Sunset Lake fishing: Walleye, Yellow Perch

Target species: Walleye, Yellow Perch
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Bates Township Park.

The lake

Sunset Lake covers 545 acres in Michigan, across Iron County. It is a lake: 90% of it is 42 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 54 feet (16.5 m). Our records hold 4 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 54 ft (16.5 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 90% of the water is 42 feet or shallower. We hold 33 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–3 ft: 3.3% of the water
  • 3–6 ft: 8.4% of the water
  • 6–9 ft: 11.3% of the water
  • 9–12 ft: 8.9% of the water
  • 12–15 ft: 6.7% of the water
  • 15–18 ft: 6.5% of the water
  • 18–21 ft: 6.7% of the water
  • 21–24 ft: 7.6% of the water
  • 24–27 ft: 12.5% of the water
  • 27–30 ft: 7.4% of the water
  • 30–33 ft: 4% of the water
  • 33–36 ft: 2.4% of the water
  • 36–39 ft: 2.2% of the water
  • 39–42 ft: 2.1% of the water
  • 42–45 ft: 2.2% of the water
  • 45–48 ft: 2.6% of the water
  • 48–51 ft: 5.2% of the water
  • 51–54 ft: 0.3% of the water

2 target fish, led by Walleye

  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Yellow Perch — Feeding water: 45–75°F.

Also recorded here: Spottail Shiner, Golden Shiner.

Stocking: 1,437,277 fish, 1979–2021

Michigan DNR records list 1,437,277 fish released into this water from 1979 to 2021. The latest stocking on record is from 2021, more than three years ago.

Aerial imagery: USDA NAIP 2022
USDA Farm Service Agency, NAIP 2022 aerial imagery (USGS The National Map) · Public domain
  • Walleye: 1,333,158 in 1979–2021
  • Spottail Shiner: 51,100 in 1990
  • Yellow Perch: 39,939 in 1990–1991
  • Golden Shiner: 13,080 in 1989

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 boat ramp.

  • Bates Township Park — Bates Township. phone 906-265-2787 · website mcgi.state.mi.us/mrbis/BASDetail.aspx?sid=A-36-032

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 8.5–17.5 feet on our readings, averaging 12.6 feet, from 125 readings. These readings span 2017–2023.

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.