How deep is Deer Lake?

Deer Lake is more than 70 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 70 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.

Where is the deepest part of Deer Lake?

The deepest charted water on Deer Lake lies inside the 70 ft contour, toward the northwestern corner of the lake. That contour encloses 4.7 acres, 1.9% 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 Deer Lake is shallower than 40 feet?

About half. The 40 ft contour encloses 104 acres of the roughly 251 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 40 feet. The sharpest drop is between 5 and 10 feet, where the mapped water sheds 34 acres.

How accurate is this Deer 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

Deer Lake depth map

Deer Lake in Alger County, Michigan reaches a depth of more than 70 feet at its deepest surveyed contour. Deer Lake is charted here across 8 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 70 ft, enclosing about 251 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 40 ft line, and only 4.7 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

Deer Lake depth chart: 8 depth contours from 5 to 70 ft

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

Deer Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
5 ft	251 acres	100%
10 ft	217 acres	87%
20 ft	186 acres	74%
30 ft	139 acres	55%
40 ft	104 acres	42%
50 ft	60 acres	24%
60 ft	22 acres	8.7%
70 ft	4.7 acres	1.9%

Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 251 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 Deer Lake: a stepped drop into deep water

The survey encloses about 251 acres of Deer Lake inside its 5 ft contour, and half of that water lies inside the 40 ft line, so the bottom steps down contour by contour into the deep basin rather than shelving flat or plunging all at once. Between 5 and 10 ft the mapped water sheds 34 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. 4.7 acres, 1.9% of the mapped water, lie inside the deepest 70 ft contour, toward the northwestern corner of the lake. At 70 ft this is two-story water: the basin can stay cold below the summer thermocline while warm-water fish stay up on the 5-to-40 ft ground, and the fish that move between the two do it along the 5–10 ft break at first and last light.

Ice fishing on Deer Lake

Deep water like Deer Lake freezes later and less evenly than the shallow lakes around it, and the winter bite sets up on the first real break, not out over the 70 ft hole. That edge is the 5–10 ft band on the chart above, where 34 acres of bottom tilt away, and panfish and walleye work up and down it through the day. By late ice the fish push back onto the 5-to-40 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.

Deer Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Deer Lake?: Deer Lake is more than 70 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 70 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.
Where is the deepest part of Deer Lake?: The deepest charted water on Deer Lake lies inside the 70 ft contour, toward the northwestern corner of the lake. That contour encloses 4.7 acres, 1.9% 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 Deer Lake is shallower than 40 feet?: About half. The 40 ft contour encloses 104 acres of the roughly 251 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 40 feet. The sharpest drop is between 5 and 10 feet, where the mapped water sheds 34 acres.
How accurate is this Deer 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 Deer Lake

Round Lake depth map · 55+ ft max · 25 mi away
McKeever Lake depth map · 65 ft max · 26 mi away
Goose Lake depth map · 15+ ft max · 26 mi away
Beaver Lake depth map · 39+ ft max · 31 mi away
Clear Lake depth map · 50+ ft max · 31 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near Deer Lake

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

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