How deep is Arnold Lake?

Arnold Lake is more than 80 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 80 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.

Where is the deepest part of Arnold Lake?

The deepest charted water on Arnold Lake lies inside the 80 ft contour, toward the northwestern 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 Arnold Lake is shallower than 20 feet?

About half. The 20 ft contour encloses 56 acres of the roughly 115 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 20 feet. The sharpest drop is between 5 and 10 feet, where the mapped water sheds 35 acres.

How accurate is this Arnold Lake depth map?

The contours come from the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours 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. Acreages are computed from the published contour geometry, not from a separate area survey, so read them as close approximations.

Michigan lake depth maps

Arnold Lake depth map

Arnold Lake in Clare County, Michigan reaches a depth of more than 80 feet at its deepest surveyed contour. Arnold Lake is charted here across 9 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 80 ft, enclosing about 115 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 20 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: Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours (public record). Contours closed, checked and area-computed by Jordan Carter, founder of GilledIt · page updated August 19, 2026

Arnold Lake depth chart: 9 depth contours from 5 to 80 ft

Data: Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours (public record), retrieved August 2026 · depths change over time · not for navigation

Arnold Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
5 ft	115 acres	100%
10 ft	80 acres	70%
20 ft	56 acres	48%
30 ft	32 acres	28%
40 ft	19 acres	17%
50 ft	14 acres	12%
60 ft	7 acres	6.1%
70 ft	3.5 acres	3%
80 ft	under 1 acre	under 1%

Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 115 acres inside the outermost charted contour (the 5 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 Arnold Lake: a wide shallow flat over a deep hole

The survey encloses about 115 acres of Arnold Lake inside its 5 ft contour, and half of that water lies inside the 20 ft line, so the bulk of this Clare County water sits on a shallow flat, with the real depth packed into one part of the basin. Between 5 and 10 ft the mapped water sheds 35 acres in 5 ft of depth, the sharpest change on the chart, start on that band, because it is where the bottom stops being flat. Inside the 80 ft contour there is under an acre of water, toward the northwestern corner of the lake: a single pocket rather than a basin, and worth a drift over in high summer. 80 ft of water makes this a two-story fishery: warm-water fish hold the 5-to-20 ft ground while the basin can stay cold below the summer thermocline, and the traffic between the two runs along the 5–10 ft break at first and last light.

Ice fishing on Arnold Lake

Arnold Lake 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 80 ft hole. The 5–10 ft band on the chart above is that edge: 35 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 5-to-20 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.

Arnold Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Arnold Lake?: Arnold Lake is more than 80 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 80 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.
Where is the deepest part of Arnold Lake?: The deepest charted water on Arnold Lake lies inside the 80 ft contour, toward the northwestern 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 Arnold Lake is shallower than 20 feet?: About half. The 20 ft contour encloses 56 acres of the roughly 115 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 20 feet. The sharpest drop is between 5 and 10 feet, where the mapped water sheds 35 acres.
How accurate is this Arnold Lake depth map?: The contours come from the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours 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. 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 Arnold Lake

Long Lake depth map · 76 ft max · 2 mi away
Little Long Lake depth map · 60+ ft max · 3 mi away
Five Lakes depth map · 60+ ft max · 14 mi away
Windover Lake depth map · 60+ ft max · 15 mi away
Silver Lake depth map · 52+ ft max · 15 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near Arnold Lake

Arnold Lake in the venue directory covers access and fishing details for this water.

Long Lake · 2 mi away
Little Long Lake · 3 mi away
Five Lakes · 14 mi away

Fishing in Michigan needs a state license: Michigan fishing license guide · all Michigan venues