Michigan Lake Depths All Michigan lakes
NESW

Pleasant Lake

Wexford County, Michigan · MI DNR bathymetric survey
10ft Max
depth
133 acres 2 contours
Paddling Index63MixedMedium confidenceaway from major roads · sheltered geometry
Get directions

Depth scale

The lake

Survey readout

Pleasant Lake is mapped to a depth of 10 ft on the Michigan DNR survey and covers about 133 acres in Wexford County, Michigan.

Measured from the Michigan DNR inland-lake contour survey.

Deepest mapped contour
10 ft
Mean depth
5.1 ft · estimated
Surface area
133 acres
Estimated volume
679 acre-ft · 221M gal
Shoreline
2.06 mi · lobed
Aquatic vegetation
6% of surface · NDVI estimate
Public access
No public DNR launch identified
Additional depth details2 contours
Contour depths
0–10 ft
Recorded point soundings
10 ft

83.4% 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 Depth, area and volume are estimated from the interpolated survey surface — historical reference, not measurement.

Compare with another 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

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 USDA NAIP aerial basemap and OpenStreetMap shoreline. Colour shows surveyed depth; dark lines are the survey's own isobaths.

Coordinates
44.29995, -85.47706
MI DNR lake ID
L18761
Vertical exaggeration
3.0×
Basemap
USDA NAIP · public domain
Model size
2.3 MB

Paddling

Paddling Index methodology v1.0 · calculated 2026-08-21
63 / 100MixedData confidence: Medium

Pleasant Lake has a partly natural 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

ComponentRatingPoints of weightMeasurement
Natural settingGood18.4 of 3560% natural land cover within 150 m of shore (18% forest, 28% wetland; 25% developed)
Geometric wind exposureVery Good21.0 of 29mean fetch 803 m · 0% of sampled water within 500 m of shelter · generally short fetch
Watercraft controlsNone identified8.8 of 18No special watercraft restriction identified in the current DNR source. Motors permitted, subject to general law.
Public accessNot listedNo 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 isolationExcellent15.0 of 18relatively isolated from major roads · 10 MDOT-classified segments within 1.2 km, peak 1,854 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 6% 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 — 18% forest and 28% wetland cover within 150 m of shore
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 & 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).

Flathead Catfish
Channel Catfish
Largemouth Bass
Smallmouth Bass
Bullhead
Crappie
Bluegill
Pumpkinseed

Historically stocked, no recent evidence: Walleye (last planted 2001) — 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.

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).
BullheadOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: no possession limit (2026 DNR digest · all other species)
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.
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).
BullheadOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: no possession limit (2026 DNR digest · all other species)
Channel CatfishOpen to harvestMinimum size: 12" · Daily limit: 10 (FO-215 · statewide inland)
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).
Flathead CatfishOpen to harvestMinimum size: 15" · Daily limit: 5 (FO-215 · statewide inland)
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).
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).
Smallmouth 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).
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 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 · 1997–2022

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.

35Catches recorded
8Species
Pumpkinseed16 recorded · to 10.5″
Bluegill10 recorded · to 11.5″
Bullhead4 recorded · to 17.5″
Channel Catfish1 recorded · to 29″
Catch details by species8 species
Pumpkinseed16 recorded · to 10.5″ · latest 2017
Bluegill10 recorded · to 11.5″ · latest 2020
Bullhead4 recorded · to 17.5″ · latest 2005
Channel Catfish1 recorded · to 29″ · latest 1999
Crappie1 recorded · to 14.4″ · latest 2022
Flathead Catfish1 recorded · to 31″ · latest 2002
Largemouth Bass1 recorded · to 22.5″ · latest 2005
Smallmouth Bass1 recorded · to 21.1″ · latest 1997

Biggest on record

Flathead Catfish31″ · 2002 · spincasting · night crawler
Channel Catfish29″ · 1999 · trolling
Largemouth Bass22.5″ · 2005 · spincasting
Smallmouth Bass21.1″ · 1997 · spincasting
Bullhead17.5″ · 2003 · still fishing · worm

Bait: worm (17) · wax worm (7) · live bait (2)
Method: still fishing (15) · spincasting (14) · drift fishing (3) · ice 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.

DNR stocking

state stocking record · 1988–2001

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

Walleye58,299 stocked · 1988–2001 · 6 plantings

No stockings recorded since 2001 — shown as history.

Non-native species records

1 record

Fish

  • Flathead Catfish
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.

Bait & tackle nearby

licensed retail bait dealers · straight-line distance
Pilgrim Village Fishing Shop≈4.5 mi · (231) 775-5412181 S Lake Mitchell Dr, Cadillac · Google · Apple
Village Tackle LLC≈13.2 mi129 N Front St, Lake City · 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

Pleasant Lake — common questions

How deep is Pleasant Lake?

The deepest contour on the Michigan DNR bathymetric survey of Pleasant Lake 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 Pleasant Lake?

Pleasant Lake covers about 133 acres in Wexford County, Michigan.

What is the average depth of Pleasant Lake?

The estimated mean depth of Pleasant Lake is 5.1 ft, calculated from the survey contours.

What fish are in Pleasant Lake?

Species with survey, catch or recent-stocking evidence include channel catfish, flathead catfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, bluegill, bullhead. The page lists all 8 species and the evidence behind each.

Is there public access to Pleasant Lake?

No public launch for Pleasant Lake appears in the Michigan DNR access data. That is not the same as the lake being private -- municipal and private ramps are not in that source.