To begin, the obvious record holder for the deepest lake in Michigan is Lake Superior, the grandest of the Great Lakes. But what about inland? Michigan has thousands of inland lakes that deserve a little attention. Why should those five huge bodies of water - Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario & Superior - get all the glory?

Well, this time they're not.....the spotlight this time falls upon one of Michigan's inland lakes that just happens to be the deepest of all the inlands. In fact, it's the fourth deepest lake in our whole state, including the five Great lakes...it's even deeper than Lake Erie.

Michigan's deepest inland lake is Torch Lake, reaching depths of 250 feet, beating out Houghton Lake by 75 feet. Other sources claim the maximum depth reaches 310 feet. A verrrrry long time ago, Torch Lake was one of Lake Michigan's bays...but over time, sandbars formed and eventually cut off the bay from Lake Michigan, forming an inland body of water.

Get our free mobile app

Why is it named 'Torch' Lake? According to MLive, it's taken from the Ojibwe word “waswaaganing” that translates to “a place of torches (or fire)”. The Native Americans used torches when they went fishing at night as a way to lure the fish closer so they could catch them with their nets. Torch Lake is one of Michigan's best fishing lakes with a variety of fish that includes trout, bass, perch, pike, whitefish, and salmon.

And, the lake has its own creature legend: a monster called a 'sea panther', with a lizard's body and head of a mountain lion. You can read more about that here.

For now, let's take a plunge into the waters of The Torch: Michigan's deepest inland lake! The gallery below has a good number of underwater photos!

Torch Lake: Michigan's Deepest Inland Lake

MORE MICHIGAN LAKES:

Beaver Lake, Michigan's Clearest Lake

Vintage Photos of Higgins Lake: 1900-1950s

Duck Lake and Cemetery

 

 

More From 99.1 WFMK