Michigan lake depth maps
Big Lake depth map
Big Lake in Baraga County, Michigan reaches a depth of 34 feet. Big Lake is charted here across 6 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 30 ft, enclosing about 121 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 10 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
Big Lake depth chart: 6 depth contours from 5 to 30 ft
Data: Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours (public record), retrieved August 2026 · depths change over time · not for navigation
| Depth contour | Water inside it | Share of mapped water |
|---|---|---|
| 5 ft | 121 acres | 100% |
| 10 ft | 34 acres | 28% |
| 15 ft | 11 acres | 9.1% |
| 20 ft | 6.6 acres | 5.4% |
| 25 ft | 3.5 acres | 2.9% |
| 30 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 121 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. The survey also records a 34 ft sounding, marked as a point rather than a closed contour, so it is not charted as a band.
Fishing Big Lake: a broad shallow flat
The survey encloses about 121 acres of Big Lake inside its 5 ft contour, and half of that water lies inside the 10 ft line, so most of this Baraga County water is shallow and the depth is concentrated in one part of the basin. Between 5 and 10 ft the mapped water sheds 87 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. The 30 ft contour, toward the northwestern corner of the lake, encloses under an acre of water, a single pocket rather than a basin, but one worth a drift over in high summer. With 34 ft at its deepest there is no true cold-water layer here, so structure does the work the thermocline does elsewhere: fish the points and inside turns where the 5 and 10 ft lines pinch together, hardest in early season and again as fish follow bait back down in autumn.
Ice fishing on Big Lake
Big Lake's 34 ft is a workable ice depth, enough water to hold fish all winter, without the slow freeze-up of a big basin. First light belongs on the 30 ft hole, all 0.8 acres of it; as the sun gets up, move onto the 5–10 ft break, and spend the middle of the day on the flats inside the 10 ft line. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.
Big Lake depth map FAQs
- How deep is Big Lake?
- Big Lake reaches a maximum depth of 34 feet in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey. Most of it is far shallower: the survey charts 6 closed depth contours over about 121 acres, and half of that water sits inside the 10 ft line. The 34 ft figure is a single recorded sounding rather than a closed contour, so the deepest line you can actually trace on the map is 30 ft.
- Where is the deepest part of Big Lake?
- The deepest charted water on Big Lake lies inside the 30 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 Big Lake is shallower than 10 feet?
- About half. The 10 ft contour encloses 34 acres of the roughly 121 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 10 feet. The sharpest drop is between 5 and 10 feet, where the mapped water sheds 87 acres.
- How accurate is this Big 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 Big Lake
- Pequet Lake depth map · 60 ft max · 8 mi away
- Prickett Lake depth map · 56+ ft max · 8 mi away
- Markey Lake depth map · 65 ft max · 10 mi away
- Emily Lake depth map · 90 ft max · 22 mi away
- Lake Alice depth map · 51 ft max · 24 mi away
Mapped fishing venues near Big Lake
Big Lake in the venue directory covers access and fishing details for this water.
- Pequet Lake · 8 mi away
- Prickett Lake · 8 mi away
- Markey Lake · 10 mi away
Fishing in Michigan needs a state license: Michigan fishing license guide · all Michigan venues