Lake Emma

Presque Isle County, Michigan · MI DNR bathymetric survey

10ft Max
depth

116 acres 5 contours Public access

Paddling Index74Goodaway from major roads · sheltered geometry · wooded shoreline

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Depth scale

0246810

The lake

Survey readout

Lake Emma is mapped to a depth of 10 ft on the Michigan DNR survey and covers about 116 acres in Presque Isle County, Michigan.

Measured from the Michigan DNR inland-lake contour survey.

Deepest sounding: 10 ft
Mean depth: 3.3 ft · estimated
Surface area: 116 acres
Estimated volume: 385 acre-ft · 126M gal
Shoreline: 2.42 mi · irregular
Aquatic vegetation: 17% of surface · NDVI estimate
Public access: Boat Launch

Additional depth details5 contours

Contour depths: 0–10 ft
Recorded point soundings: 10 ft

100% of the surface sits over water shallower than 10 ft; the survey shows 2 distinct basins. Depth, area and volume are estimated from the interpolated survey surface — historical reference, not measurement.

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Location

Presque Isle County, Michigan · 15 nearest of 35 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: 45.25506, -83.99139
MI DNR lake ID: L6318
Vertical exaggeration: 3.0×
Basemap: USDA NAIP · public domain
Model size: 2.2 MB

Paddling

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

74 / 100GoodData confidence: High

Lake Emma has a mostly natural, lightly developed setting, generally sheltered geometry, little nearby major-road exposure. 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	Very Good	22.4 of 30	74% natural land cover within 150 m of shore (28% forest, 43% wetland; 10% developed)
Geometric wind exposure	Very Good	18.3 of 25	mean fetch 775 m · 4% of sampled water within 500 m of shelter · generally short fetch
Watercraft controls	None identified	7.5 of 15	No special watercraft restriction identified in the current DNR source. Motors permitted, subject to general law.
Public access	Good	12.8 of 15	1 site with DNR boating-facility records · 1 ramp lane · 20 trailer spaces
Road isolation	Excellent	13.2 of 15	relatively isolated from major roads · 3 MDOT-classified segments within 1.2 km, peak 193 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: Moderate — approximately 17% 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: High — 28% forest and 43% 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 Boating Access Sites (2026-08), 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

11 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

Bullhead Species

Black Crappie

Crappie

Yellow Perch

Bluegill

Rock Bass

Pumpkinseed

Golden Shiner

Fishing rules for this lake Beta

Size and daily limits for the 11 species found here — 11 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.

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

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).

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

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 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).

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)

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 and Michigan DNR fishery surveys. 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 · 2003–2024

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

4Species

Largemouth Bass8 recorded · to 22.5″ · latest 2024

Bluegill2 recorded · to 10.5″ · latest 2017

Crappie2 recorded · to 15″ · latest 2004

Northern Pike1 recorded · to 40″ · latest 2022

Biggest on record

Northern Pike40″ · 2022 · ice fishing · live bait

Largemouth Bass22.5″ · 2023 · still fishing · artificial lure

Largemouth Bass22.2″ · 2017 · spincasting

Largemouth Bass22″ · 2022 · spincasting · artificial lure

Largemouth Bass22″ · 2018 · spincasting

Bait: artificial lure (4) · live bait (1)
Method: spincasting (7) · ice fishing (2) · drift fishing (2) · still 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

surveyed 2003 · DNR SFR 2020-297

730Fish sampled

10Species

Gamefish Largemouth Bass 82 · Northern Pike 39

Panfish Bluegill 303 · Pumpkinseed 79 · Black Crappie 12

All survey species10 species

Gamefish

Largemouth Bass82 caught · to 20″

Northern Pike39 caught · to 26″

Panfish

Bluegill303 caught · to 9″

Pumpkinseed79 caught · to 9″

Black Crappie12 caught · to 13″

Yellow Perch12 caught · to 9″

Rock Bass6 caught · to 9″

Forage & nongame

Bullhead Species145 caught · to 13″

Golden Shiner39 caught · to 4″

White Sucker13 caught · to 21″

Stocking: Stocking records indicate that Bluegill were stocked in Lake Emma from 1935-1945, while Largemouth Bass were stocked annually from 1943-1945, and Smallmouth Bass in 1940 and 1941.

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).

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

🚿 Restrooms / vault toileton 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

Black River Party Store≈13.3 mi · (989) 733-24809720 M-68/33 Hwy, Onaway · Google · Apple

The Dry Dock≈13.8 mi450 N Bradley Hwy, Rogers City · Google · Apple

A-1 Woods & Waters Inc.≈13.9 mi141 N State St, Hillman · 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

Lake Emma — common questions

How deep is Lake Emma?

The deepest contour on the Michigan DNR bathymetric survey of Lake Emma is 10 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 Lake Emma?

Lake Emma covers about 116 acres in Presque Isle County, Michigan.

What is the average depth of Lake Emma?

The estimated mean depth of Lake Emma is 3.3 ft, calculated from the survey contours.

What fish are in Lake Emma?

Species with survey, catch or recent-stocking evidence include largemouth bass, northern pike, black crappie, bluegill, crappie, pumpkinseed. The page lists all 11 species and the evidence behind each.

Is there public access to Lake Emma?

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