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Michigan lake depth maps

Stager Lake depth map

Stager Lake in Iron County, Michigan reaches a depth of 55 feet. Stager Lake is charted here across 10 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 50 ft, enclosing about 116 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 25 ft line, and only 2.1 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

Stager Lake depth chart: 10 depth contours from 5 to 50 ft

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

Stager Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contourWater inside itShare of mapped water
5 ft116 acres100%
10 ft106 acres92%
15 ft84 acres73%
20 ft68 acres59%
25 ft51 acres44%
30 ft28 acres24%
35 ft18 acres16%
40 ft12 acres10%
45 ft7.6 acres6.5%
50 ft2.1 acres1.8%

Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 116 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 55 ft sounding, marked as a point rather than a closed contour, so it is not charted as a band.

Fishing Stager Lake: an evenly graded bottom

About 116 acres of Stager Lake sit inside the survey's 5 ft contour, and half of that water is already gone by the 25 ft line: the bottom loses depth gradually and evenly, with no broad shelf and no single abrupt drop. The steepest break on the chart runs from 25 down to 30 ft: 23 acres of bottom fall away across 5 ft there, which makes that band the first contour to work. The deepest 50 ft contour holds 2.1 acres, 1.8% of the mapped water, toward the northern end of the lake. Nothing here reaches a true cold-water layer at 55 ft, so structure does the thermocline's work: the points and inside turns where the 25 and 30 ft lines pinch together fish hardest in early season, and again as fish follow bait back down in autumn.

Ice fishing on Stager Lake

At 55 ft, Stager 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 50 ft hole, 2.1 acres of it, at first light, then move up onto the 25–30 ft break as the sun gets up, and fish the flats inside the 25 ft line through the middle of the day. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.

Stager Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Stager Lake?
Stager Lake reaches a maximum depth of 55 feet in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey. Most of it is far shallower: the survey charts 10 closed depth contours over about 116 acres, and half of that water sits inside the 25 ft line. The 55 ft figure is a single recorded sounding rather than a closed contour, so the deepest line you can actually trace on the map is 50 ft.
Where is the deepest part of Stager Lake?
The deepest charted water on Stager Lake lies inside the 50 ft contour, toward the northern end of the lake. That contour encloses 2.1 acres, 1.8% 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 Stager Lake is shallower than 25 feet?
About half. The 25 ft contour encloses 51 acres of the roughly 116 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 25 feet. The sharpest drop is between 25 and 30 feet, where the mapped water sheds 23 acres.
How accurate is this Stager 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 Stager Lake

Mapped fishing venues near Stager Lake

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

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