How deep is Otter Lake?

Otter 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 Otter Lake?

The deepest charted water on Otter Lake lies inside the 70 ft contour, toward the southern end of the lake. That contour encloses 1.6 acres, 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 Otter Lake is shallower than 20 feet?

About half. The 20 ft contour encloses 159 acres of the roughly 374 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 178 acres.

How accurate is this Otter 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

Otter Lake depth map

Otter Lake in Oakland County, Michigan reaches a depth of more than 70 feet at its deepest surveyed contour. Otter Lake is charted here across 8 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 70 ft, enclosing about 374 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 20 ft line, and only 1.6 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

Otter 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

Otter Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
5 ft	374 acres	100%
10 ft	196 acres	53%
20 ft	159 acres	43%
30 ft	97 acres	26%
40 ft	36 acres	9.6%
50 ft	13 acres	3.6%
60 ft	4.1 acres	1.1%
70 ft	1.6 acres	under 1%

Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 374 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 Otter Lake: a wide shallow flat over a deep hole

Inside its outermost 5 ft contour the survey charts about 374 acres of Otter Lake, with the 20 ft line enclosing half of it, so the bulk of this Oakland County water sits on a shallow flat, with the real depth packed into one part of the basin. The sharpest change on the chart is between 5 and 10 ft, where the mapped water loses 178 acres in 5 ft of depth, that band is the contour to work first, because it is where the bottom stops being flat. The deepest 70 ft contour holds 1.6 acres, under 1% of the mapped water, toward the southern end of the lake. 70 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 Otter Lake

Otter 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 70 ft hole. The 5–10 ft band on the chart above is that edge: 178 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.

Otter Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Otter Lake?: Otter 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 Otter Lake?: The deepest charted water on Otter Lake lies inside the 70 ft contour, toward the southern end of the lake. That contour encloses 1.6 acres, 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 Otter Lake is shallower than 20 feet?: About half. The 20 ft contour encloses 159 acres of the roughly 374 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 178 acres.
How accurate is this Otter 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 Otter Lake

Cass Lake depth map · 123+ ft max · 2 mi away
Elizabeth Lake depth map · 72+ ft max · 2 mi away
Pine Lake depth map · 90+ ft max · 2 mi away
Orchard Lake depth map · 111 ft max · 3 mi away
Loon Lake depth map · 73 ft max · 4 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near Otter Lake

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

Cass Lake · 2 mi away
Elizabeth Lake · 2 mi away
Pine Lake · 2 mi away

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