How deep is Smoky Lake?

Smoky Lake is more than 60 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 60 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.

Where is the deepest part of Smoky Lake?

The deepest charted water on Smoky Lake lies inside the 60 ft contour, toward the northeastern corner 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 Smoky Lake is shallower than 30 feet?

About half. The 30 ft contour encloses 210 acres of the roughly 464 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 30 feet. The sharpest drop is between 25 and 30 feet, where the mapped water sheds 69 acres.

How accurate is this Smoky 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

Smoky Lake depth map

Smoky Lake in Iron County, Michigan reaches a depth of more than 60 feet at its deepest surveyed contour. Smoky Lake is charted here across 11 closed depth contours, from the 10 ft line down to 60 ft, enclosing about 464 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 30 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

Smoky Lake depth chart: 11 depth contours from 10 to 60 ft

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

Smoky Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
10 ft	464 acres	100%
15 ft	402 acres	87%
20 ft	336 acres	72%
25 ft	279 acres	60%
30 ft	210 acres	45%
35 ft	155 acres	33%
40 ft	92 acres	20%
45 ft	35 acres	7.6%
50 ft	7.3 acres	1.6%
55 ft	1.9 acres	under 1%
60 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 464 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 Smoky Lake: a stepped drop into deep water

The survey encloses about 464 acres of Smoky Lake inside its 10 ft contour, and half of that water lies inside the 30 ft line, so the bottom steps down contour by contour into the deep basin rather than shelving flat or plunging all at once. Between 25 and 30 ft the mapped water sheds 69 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 60 ft contour, toward the northeastern corner 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 60 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-30 ft ground, and the fish that move between the two do it along the 25–30 ft break at first and last light.

Ice fishing on Smoky Lake

Deep water like Smoky 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 60 ft hole. That edge is the 25–30 ft band on the chart above, where 69 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-30 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.

Smoky Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Smoky Lake?: Smoky Lake is more than 60 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 60 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.
Where is the deepest part of Smoky Lake?: The deepest charted water on Smoky Lake lies inside the 60 ft contour, toward the northeastern corner 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 Smoky Lake is shallower than 30 feet?: About half. The 30 ft contour encloses 210 acres of the roughly 464 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 30 feet. The sharpest drop is between 25 and 30 feet, where the mapped water sheds 69 acres.
How accurate is this Smoky 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 Smoky Lake

Golden Lake depth map · 100 ft max · 6 mi away
Lac Vieux Desert depth map · 38+ ft max · 8 mi away
Wilson Lake depth map · 60 ft max · 13 mi away
Schneider Lake depth map · 60 ft max · 14 mi away
Iron Lake depth map · 45+ ft max · 14 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near Smoky Lake

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

Golden Lake · 6 mi away
Lac Vieux Desert · 8 mi away
Wilson Lake · 13 mi away

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