Grass Lake

Jackson County, Michigan · MI DNR bathymetric survey

13ft Max
depth

347 acres 7 contours Public access

Paddling Index45ModestMedium confidence

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Depth scale

0345671013

The lake

Survey readout

Grass Lake is mapped to a depth of 13 ft on the Michigan DNR survey and covers about 347 acres in Jackson County, Michigan.

Measured from the Michigan DNR inland-lake contour survey.

Deepest sounding: 13 ft
Mean depth: 2.5 ft · estimated
Surface area: 347 acres
Estimated volume: 878 acre-ft · 286M gal
Shoreline: 4.08 mi · irregular
Aquatic vegetation: 8% of surface · NDVI estimate
Public access: Boat Launch

Additional depth details7 contours

Contour depths: 0–13 ft
Recorded point soundings: 13 ft, 7 ft, 7 ft, 6 ft, 4 ft, 4 ft

99.3% of the surface sits over water shallower than 10 ft. Depth, area and volume are estimated from the interpolated survey surface — historical reference, not measurement.

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Location

Jackson County, Michigan · 15 nearest of 36 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: 42.26258, -84.21668
MI DNR lake ID: L1478
Vertical exaggeration: 3.0×
Basemap: USDA NAIP · public domain
Model size: 2.2 MB

Paddling

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

45 / 100ModestData confidence: Medium

Grass Lake has a partly natural setting, moderate open-water exposure, substantial nearby higher-volume roads. No special watercraft restriction is identified in the current source.

Why this score?5 components

Included in the index

Component	Rating	Points of weight	Measurement
Natural setting	Good	16.9 of 35	55% natural land cover within 150 m of shore (8% forest, 45% wetland; 22% developed)
Geometric wind exposure	Good	15.7 of 29	mean fetch 1,250 m · 4% of sampled water within 500 m of shelter · moderate open-water fetch
Watercraft controls	None identified	8.8 of 18	No special watercraft restriction identified in the current DNR source. Motors permitted, subject to general law.
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	Modest	3.2 of 18	substantial nearby higher-volume roads · 57 MDOT-classified segments within 1.2 km, peak 7,099 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 8% 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 — 8% forest and 45% 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

Black Crappie

Redear Sunfish

Yellow Perch

Bluegill

Rock Bass

Hybrid Sunfish

Pumpkinseed

Historically stocked, no recent evidence: Tiger Muskellunge (last planted 1980) — not shown above.

Fishing rules for this lake Beta

Size and daily limits for the 8 species found here — 8 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.

Black 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).

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.

Hybrid SunfishOpen 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).

Northern PikeOpen to harvestMinimum size: 24" · Daily limit: 2 (FO-215 · statewide inland)

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).

Redear SunfishOpen 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).

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

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 · 1999–2025

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.

13Catches recorded

3Species

Redear Sunfish11 recorded · to 33.2″ · latest 2025

Bluegill1 recorded · to 11.2″ · latest 2003

Hybrid Sunfish1 recorded · to 10.8″ · latest 2022

Biggest on record

Redear Sunfish33.2″ · 1999 · spincasting

Redear Sunfish12.8″ · 2009 · still fishing

Redear Sunfish12.5″ · 2009 · still fishing

Bait: live bait (3) · bait (1) · worm (1)
Method: still fishing (8) · spincasting (4) · fly fishing (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

62Fish sampled

8Species

Gamefish Northern Pike 3

Panfish Yellow Perch 12 · Black Crappie 5 · Rock Bass 2

All survey species7 species

Gamefish

Northern Pike3 caught · to 32″

Panfish

Yellow Perch12 caught · to 10″

Black Crappie5 caught · to 9″

Rock Bass2 caught · to 6″

Pumpkinseed2 caught

Bluegill1 caught

Redear Sunfish1 caught

Stocking: Records indicate that bluegill, largemouth bass, and yellow perch were stocked in the late 1930s and early 1940s by the Fisheries Division.

Length is the largest fish netted in the survey, not an angler record. Source: Michigan DNR Status of the Fishery Resource report (counts summed across survey years).

DNR stocking

state stocking record · 1980–1992

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

Redear sunfish80,820 stocked · 1987–1992 · 4 plantings

Tiger muskellunge1,000 stocked · 1980

No stockings recorded since 1992 — shown as history.

Source: Michigan DNR Fish Stocking Database.

Non-native species records

8 records

Mussels & snails

Freshwater Golden Clam

Plants & algae

Curly-leaf Pondweed
Eurasian Watermilfoil
Narrow-leaved Cattail
Purple Loosestrife
Starry Stonewort
Yellow Iris

Fish

Redear SunfishMichigan DNR stocking records also document Redear Sunfish stocking in this lake.

What does non-native mean?

USGS records identify non-native species that have been documented for this lake or its shoreline. Non-native does not necessarily mean invasive, and historical records do not confirm current presence.

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

🎢 Playgroundon the lake · 2 mapped

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

Lightning Quick Gas N Go #26≈4.3 mi4400 Clear Lake Rd, Grass Lake · Google · Apple

M & M's Liquor Inc≈8.6 mi · (517) 769-24707735 Bunker Hill Rd, Jackson · Google · Apple

Mike and Tina's Party Store≈11.1 mi · (517) 985-604413100 Territorial Rd, Stockbridge · 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

Grass Lake — common questions

How deep is Grass Lake?

The deepest contour on the Michigan DNR bathymetric survey of Grass Lake is 13 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 Grass Lake?

Grass Lake covers about 347 acres in Jackson County, Michigan.

What is the average depth of Grass Lake?

The estimated mean depth of Grass Lake is 2.5 ft, calculated from the survey contours.

What fish are in Grass Lake?

Species with survey, catch or recent-stocking evidence include northern pike, black crappie, bluegill, hybrid sunfish, pumpkinseed, redear sunfish. The page lists all 8 species and the evidence behind each.

Is there public access to Grass Lake?

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