Michigan lake depth maps
Francis Lake depth map
Francis Lake in Presque Isle County, Michigan reaches a depth of 83 feet. Francis Lake is charted here across 16 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 80 ft, enclosing about 31 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 15 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
Francis Lake depth chart: 16 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
| Depth contour | Water inside it | Share of mapped water |
|---|---|---|
| 5 ft | 31 acres | 100% |
| 10 ft | 23 acres | 74% |
| 15 ft | 15 acres | 48% |
| 20 ft | 8.6 acres | 28% |
| 25 ft | 7.3 acres | 24% |
| 30 ft | 6.1 acres | 20% |
| 35 ft | 5.3 acres | 17% |
| 40 ft | 4.3 acres | 14% |
| 45 ft | 3.5 acres | 11% |
| 50 ft | 2.4 acres | 7.8% |
| 55 ft | 1.9 acres | 6.1% |
| 60 ft | 1.4 acres | 4.5% |
| 65 ft | 1 acres | 3.2% |
| 70 ft | under 1 acre | 2% |
| 75 ft | under 1 acre | 1% |
| 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 31 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 83 ft sounding, marked as a point rather than a closed contour, so it is not charted as a band.
Fishing Francis Lake: a wide shallow flat over a deep hole
About 31 acres of Francis Lake sit inside the survey's 5 ft contour, and half of that water is already gone by the 15 ft line: the bulk of this Presque Isle County 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 5 down to 10 ft: 8 acres of bottom fall away across 5 ft there, which makes that band the first contour to work. Inside the 80 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 5-to-15 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 Francis Lake
Francis 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: 8 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-15 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.
Francis Lake depth map FAQs
- How deep is Francis Lake?
- Francis Lake reaches a maximum depth of 83 feet in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey. Most of it is far shallower: the survey charts 16 closed depth contours over about 31 acres, and half of that water sits inside the 15 ft line. The 83 ft figure is a single recorded sounding rather than a closed contour, so the deepest line you can actually trace on the map is 80 ft.
- Where is the deepest part of Francis Lake?
- The deepest charted water on Francis Lake lies inside the 80 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 Francis Lake is shallower than 15 feet?
- About half. The 15 ft contour encloses 15 acres of the roughly 31 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 15 feet. The sharpest drop is between 5 and 10 feet, where the mapped water sheds 8 acres.
- How accurate is this Francis 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 Francis Lake
- Rainy Lake depth map · 98+ ft max · 6 mi away
- Clear Lake depth map · 90+ ft max · 8 mi away
- Long Lake depth map · 84 ft max · 13 mi away
- Black Lake depth map · 50 ft max · 16 mi away
- Twin Lakes depth map · 73+ ft max · 22 mi away
Mapped fishing venues near Francis Lake
Francis Lake in the venue directory covers access and fishing details for this water.
- Rainy Lake · 6 mi away
- Clear Lake · 8 mi away
- Long Lake · 13 mi away
Fishing in Michigan needs a state license: Michigan fishing license guide · all Michigan venues