Michigan lake depth maps
Pickerel Lake depth map
Pickerel Lake in Newaygo County, Michigan reaches a depth of 73 feet. Pickerel Lake is charted here across 9 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 70 ft, enclosing about 307 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 40 ft line, and only 13 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
Pickerel Lake depth chart: 9 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
| Depth contour | Water inside it | Share of mapped water |
|---|---|---|
| 5 ft | 307 acres | 100% |
| 10 ft | 237 acres | 77% |
| 15 ft | 221 acres | 72% |
| 20 ft | 201 acres | 66% |
| 30 ft | 182 acres | 59% |
| 40 ft | 131 acres | 43% |
| 45 ft | 43 acres | 14% |
| 60 ft | 26 acres | 8.4% |
| 70 ft | 13 acres | 4.1% |
Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 307 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 73 ft sounding, marked as a point rather than a closed contour, so it is not charted as a band.
Fishing Pickerel Lake: a stepped drop into deep water
The survey encloses about 307 acres of Pickerel Lake inside its 5 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 40 and 45 ft the mapped water sheds 88 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. The deepest 70 ft contour holds 13 acres, 4.1% of the mapped water, toward the southeastern corner of the lake. 73 ft of water makes this a two-story fishery: warm-water fish hold the 5-to-40 ft ground while the basin can stay cold below the summer thermocline, and the traffic between the two runs along the 40–45 ft break at first and last light.
Ice fishing on Pickerel Lake
Pickerel 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 40–45 ft band on the chart above is that edge: 88 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-40 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.
Pickerel Lake depth map FAQs
- How deep is Pickerel Lake?
- Pickerel Lake reaches a maximum depth of 73 feet in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey. Most of it is far shallower: the survey charts 9 closed depth contours over about 307 acres, and half of that water sits inside the 40 ft line. The 73 ft figure is a single recorded sounding rather than a closed contour, so the deepest line you can actually trace on the map is 70 ft.
- Where is the deepest part of Pickerel Lake?
- The deepest charted water on Pickerel Lake lies inside the 70 ft contour, toward the southeastern corner of the lake. That contour encloses 13 acres, 4.1% 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 Pickerel Lake is shallower than 40 feet?
- About half. The 40 ft contour encloses 131 acres of the roughly 307 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 40 feet. The sharpest drop is between 40 and 45 feet, where the mapped water sheds 88 acres.
- How accurate is this Pickerel 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 Pickerel Lake
- Sylvan Lake depth map · 63+ ft max · 1 mi away
- Ryerson Lake depth map · 80+ ft max · 3 mi away
- Fremont Lake depth map · 88+ ft max · 8 mi away
- Half Moon Lake depth map · 82 ft max · 14 mi away
- Baptist Lake depth map · 65+ ft max · 14 mi away
Mapped fishing venues near Pickerel Lake
Pickerel Lake in the venue directory covers access and fishing details for this water.
- Sylvan Lake · 1 mi away
- Ryerson Lake · 3 mi away
- Fremont Lake · 8 mi away
Fishing in Michigan needs a state license: Michigan fishing license guide · all Michigan venues