Indiana lake depth maps
Lake James depth map
Lake James in Indiana reaches a depth of 83 feet. Lake James is charted here across 76 closed depth contours, from the 8 ft line down to 83 ft, enclosing about 227 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 30 ft line, and only under an acre lie inside the deepest one. Every contour is on the interactive map below, free and without an account.
Data: Indiana DNR Lake Bathymetry (credit: Indiana DNR). Contours closed, checked and area-computed by Jordan Carter, founder of GilledIt · page updated
Lake James depth chart: 76 depth contours from 8 to 83 ft
Data: Indiana DNR Lake Bathymetry (credit: Indiana DNR), retrieved August 2026 · depths change over time · not for navigation
| Depth contour | Water inside it | Share of mapped water |
|---|---|---|
| 8 ft | 227 acres | 100% |
| 9 ft | 223 acres | 98% |
| 10 ft | 219 acres | 96% |
| 11 ft | 215 acres | 95% |
| 12 ft | 211 acres | 93% |
| 13 ft | 206 acres | 91% |
| 14 ft | 203 acres | 89% |
| 15 ft | 198 acres | 87% |
| 16 ft | 194 acres | 86% |
| 17 ft | 190 acres | 84% |
| 18 ft | 185 acres | 82% |
| 19 ft | 181 acres | 80% |
| 20 ft | 175 acres | 77% |
| 21 ft | 171 acres | 75% |
| 22 ft | 166 acres | 73% |
| 23 ft | 160 acres | 70% |
| 24 ft | 154 acres | 68% |
| 25 ft | 147 acres | 65% |
| 26 ft | 140 acres | 62% |
| 27 ft | 131 acres | 58% |
| 28 ft | 125 acres | 55% |
| 29 ft | 117 acres | 52% |
| 30 ft | 112 acres | 49% |
| 31 ft | 106 acres | 47% |
| 32 ft | 99 acres | 44% |
| 33 ft | 94 acres | 42% |
| 34 ft | 89 acres | 39% |
| 35 ft | 85 acres | 37% |
| 36 ft | 78 acres | 34% |
| 37 ft | 72 acres | 32% |
| 38 ft | 67 acres | 30% |
| 39 ft | 64 acres | 28% |
| 40 ft | 61 acres | 27% |
| 41 ft | 59 acres | 26% |
| 42 ft | 57 acres | 25% |
| 43 ft | 54 acres | 24% |
| 44 ft | 52 acres | 23% |
| 45 ft | 50 acres | 22% |
| 46 ft | 47 acres | 21% |
| 47 ft | 44 acres | 20% |
| 48 ft | 42 acres | 19% |
| 49 ft | 39 acres | 17% |
| 50 ft | 36 acres | 16% |
| 51 ft | 34 acres | 15% |
| 52 ft | 31 acres | 14% |
| 53 ft | 26 acres | 12% |
| 54 ft | 24 acres | 11% |
| 55 ft | 23 acres | 10% |
| 56 ft | 22 acres | 9.6% |
| 57 ft | 21 acres | 9.2% |
| 58 ft | 20 acres | 8.8% |
| 59 ft | 19 acres | 8.3% |
| 60 ft | 17 acres | 7.6% |
| 61 ft | 17 acres | 7.4% |
| 62 ft | 17 acres | 7.3% |
| 63 ft | 16 acres | 7.1% |
| 64 ft | 16 acres | 6.9% |
| 65 ft | 15 acres | 6.7% |
| 66 ft | 15 acres | 6.7% |
| 67 ft | 15 acres | 6.5% |
| 68 ft | 14 acres | 6.2% |
| 69 ft | 14 acres | 6% |
| 70 ft | 13 acres | 5.7% |
| 71 ft | 12 acres | 5.5% |
| 72 ft | 12 acres | 5.2% |
| 73 ft | 11 acres | 4.9% |
| 74 ft | 10 acres | 4.5% |
| 75 ft | 9.6 acres | 4.2% |
| 76 ft | 8.7 acres | 3.8% |
| 77 ft | 8 acres | 3.5% |
| 78 ft | 7.2 acres | 3.2% |
| 79 ft | 6.6 acres | 2.9% |
| 80 ft | 5.7 acres | 2.5% |
| 81 ft | 4.6 acres | 2% |
| 82 ft | 3.6 acres | 1.6% |
| 83 ft | under 1 acre | under 1% |
Acreages are computed from the closed Indiana DNR Lake Bathymetry contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 227 acres inside the outermost charted contour (the 8 ft line), which is the outer edge of the mapped water, several state files carry no 0 ft shoreline line, so this is not the same as a share of the lake's published surface area.
Fishing Lake James: a wide shallow flat over a deep hole
About 227 acres of Lake James sit inside the survey's 8 ft contour, and half of that water is already gone by the 30 ft line: the bulk of this Indiana water sits on a shallow flat, with the real depth packed into one part of the basin. The steepest break on the chart runs from 26 down to 27 ft: 9 acres of bottom fall away across 1 ft there, which makes that band the first contour to work. Inside the 83 ft contour there is under an acre of water, toward the southwestern corner of the lake: a single pocket rather than a basin, and worth a drift over in high summer. 83 ft of water makes this a two-story fishery: warm-water fish hold the 8-to-30 ft ground while the basin can stay cold below the summer thermocline, and the traffic between the two runs along the 26–27 ft break at first and last light.
Ice fishing on Lake James
Lake James freezes later and less evenly than the shallow waters around it, and the winter bite sets up on the first real break rather than out over the 83 ft hole. The 26–27 ft band on the chart above is that edge: 9 acres of bottom tilt away there, and panfish and walleye slide up and down it through the day. Late ice pushes fish back onto the 8-to-30 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.
Lake James depth map FAQs
- How deep is Lake James?
- Lake James reaches a maximum depth of 83 feet in the Indiana DNR Lake Bathymetry survey. Most of it is far shallower: the survey charts 76 closed depth contours over about 227 acres, and half of that water sits inside the 30 ft line.
- Where is the deepest part of Lake James?
- The deepest charted water on Lake James lies inside the 83 ft contour, toward the southwestern corner of the lake. That contour encloses under an acre, under 1% of the mapped water, so it is a small target on a small water, the depth chart above gives the contour to line up on.
- How much of Lake James is shallower than 30 feet?
- About half. The 30 ft contour encloses 112 acres of the roughly 227 acres inside the outer 8 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 30 feet. The sharpest drop is between 26 and 27 feet, where the mapped water sheds 9 acres.
- How accurate is this Lake James depth map?
- The contours come from the Indiana DNR Lake Bathymetry survey, retrieved August 2026 and last rebuilt on August 19, 2026. Depths change over time with water levels and sediment, so treat this map as a planning guide for fishing, and never use it for navigation. Per Indiana DNR, the data are graphical representations for reference only, not a survey instrument. Acreages are computed from the published contour geometry, not from a separate area survey, so read them as close approximations.
Depth maps for lakes near Lake James
- Barton Lake depth map · 30 ft max · 2 mi away
- Gentian/failing Lake depth map · 45 ft max · 2 mi away
- Bell Lake depth map · 25 ft max · 3 mi away
- Buck Lake depth map · 41 ft max · 6 mi away
- Wall Lake depth map · 30 ft max · 9 mi away
Mapped fishing venues near Lake James
Lake James in the venue directory covers access and fishing details for this water.
- Barton Lake · 2 mi away
- Gentian/failing Lake · 2 mi away
- Bell Lake · 3 mi away
Fishing in Indiana needs a state license: Indiana fishing license guide · all Indiana venues