Rainbow Lake

Montcalm County, Michigan · MI DNR bathymetric survey

22ft Max
depth

176 acres 10 contours Public access

Paddling Index48Modestaway from major roads · sheltered geometry

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Depth scale

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The lake

Survey readout

Rainbow Lake is mapped to a depth of 22 ft on the Michigan DNR survey and covers about 176 acres in Montcalm County, Michigan.

Measured from the Michigan DNR inland-lake contour survey.

Deepest sounding: 22 ft
Mean depth: 5.3 ft · estimated
Surface area: 176 acres
Estimated volume: 925 acre-ft · 302M gal
Shoreline: 2.76 mi · irregular
Aquatic vegetation: 1% of surface · NDVI estimate
Public access: Boat Launch

Additional depth details10 contours

Contour depths: 0–22 ft
Recorded point soundings: 22 ft, 7 ft

79% of the surface sits over water shallower than 10 ft; 2% 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 Depth, area and volume are estimated from the interpolated survey surface — historical reference, not measurement.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

Montcalm County, Michigan · 15 nearest of 26 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: 43.32856, -85.30558
MI DNR lake ID: L20258
Vertical exaggeration: 2.93×
Basemap: USDA NAIP · public domain
Model size: 2.0 MB

Paddling

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

48 / 100ModestData confidence: High

Rainbow Lake has a substantially developed setting, generally sheltered geometry, limited 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	Modest	0.8 of 30	20% natural land cover within 150 m of shore (12% forest, 8% wetland; 37% developed)
Geometric wind exposure	Very Good	17.2 of 25	mean fetch 859 m · 2% 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 · 3 trailer spaces
Road isolation	Very Good	10.2 of 15	limited nearby major-road exposure · 10 MDOT-classified segments within 1.2 km, peak 1,427 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 1% 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: Limited — 12% forest and 8% 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 & active stocking

13 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

Channel Catfish

Bass

Black Crappie

Crappie

Redear Sunfish

Yellow Perch

Bluegill

Rock Bass

Hybrid Sunfish

Pumpkinseed

Sunfish

Green Sunfish

Fishing rules for this lake Beta

Size and daily limits for the 13 species found here — 12 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

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).

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.

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).

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).

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).

Green 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).

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 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).

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).

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).

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 · 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.

10Catches recorded

6Species

Redear Sunfish3 recorded · to 11.5″ · latest 2025

Bluegill2 recorded · to 10.8″ · latest 2024

Channel Catfish2 recorded · to 32.9″ · latest 2010

Crappie1 recorded · to 14.1″ · latest 2024

Hybrid Sunfish1 recorded · to 10″ · latest 2025

Rock Bass1 recorded · to 11.2″ · latest 2005

Biggest on record

Channel Catfish32.9″ · 2010 · still fishing · live bluegill

Channel Catfish27.5″ · 1999 · still fishing · minnow

Crappie14.1″ · 2024 · spincasting · artificial lure

Redear Sunfish11.5″ · 2004 · spincasting · night crawler

Rock Bass11.2″ · 2005 · spincasting

Bait: live bait (5) · artificial lure (1) · live bluegill (1)
Method: spincasting (5) · still fishing (5)

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

2,093Fish sampled

9Species

Gamefish Northern Pike 112

Panfish Bluegill 1,516 · Black Crappie 121 · Yellow Perch 72

All survey species9 species

Gamefish

Northern Pike112 caught · to 31″

Panfish

Bluegill1,516 caught · to 6″

Black Crappie121 caught · to 13″

Yellow Perch72 caught · to 7″

Rock Bass23 caught · to 9″

Green Sunfish22 caught · to 6″

Pumpkinseed6 caught · to 5″

Forage & nongame

Sunfish161 caught · to 9″

Bass60 caught · to 18″

Stocking: Early fisheries management of Rainbow Lake involved stocking of Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, and Yellow Perch from 1933 through 1945 (Table 1).

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 · 1988–1996

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

Channel catfish7,600 stocked · 1988–1996 · 4 plantings

Redear sunfish86,910 stocked · 1991–1993 · 6 plantings

Yellow Perch3,000 stocked · 1988

No stockings recorded since 1996 — 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.

Bait & tackle nearby

licensed retail bait dealers · straight-line distance

Magnum Sports≈8.9 mi6227 S Greenville Rd, Greenville · Google · Apple

Rustic Enterprises Inc≈9.4 mi519 Ensley St, Howard City · Google · Apple

Salder's Great Outdoors LLC≈10.5 mi3160 W Howard City Edmore Rd, Six Lakes · 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

Rainbow Lake — common questions

How deep is Rainbow Lake?

The deepest contour on the Michigan DNR bathymetric survey of Rainbow Lake is 22 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 Rainbow Lake?

Rainbow Lake covers about 176 acres in Montcalm County, Michigan.

What is the average depth of Rainbow Lake?

The estimated mean depth of Rainbow Lake is 5.3 ft, calculated from the survey contours.

What fish are in Rainbow Lake?

Species with survey, catch or recent-stocking evidence include channel catfish, northern pike, black crappie, bluegill, crappie, green sunfish. The page lists all 13 species and the evidence behind each.

Is there public access to Rainbow Lake?

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