to check them out? We are going at the end of the month and will have a 14 month old with us so we will just be cruising around checking things out. I doubt the water will be warm enough to do any water sports. Is all of this possible on a tank of gas? I can only run 93 octane so I doubt they sell high test at any marinas on the water but maybe they do

 

[Babin Farms]

The water will be cold this time of year. We usually go in early August. Skegemog & Elk lakes are nice just due to the fact that there is almost no traffic on them but it's quite the cruise down the river to get to them at No Wake speed but if time is not an issue I'd go for it. The marinas do sell fuel, not sure on octane. I have always pulled the boat out of the water when fueling up but usually I will use one full tank in a week of boating up there that included wakeboarding, tubing and cruising.

 

[Crob83]

It is awesome is all I can say, 7 hr drive it was for me also. Make sure you have an anchor that will work or a sand spike if you plan on hanging out at sandbar.

 

[Crob83]

Also clam river is only about 2-4 ft deep close to Torch lake.It is clear and you can see the bottom obviously, but make sure to turn your depth alarm up if you don't want to go deaf or look like an idiot when on the river portion. I didn't and it sucked, and I couldn't figure it out in the heat of the moment...lol

 

[Babin Farms]

Definitely worth the trip up there. In all of the years I've went up there there have only been 2 days that were too windy to go out on the lake so I wouldn't be to concerned with that part of it. Here's some pics from up there the past few years with the Yamaha, the Pontoon and the one is of us at Dockside having dinner. I do not recommend docking your boat at Dockside anywhere near the restaurant. Dock as far as you can down the walkway. The day we took that picture a Boston Whaler got hit by a rental pontoon right out in front of us. It gets narrow through there at times and the current be a PITA at times which makes it a show if there are any boater who don't know what their doing.

 

[Goosechase]

Also, take care to avoid swimmers' itch, especially for a 14-month old. Swimmer's Itch - Torch Conservation Center
If you towel off right away when exiting the water and don't let children wade and splash in 0-2 ft of water you should be fine. A child covered in swimmers' itch can ruin a vacation.

 

[Crob83]

Definitely worth the trip up there. In all of the years I've went up there there have only been 2 days that were too windy to go out on the lake so I wouldn't be to concerned with that part of it. Here's some pics from up there the past few years with the Yamaha, the Pontoon and the one is of us at Dockside having dinner. I do not recommend docking your boat at Dockside anywhere near the restaurant. Dock as far as you can down the walkway. The day we took that picture a Boston Whaler got hit by a rental pontoon right out in front of us. It gets narrow through there at times and the current be a PITA at times which makes it a show if there are any boater who don't know what their doing.
View attachment 152109View attachment 152110View attachment 152111View attachment 152112View attachment 152113View attachment 152114

Ya they tried to get me to stop there, and after the watching those YouTube videos of that channel I said hell no!!

 

[Babin Farms]

Ya they tried to get me to stop there, and after the watching those YouTube videos of that channel I said hell no!!

Your probably thinking of Fabiano's on Torch River right after the bridge. That place can be crazy too but if you keep yourself powered up it's not as bad as what you see on the videos. Most of that is people that have no idea how to run a boat, drunk or both. One thing to keep in mind is you can only dock there heading upstream so you have to go past it and turn around where the river opens up by the marina and head back for food/fuel.

@Goosechase you are spot on with swimmers itch.

 

[Crob83]

Your probably thinking of Fabiano's on Torch River right after the bridge. That place can be crazy too but if you keep yourself powered up it's not as bad as what you see on the videos. Most of that is people that have no idea how to run a boat, drunk or both. One thing to keep in mind is you can only dock there heading upstream so you have to go past it and turn around where the river opens up by the marina and head back for food/fuel.

@Goosechase you are spot on with swimmers itch.

Ya I put in on the clam river and had to go past that channel to get to the Lake/sandbar. So you are correct, one thing I noticed is there ramps are absolutely terrible. Especially the one by the marina/sandbar and is a mad house. The one on the river was bad setup but not very busy. Only shallow draft boats or pontoons can use that ramp, hell I was worried at first with my little 19 footer

 

[Babin Farms]

Ya I put in on the clam river and had to go past to get to the Lake/sandbar. So you are correct, one thing I noticed is there ramps are absolutely terrible. Especially the one by the marina/sandbar and is a mad house

Key is to get there early or late at the ramp by the sandbar. When we had the pontoon that ramp was interesting to say the least with a 36' long trailer behind a crew cab longbed truck trying to jockey around in a confined space. I like the ramp that put the link to on Clam lake. Never seen it busy until last year when I went to take the boat out. A fishing tournament had just finished up and were all pulling out. Other than that I would put in there or there is a launch in Alden but it looks tight also and a possibility of winds messing with you too.

 

[Smitty244]

Also, take care to avoid swimmers' itch, especially for a 14-month old. Swimmer's Itch - Torch Conservation Center
If you towel off right away when exiting the water and don't let children wade and splash in 0-2 ft of water you should be fine. A child covered in swimmers' itch can ruin a vacation.

Swimmers itch? I’ve swam in Lake Erie my entire life, never heard of such a thing

 

[Smitty244]

Swimmers itch? I’ve swam in Lake Erie my entire life, never heard of such a thing

Just realized you put a link

 

[Smitty244]

This is day 2 of 5 and it hasn’t stopped raining for more than a half hr. The forecast looks to be nothing but rain the entire time we are here. What a huge disappointment