Grand Traverse Bay
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Grand Traverse Bay is mapped to a depth of 603 ft on the NOAA NCEI survey and covers about 149,286 acres in Grand Traverse County, Michigan.
Derived from NOAA NCEI Great Lakes bathymetry data.
Grand Traverse Bay has two arms — West and East — divided by Old Mission Peninsula and merging north of Old Mission Point. Both are mapped here. The maximum depth and the “deepest” marker describe the bay as a whole, not either arm. Deeper water may exist outside the bay within the mapped area.
- Deepest mapped contour
- 603 ft
- Surface area
- 149,286 acres
- Public access
- Boat Launch
Additional depth details17 contours
- Contour depths
- 0–603 ft
- Recorded point soundings
- No point soundings recorded in source
Other waters with a public launch on this map: Lake Leelanau, Lake Bellaire, Torch Lake, Leland River, Intermediate Lake, Torch River and 9 more. Their launches are not marked on the model — only Grand Traverse Bay’s own are.
Compare with another lakeProvenance
Sources: NOAA NCEI Great Lakes Bathymetry, USGS 3DEP, OpenStreetMap (ODbL), MI DNR Boat Launches, Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (Sentinel-2), processed by michiganlakedepths.com.
⚠ NOT FOR NAVIGATION. This is a recreational depth visualisation built from historical soundings, not a nautical chart. Use official NOAA charts (ENC/RNC) for navigation. Depths are referenced to low water datum and actual water levels vary.Spot an error? Send a correction
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 Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite basemap and OpenStreetMap shoreline. Colour shows surveyed depth; dark lines are the survey's own isobaths.
- Coordinates
- 44.92000, -85.49000
- NOAA lake ID
- NOAA-GL-GTB
- Vertical exaggeration
- 5.35× below the waterline; land at true scale
- Basemap
- Copernicus Sentinel-2 · ESA, via Microsoft Planetary Computer
- Model size
- 2.5 MB
Fish you might catch
from angler catches & active stocking22 species with recent evidence in this lake — sized relative to each other. Illustrations are AI-generated representative adults in everyday colours, not photographs (provenance).
Muskellunge
Chinook Salmon
Northern Pike
Common Carp
Bowfin
Channel Catfish
Coho Salmon
Lake Trout
Walleye
Burbot
Brown Trout
Rainbow Trout
Freshwater Drum
Lake Whitefish
White Sucker
Smallmouth Bass
Menominee Whitefish
Brook Trout
Cisco
Gizzard Shad
Yellow Perch
Rock BassFishing rules for this lake Beta
Size and daily limits for the 22 species found here — 22 open to harvest.
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.
From the 2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations digest (General Fishing Regulations table and notes) / FO-215.23A (eff. 2023-09-15) / FO-252.26 (eff. 2026-04-01) / FO-240.26 / FO-253.26 (eff. 2026-04-01, Great Lakes trout and salmon by management unit) · verified 2026-08-24. Regulations can change — Michigan DNR rules are the controlling source; verify current regulations before fishing. Official regulations
Notable catches
Master Angler program · 1992–2025Trophy-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.
Catch details by species22 species
Biggest on record
Bait: artificial lure (282) · minnow (28)
Method: trolling (408) · spin casting (207) · still fishing (174)
DNR stocking
state stocking record · 2003–2025Fish the Michigan DNR has planted in this lake — what was added, distinct from what a survey netted above.
Shipwrecks in Grand Traverse Bay 11 recorded · none with a verified position
Positions are published by the Michigan Underwater Preserve Council. 0 of 11 here have been verified by the state; the rest are approximate and are marked as such.
6 of these wrecks have a 3D reconstruction of the ship afloat — tap a labelled marker on the map, or the 3D preview button below. Only wrecks with a reconstruction are marked on the map; the rest are listed below.
- Bowers Harbor Fruit BargeapproximateFruit or Potato Barge · snorkel-accessible3 ft
- Metropolis - ShallowapproximateSchooner, 2-Mast · lost 1886 · stranded · snorkel-accessible full reconstruction5 ft
- AlbatrossapproximateTug · lost 1916 · abandoned · snorkel-accessible full reconstruction10 ft
- "Shale Scow"approximateScow · lost 1903 · snorkel-accessible full reconstruction12 ft
- "Yuba Wreck"approximateSchooner · lost 1894 · stranded · snorkel-accessible15 ft
- "Elmwood Wreck", "Barge" or Charles FrankapproximateFish Tug - originally steam, 100-120hp Kahlenberg semi-diesel 1928 · lost 1957 · abandoned20 ft
- TrampapproximateFish Tug · lost 1970 · abandoned full reconstruction44 ft
- A.J. (Alida Jane) RogersapproximateSchooner, 2-Mast · lost 1898 · foundered full reconstruction53 ft
- NyordapproximateSloop · lost 197054 ft
- West Bay BargeapproximateBarge · abandoned80 ft
- Metropolis - DeepapproximateSchooner, 2-Mast · lost 1886 · stranded full reconstruction120 ft
Treat these as graves. Lives were lost on many Great Lakes wrecks, and human remains may still be present. Michigan’s bottomlands also hold submerged cultural sites that long predate these ships. Look, photograph, and leave everything exactly as you found it.
Removing or disturbing wreckage on Great Lakes bottomlands is a felony under Michigan Part 761, 1994 PA 451, at a fair market value of $100 or more. Positions are historical reference only — not navigation, and not dive-planning data. Wreck records are published by the Michigan Underwater Preserve Council, which publishes a guide to the Grand Traverse Bay preserve.
Grand Traverse Bay — common questions
Are West and East Grand Traverse Bay shown separately?
No. Both arms are mapped on this page. West and East Grand Traverse Bay are the two arms of Grand Traverse Bay, divided by Old Mission Peninsula; the depths here describe the whole bay.
How deep is Grand Traverse Bay?
The deepest contour on the NOAA NCEI bathymetric survey of Grand Traverse Bay is 603 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 Grand Traverse Bay?
Grand Traverse Bay covers about 149,286 acres in Grand Traverse County, Michigan.
What fish are in Grand Traverse Bay?
Species with survey, catch or recent-stocking evidence include brook trout, brown trout, burbot, channel catfish, chinook salmon, coho salmon. The page lists all 22 species and the evidence behind each.
Is there public access to Grand Traverse Bay?
Yes. The Michigan DNR boat-launch data identifies 12 public access sites on Grand Traverse Bay, including West Arm.
