How deep is Clear Lake?

Clear Lake is more than 90 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 90 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.

Where is the deepest part of Clear Lake?

The deepest charted water on Clear Lake lies inside the 90 ft contour, toward the middle of the lake. That contour encloses 4.1 acres, 3.7% 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 Clear Lake is shallower than 40 feet?

About half. The 40 ft contour encloses 52 acres of the roughly 111 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 40 feet. The sharpest drop is between 30 and 40 feet, where the mapped water sheds 21 acres.

How accurate is this Clear 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

Clear Lake depth map

Clear Lake in Montmorency County, Michigan reaches a depth of more than 90 feet at its deepest surveyed contour. Clear Lake is charted here across 9 closed depth contours, from the 10 ft line down to 90 ft, enclosing about 111 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 40 ft line, and only 4.1 acres 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

Clear Lake depth chart: 9 depth contours from 10 to 90 ft

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

Clear Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
10 ft	111 acres	100%
20 ft	93 acres	84%
30 ft	73 acres	66%
40 ft	52 acres	47%
50 ft	38 acres	34%
60 ft	28 acres	25%
70 ft	18 acres	16%
80 ft	11 acres	9.7%
90 ft	4.1 acres	3.7%

Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 111 acres inside the outermost charted contour (the 10 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 Clear Lake: a stepped drop into deep water

The survey encloses about 111 acres of Clear Lake inside its 10 ft contour, and half of that water lies inside the 40 ft line, so the drop to the deep basin comes in stages, each contour giving up another slice of water, rather than in one abrupt wall. Between 30 and 40 ft the mapped water sheds 21 acres in 10 ft of depth, the sharpest change on the chart, start on that band, because it is where the bottom stops being flat. The deepest 90 ft contour holds 4.1 acres, 3.7% of the mapped water, toward the middle of the lake. 90 ft of water makes this a two-story fishery: warm-water fish hold the 10-to-40 ft ground while the basin can stay cold below the summer thermocline, and the traffic between the two runs along the 30–40 ft break at first and last light.

Ice fishing on Clear Lake

Clear 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 90 ft hole. The 30–40 ft band on the chart above is that edge: 21 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 10-to-40 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.

Clear Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Clear Lake?: Clear Lake is more than 90 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 90 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.
Where is the deepest part of Clear Lake?: The deepest charted water on Clear Lake lies inside the 90 ft contour, toward the middle of the lake. That contour encloses 4.1 acres, 3.7% 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 Clear Lake is shallower than 40 feet?: About half. The 40 ft contour encloses 52 acres of the roughly 111 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 40 feet. The sharpest drop is between 30 and 40 feet, where the mapped water sheds 21 acres.
How accurate is this Clear 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 Clear Lake

Francis Lake depth map · 83 ft max · 8 mi away
Rainy Lake depth map · 98+ ft max · 10 mi away
Long Lake depth map · 84 ft max · 10 mi away
Sage Lakes depth map · 36+ ft max · 16 mi away
Seventh Spectacle Lake depth map · 32 ft max · 20 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near Clear Lake

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

Francis Lake · 8 mi away
Rainy Lake · 10 mi away
Long Lake · 10 mi away

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