Colwell Lake

Schoolcraft County, Michigan · MI DNR bathymetric survey

25ft Max
depth

124 acres 5 contours Public access

Paddling Index65MixedMedium confidencerestricted hours · sheltered geometry

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Depth scale

0510152025

The lake

Survey readout

Colwell Lake is mapped to a depth of 25 ft on the Michigan DNR survey and covers about 124 acres in Schoolcraft County, Michigan.

Measured from the Michigan DNR inland-lake contour survey (depths read from the survey's isobath field; this lake's summary-depth column is blank in the source).

Deepest mapped contour: 25 ft
Mean depth: 13.1 ft · estimated
Surface area: 124 acres
Estimated volume: 1,623 acre-ft · 529M gal
Shoreline: 1.93 mi · lobed
Aquatic vegetation: 2% of surface · NDVI estimate
Public access: Boat Launch

Additional depth details5 contours

Contour depths: 0–25 ft
Recorded point soundings: 25 ft

29.6% of the surface sits over water shallower than 10 ft; 20.1% is deeper than 20 ft. Depth, area and volume are estimated from the interpolated survey surface — historical reference, not measurement.

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Location

Schoolcraft County, Michigan · 15 nearest of 95 lakes · tap a dot for that lake

Chart data

Provenance

Sources: MI DNR inland lake contours, USGS 3DEP, USDA NAIP (public domain), OpenStreetMap (ODbL), MI DNR Boat Launches.

⚠ Not for navigation

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Map details & sources5 sources

All layers registered to one bounding box; positions in WGS 84.

Survey-derived depth contours drape over USGS 3DEP elevation, with a USDA NAIP aerial basemap and OpenStreetMap shoreline. Colour shows surveyed depth; dark lines are the survey's own isobaths.

Coordinates: 46.22358, -86.44172
MI DNR lake ID: L32680
Vertical exaggeration: 2.83×
Basemap: USDA NAIP · public domain
Model size: 2.5 MB

Watercraft rules

county-enforced local controls · MI DNR

Restricted hourswhole lake, as mapped

Official rule details1 rule

Restricted hours“Hours for high-speed boating and water skiing”

Where the mapped control areas and the official regulation language differ, the language governs. Official county watercraft controls.

Paddling

Paddling Index methodology v1.0 · calculated 2026-08-21

65 / 100MixedData confidence: Medium

Colwell Lake has a partly natural setting, generally sheltered geometry, some nearby classified roads. Watercraft controls: Restricted hours.

Why this score?5 components

Included in the index

Component	Rating	Points of weight	Measurement
Natural setting	Good	21.4 of 35	69% natural land cover within 150 m of shore (54% forest, 14% wetland; 22% developed)
Geometric wind exposure	Very Good	22.2 of 29	mean fetch 727 m · 0% of sampled water within 500 m of shelter · generally short fetch
Watercraft controls	Restricted hours	10.9 of 18	Restricted hours
Public access	Not listed	—	No DNR-listed access site. Township, county and road-end launches are not in this source, so this is not evidence that access is poor — the component is excluded and the remaining weights are renormalized.
Road isolation	Good	10.6 of 18	some nearby classified roads · 4 MDOT-classified segments within 1.2 km, peak 742 vehicles/day

Additional paddling considerations

These describe the lake but are not part of the v1 Paddling Index and do not change the number above.

Wake sensitivity: Low — wide enough that wakes disperse over most of the lake
Aquatic vegetation: Low — approximately 2% mapped coverage · NAIP aerial imagery (NDVI)
Observed motorized activity: Unknown — No lake-level measurement of boat traffic is available. Legal permission to operate motors is not evidence of use.
Wildlife habitat potential: Moderate — 54% forest and 14% wetland cover within 150 m of shore

Compare Michigan lakes by Paddling Index →

How this index is calculated. The Paddling Index is a relative composite derived from lake geometry and public environmental, access, roadway and watercraft-control data. It is not a user review, a safety rating, or a prediction of an individual outing. Differences of a few points should not be treated as meaningful — an 84 and an 82 are broadly comparable. Components and weights: natural setting 30%, geometric wind exposure 25%, watercraft controls 15%, public access 15%, road isolation 15%; observed motorboat activity is weighted 0% because no defensible lake-level measurement exists. Where a component has no data the remaining weights are renormalized and the confidence rating is lowered; below Medium confidence no number is shown. Sources: MI DNR Watercraft Control Areas (2026-08), USGS/MRLC NLCD Land Cover (2021), MDOT Annual Average Daily Traffic (2025) and MI DNR bathymetric survey outline (0 ft isobath). Conditions change quickly — check current weather and local conditions before going out.

Fish you might catch

from angler catches, DNR surveys & active stocking

8 species with recent evidence in this lake — sized relative to each other. Illustrations are AI-generated representative adults in everyday colours, not photographs (provenance).

Northern Pike

Largemouth Bass

White Sucker

Crappie

Yellow Perch

Bluegill

Rock Bass

Pumpkinseed

Fishing rules for this lake Beta

Size and daily limits for the 8 species found here — 7 open to harvest, 1 with a special rule or closed season.

These are hook-and-line size, daily limit and season rules. Gear, spearing and bow fishing, spawning closures and rod limits are set by other Fisheries Orders and are not shown here.

Northern PikeSpecial rulesNamed in a fisheries order for this lake — see the rule text below

BluegillOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 25 is in any combination of the sunfishes — Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black and White Crappie, Rock Bass, Green, Longear and Redear Sunfish, Warmouth and hybrids — not 25 of each (FO-215.23A).

