Pickerel Lake
Emmet County, Michigan1,078 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Pickerel Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 74 ft max depth
- Limited data
Pickerel Lake in Emmet County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9.5 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 74 ft. Surface area: 1077.5 acres.
Free interactive depth-contour map of Pickerel Lake, reaching a maximum surveyed depth of 74 ft. Toggle Depth contours to overlay the bathymetric survey lines. Contour data from Michigan DNR.
Pickerel Lake is a 1,078-acre lake in Emmet County, Michigan with a maximum depth of 74 feet. The lake supports 22 documented fish species including Bluegill, Bluntnose minnow, and Bowfin.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2022-09-08. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Pickerel Lake covers about 1,100 acres in Emmet County. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Pickerel Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
What Pickerel Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Fishing22 species recorded
- Deep water74 ft surveyed max depth
- Big water1,078 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Pickerel Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Pickerel Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Pickerel Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Pickerel Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 9.5 ft. TSI 45.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 9.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 45 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Pickerel Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
74 ft
Surface area
1,078 acres
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
48 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
6.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
584 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS).
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Pickerel Lake
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Fish Species
Click a species to see every lake where it is documented.
Fishing Pickerel Lake
EPA Impairment Status
Pickerel Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MI040700040202-05 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Emmet County
Frequently asked questions about Pickerel Lake
Where is Pickerel Lake?
- Pickerel Lake is a lake in Emmet County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Pickerel Lake?
- Pickerel Lake in Emmet County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9.5 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 74 ft. Surface area: 1077.5 acres.
Is Pickerel Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Pickerel Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Pickerel Lake?
- Pickerel Lake has a maximum depth of 74 feet. The lake covers 1077.5 acres.
What fish are in Pickerel Lake?
- Fish species found in Pickerel Lake include Bluegill, Bluntnose minnow, Bowfin, Brown bullhead, Common shiner, Iowa darter, Johnny darter, Largemouth bass, Longnose gar, Northern Logperch, Northern pearl dace, Northern pike, Pumpkinseed, Rock bass, Sand shiner, Slimy sculpin, Smallmouth bass, Walleye, Western banded killifish, White sucker, Yellow bullhead, Yellow perch. Pickerel Lake is located in Emmet County, Michigan.
Explore Pickerel Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
15 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS15 samples · 2022
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)