Lake supporting fish which may be close to the bottom? (8)
I believe the answer is:
lingerie
'which may be close to the bottom?' is the definition.
(lingerie is a type of underwear)
'lake supporting fish' is the wordplay.
'lake' becomes 'erie' (Lake Erie is one of the Canadian/US 'Great Lakes').
'supporting' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, some letters go below others).
'fish' becomes 'ling' (ling is a kind of fish).
'erie' after 'ling' is 'LINGERIE'.
(Other definitions for lingerie that I've seen before include "CLOTHING" , "stockings, say?" , "One from W Atlantic island group" , "frillies" , "Women's underwear from France" .)