How deep is Shafer Lake?

Shafer 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 Shafer Lake?

The deepest charted water on Shafer Lake lies inside the 70 ft contour, toward the northern end 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 Shafer Lake is shallower than 50 feet?

About half. The 50 ft contour encloses 22 acres of the roughly 60 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 50 feet. The sharpest drop is between 60 and 65 feet, where the mapped water sheds 6 acres.

How accurate is this Shafer 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

Shafer Lake depth map

Shafer Lake in Van Buren County, Michigan reaches a depth of more than 70 feet at its deepest surveyed contour. Shafer Lake is charted here across 8 closed depth contours, from the 10 ft line down to 70 ft, enclosing about 60 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 50 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 August 19, 2026

Shafer Lake depth chart: 8 depth contours from 10 to 70 ft

Data: Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours (public record), retrieved August 2026 · depths change over time · not for navigation

Shafer Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
10 ft	60 acres	100%
20 ft	53 acres	89%
30 ft	43 acres	72%
40 ft	32 acres	54%
50 ft	22 acres	37%
60 ft	11 acres	18%
65 ft	5 acres	8.4%
70 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 60 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 Shafer Lake: steep walls and a big basin

The survey encloses about 60 acres of Shafer Lake inside its 10 ft contour, and half of that water lies inside the 50 ft line, so the bottom holds its depth well out from the bank rather than tapering off a long shallow margin. Between 60 and 65 ft the mapped water sheds 6 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 70 ft contour, toward the northern end of the lake, encloses under an acre of water, a single pocket rather than a basin, but one worth a drift over in high summer. At 70 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 60–65 ft break at first and last light.

Ice fishing on Shafer Lake

Deep water like Shafer 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 70 ft hole. That edge is the 60–65 ft band on the chart above, where 6 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.

Shafer Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Shafer Lake?: Shafer 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 Shafer Lake?: The deepest charted water on Shafer Lake lies inside the 70 ft contour, toward the northern end 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 Shafer Lake is shallower than 50 feet?: About half. The 50 ft contour encloses 22 acres of the roughly 60 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 50 feet. The sharpest drop is between 60 and 65 feet, where the mapped water sheds 6 acres.
How accurate is this Shafer 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 Shafer Lake

Christie Lake depth map · 48+ ft max · 5 mi away
Eagle Lake depth map · 60+ ft max · 7 mi away
Paw Paw Lake depth map · 90+ ft max · 9 mi away
Cedar Lake depth map · 84 ft max · 16 mi away
Osterhout Lake depth map · 30+ ft max · 17 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near Shafer Lake

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

Christie Lake · 5 mi away
Eagle Lake · 7 mi away
Paw Paw Lake · 9 mi away

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