How deep is Paw Paw Lake?

Paw Paw 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 Paw Paw Lake?

The deepest charted water on Paw Paw Lake lies inside the 90 ft contour, toward the western side of the lake. That contour encloses 9.2 acres, 1.3% of the mapped water, so it is a small target on a big lake, the depth chart above gives the contour to line up on.

How much of Paw Paw Lake is shallower than 50 feet?

About half. The 50 ft contour encloses 223 acres of the roughly 689 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 50 feet. The sharpest drop is between 40 and 50 feet, where the mapped water sheds 132 acres.

How accurate is this Paw Paw 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

Paw Paw Lake depth map

Paw Paw Lake in Berrien County, Michigan reaches a depth of more than 90 feet at its deepest surveyed contour. Paw Paw Lake is charted here across 9 closed depth contours, from the 10 ft line down to 90 ft, enclosing about 689 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 50 ft line, and only 9.2 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

Paw Paw 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

Paw Paw Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
10 ft	689 acres	100%
20 ft	596 acres	87%
30 ft	473 acres	69%
40 ft	355 acres	52%
50 ft	223 acres	32%
60 ft	132 acres	19%
70 ft	69 acres	10%
80 ft	33 acres	4.9%
90 ft	9.2 acres	1.3%

Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 689 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 Paw Paw Lake: a stepped drop into deep water

Inside its outermost 10 ft contour the survey charts about 689 acres of Paw Paw Lake, with the 50 ft line enclosing half of it, so the bottom steps down contour by contour into the deep basin rather than shelving flat or plunging all at once. The sharpest change on the chart is between 40 and 50 ft, where the mapped water loses 132 acres in 10 ft of depth, that band is the contour to work first, because it is where the bottom stops being flat. 9.2 acres, 1.3% of the mapped water, lie inside the deepest 90 ft contour, toward the western side of the lake. At 90 ft this is two-story water: the basin can stay cold below the summer thermocline while warm-water fish stay up on the 10-to-50 ft ground, and the fish that move between the two do it along the 40–50 ft break at first and last light.

Ice fishing on Paw Paw Lake

Deep water like Paw Paw 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 90 ft hole. That edge is the 40–50 ft band on the chart above, where 132 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 10-to-50 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.

Paw Paw Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Paw Paw Lake?: Paw Paw 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 Paw Paw Lake?: The deepest charted water on Paw Paw Lake lies inside the 90 ft contour, toward the western side of the lake. That contour encloses 9.2 acres, 1.3% of the mapped water, so it is a small target on a big lake, the depth chart above gives the contour to line up on.
How much of Paw Paw Lake is shallower than 50 feet?: About half. The 50 ft contour encloses 223 acres of the roughly 689 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 50 feet. The sharpest drop is between 40 and 50 feet, where the mapped water sheds 132 acres.
How accurate is this Paw Paw 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 Paw Paw Lake

Shafer Lake depth map · 70+ ft max · 9 mi away
Christie Lake depth map · 48+ ft max · 13 mi away
Eagle Lake depth map · 60+ ft max · 15 mi away
Osterhout Lake depth map · 30+ ft max · 20 mi away
Cedar Lake depth map · 84 ft max · 24 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near Paw Paw Lake

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

Shafer Lake · 9 mi away
Christie Lake · 13 mi away
Eagle Lake · 15 mi away

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