Beta. This panel is newly published. Every value is parsed from the Michigan DNR fisheries orders and hand-checked against the printed digest, but the coverage and wording are still under review. If anything here disagrees with the Michigan DNR's Fisheries Orders or its printed digest, the DNR is right — the signed Fisheries Order is the legal text; the digest summarises it.

CrappieOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 25 is in any combination of the sunfishes — Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black and White Crappie, Rock Bass, Green, Longear and Redear Sunfish, Warmouth and hybrids — not 25 of each (FO-215.23A).

Largemouth BassOpen to harvestMinimum size: 14" · Daily limit: 5 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 5 is in any combination of Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, not 5 of each (FO-215.23A).

Northern PikeSpecial rulesNamed in a fisheries order for this lake — see the rule text below

PumpkinseedOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 25 is in any combination of the sunfishes — Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black and White Crappie, Rock Bass, Green, Longear and Redear Sunfish, Warmouth and hybrids — not 25 of each (FO-215.23A).

Rock BassOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 25 is in any combination of the sunfishes — Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black and White Crappie, Rock Bass, Green, Longear and Redear Sunfish, Warmouth and hybrids — not 25 of each (FO-215.23A).

White SuckerOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: no possession limit (2026 DNR digest · all other species)

Yellow PerchOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland)

Official rule text for this lake

“no size limit on Northern Pike and up to five (5) Northern Pike may be retained in the daily possession limit with only one (1) 24- inches or greater.” — FO-206

From FO-206.26 (eff. 2026-04-01) / FO-215.23A (eff. 2023-09-15) / FO-254.25 (eff. 2025-10-10), checked against the 2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations digest · verified 2026-08-24. Regulations can change — Michigan DNR rules are the controlling source; verify current regulations before fishing. Official regulations

Compiled from registered Master Angler catches, Michigan DNR fishery surveys and Michigan DNR stockings within the last 10 years. Silhouettes are stylized and scaled to typical adult sizes relative to one another. Presence is not a promise — fishing isn’t a sure thing.

Notable catches

Master Angler program · 2012–2025

Trophy-size fish anglers caught here and registered with the DNR — what people have actually caught, distinct from what a survey netted or the state stocked below.

5Catches recorded

5Species

Bluegill1 recorded · to 10.5″ · latest 2023

Crappie1 recorded · to 14.5″ · latest 2018

Largemouth Bass1 recorded · to 21″ · latest 2024

Northern Pike1 recorded · to 45″ · latest 2012

Pumpkinseed1 recorded · to 9.1″ · latest 2025

Biggest on record

Northern Pike45″ · 2012 · trolling · worm

Largemouth Bass21″ · 2024 · spincasting · artificial lure

Crappie14.5″ · 2018 · spincasting

Bluegill10.5″ · 2023 · ice fishing · combination

Pumpkinseed9.1″ · 2025 · ice fishing · live bait

Bait: live bait (1) · artificial lure (1) · combination (1)
Method: ice fishing (2) · spincasting (2) · trolling (1)

Master Angler entries are fish that met the program’s minimum size and were registered by the angler — they show what this lake has produced, not what a day here will produce. A catch on record is history, not a species listing: “Fish you might catch” lists only species with current evidence. Source: Michigan DNR Master Angler data.

Fishery

544Fish sampled

5Species

Panfish

Bluegill354 caught

Pumpkinseed90 caught

Rock Bass87 caught

Yellow Perch5 caught

Forage & nongame

White Sucker8 caught

Stocking: During this time, Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, and Yellow Perch were stocked at various life stages (Table 1).

This survey reported catch counts without lengths. Source: Michigan DNR Status of the Fishery Resource report (counts summed across survey years).

DNR stocking

state stocking record · 1993–1993

Fish the Michigan DNR has planted in this lake — what was added, distinct from what a survey netted above.

Largemouth bass170 stocked · 1993

No stockings recorded since 1993 — shown as history.

Source: Michigan DNR Fish Stocking Database.

Non-native species records

No non-native species recorded in the available dataset. This does not confirm that no non-native species are present.

Source: Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership Conservation Planner; underlying nonindigenous species records from the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database.

At the lake

community-mapped amenities · straight-line distance

⛻ Campgroundon the lake

🏖 Beach / swim areaon the lake

From OpenStreetMap community mapping — shown only where something is mapped; an amenity missing here may still exist. Distances are straight-line. Verify before you rely on it. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Bait & tackle nearby

licensed retail bait dealers · straight-line distance

Midway General Store≈9.9 mi · (906) 573-2450N251 Federal Forest Hwy 13, Wetmore · Google · Apple

Dealers licensed by the Michigan DNR to sell live bait; listing is not an endorsement. Distances are straight-line, not driving — and call ahead: hours and stock change. Source: Michigan DNR retail bait dealer data.

Quick answers

Colwell Lake — common questions

How deep is Colwell Lake?

The deepest contour on the Michigan DNR bathymetric survey of Colwell Lake is 25 ft. That is the deepest depth the historical survey map records, which may differ from the deepest point of the lake itself.

How big is Colwell Lake?

Colwell Lake covers about 124 acres in Schoolcraft County, Michigan.

What is the average depth of Colwell Lake?

The estimated mean depth of Colwell Lake is 13.1 ft, calculated from the survey contours.

What fish are in Colwell Lake?

Species with survey, catch or recent-stocking evidence include largemouth bass, northern pike, bluegill, crappie, pumpkinseed, rock bass. The page lists all 8 species and the evidence behind each.

Is there public access to Colwell Lake?

Yes. The Michigan DNR boat-launch data identifies 1 public access site on Colwell Lake, including Colwell Lake.