Golden Lake fishing: Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Lake Trout

Target species: Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Lake Whitefish
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Golden Lake Boat Landing.

The lake

Golden Lake covers 274 acres in Michigan, across Iron County. It is a lake: 90.6% of it is 75 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 100 feet (30.5 m). Our records hold 5 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 100 ft (30.5 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 90.6% of the water is 75 feet or shallower. We hold 36 depth contour lines for this water.

Golden Lake Ontario.jpg
Mathew Ingram · CC BY 2.0
  • 0–5 ft: 6.4% of the water
  • 5–10 ft: 9% of the water
  • 10–15 ft: 9.8% of the water
  • 15–20 ft: 9.3% of the water
  • 20–25 ft: 8.6% of the water
  • 25–30 ft: 8.4% of the water
  • 30–35 ft: 7.1% of the water
  • 35–40 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 40–45 ft: 4.3% of the water
  • 45–50 ft: 4.2% of the water
  • 50–55 ft: 4.2% of the water
  • 55–60 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 60–65 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 65–70 ft: 2.8% of the water
  • 70–75 ft: 2.6% of the water
  • 75–80 ft: 2.3% of the water
  • 80–85 ft: 2.1% of the water
  • 85–90 ft: 1.9% of the water
  • 90–95 ft: 1.9% of the water
  • 95–100 ft: 1.3% of the water

5 target fish, led by Rainbow Trout

  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Lake Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Brown Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Lake Whitefish — Feeding water: 40–55°F.

Stocking: 692,743 fish, 1995–2025

Michigan DNR records list 692,743 fish released into this water from 1995 to 2025.

  • Rainbow Trout: 222,583 in 1996–2015
  • Lake Trout: 192,650 in 1991–2024
  • Lake Whitefish: 18,389 in 1979–1997
  • Brown Trout: 11,500 in 1988–1989
  • Smallmouth Bass: 8,144 in 1982

2 more species on the stocking list.

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 boat ramp.

  • Golden Lake Boat Landing — open 6am–10pm. US Forest Service. website fs.usda.gov/recarea/ottawa/recreation/recarea/?recid=12306

The place listed has no fee or opening hours on file: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

Water and conditions

Water clarity runs 20–24.5 feet on our readings, averaging 22.4 feet, from 62 readings. These readings span 2017–2022. The latest reading is from 2022, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.

What is hard here

Only 1 public ramp is on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • Michigan EGLE — Michigan EGLE: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.