Michigan lake depth maps
Pickerel Lake depth map
Pickerel Lake in Washtenaw County, Michigan reaches a depth of 56 feet. Pickerel Lake is charted here across 11 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 55 ft, enclosing about 19 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 45 ft line, and only 5.8 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: 11 depth contours from 5 to 55 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 | 19 acres | 100% |
| 10 ft | 16 acres | 86% |
| 15 ft | 15 acres | 80% |
| 20 ft | 14 acres | 75% |
| 25 ft | 13 acres | 69% |
| 30 ft | 12 acres | 64% |
| 35 ft | 11 acres | 58% |
| 40 ft | 9.9 acres | 53% |
| 45 ft | 8.6 acres | 46% |
| 50 ft | 7 acres | 37% |
| 55 ft | 5.8 acres | 31% |
Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 19 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 56 ft sounding, marked as a point rather than a closed contour, so it is not charted as a band.
Fishing Pickerel Lake: steep sides for its size
About 19 acres of Pickerel Lake sit inside the survey's 5 ft contour, and half of that water is already gone by the 45 ft line: depth comes quickly here, with no long shallow margin before the bottom drops away. The steepest break on the chart runs from 5 down to 10 ft: 3 acres of bottom fall away across 5 ft there, which makes that band the first contour to work. The deepest 55 ft contour holds 5.8 acres, 31% of the mapped water, toward the middle of the lake. Nothing here reaches a true cold-water layer at 56 ft, so structure does the thermocline's work: the points and inside turns where the 5 and 10 ft lines pinch together fish hardest in early season, and again as fish follow bait back down in autumn.
Ice fishing on Pickerel Lake
At 56 ft, Pickerel Lake is a workable ice depth: deep enough to hold fish all winter without the slow freeze-up of a big basin. Start on the 55 ft hole, 5.8 acres of it, at first light, then move up onto the 5–10 ft break as the sun gets up, and fish the flats inside the 45 ft line through the middle of the day. 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 56 feet in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey. Most of it is far shallower: the survey charts 11 closed depth contours over about 19 acres, and half of that water sits inside the 45 ft line. The 56 ft figure is a single recorded sounding rather than a closed contour, so the deepest line you can actually trace on the map is 55 ft.
- Where is the deepest part of Pickerel Lake?
- The deepest charted water on Pickerel Lake lies inside the 55 ft contour, toward the middle of the lake. That contour encloses 5.8 acres, 31% of the mapped water, so it is a broad slice of the bottom rather than a pinpoint target, the depth chart above gives the contour to line up on.
- How much of Pickerel Lake is shallower than 45 feet?
- About half. The 45 ft contour encloses 8.6 acres of the roughly 19 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 45 feet. The sharpest drop is between 5 and 10 feet, where the mapped water sheds 3 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
- Silver Lake depth map · 47+ ft max · 1 mi away
- Halfmoon Lake depth map · 87 ft max · 2 mi away
- Bruin Lake depth map · 48 ft max · 3 mi away
- South Lake depth map · 88 ft max · 4 mi away
- Bass Lake depth map · 73 ft max · 7 mi away
Mapped fishing venues near Pickerel Lake
Pickerel Lake in the venue directory covers access and fishing details for this water.
- Silver Lake · 1 mi away
- Halfmoon Lake · 2 mi away
- Bruin Lake · 3 mi away
Fishing in Michigan needs a state license: Michigan fishing license guide · all Michigan venues