Select group find somewhere to sleep by North American lake (7)
I believe the answer is:
coterie
'select group' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'somewhere to sleep by north american lake' is the wordplay.
'somewhere to sleep' becomes 'cot' (a baby's bed).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'north american lake' becomes 'erie' (I've seen this before).
'cot'+'erie'='COTERIE'
'find' is the link.
(Other definitions for coterie that I've seen before include "Group, band" , "Small exclusive group of friends" , "Exclusive group with shared interests" , "Group of acquaintances" , "Literary circle" .)