Pickerel Lake vs Pine Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Pickerel Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Pine Lake. Both are in Forest County, Wisconsin.
Pickerel Lake and Pine Lake are both in Wisconsin — a same-state head-to-head where the comparison comes down to lake-specific differences in depth, watershed, and monitoring history rather than the broader state-level water-quality regime. The readings are close: Pickerel Lake and Pine Lake sit within a narrow band of each other on phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and clarity. The per-parameter table below shows where the small differences actually live.
With readings this close, the choice between the two lakes turns on non-water-quality factors: depth, fish species, public access, distance from home. The per-lake pages below cover all of those.
Pickerel Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10 ft.
Pine Lake
Murky, only visible to about 4.8 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Pickerel Lake | Pine Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 10 ft Better | 4.8 ft |
| Phosphorus | 20.4 µg/L Better | 31.8 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 19 ft Better | 15 ft |
| Surface Area | 1,272 acres | 1,673 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 4 | 5 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
A green ✓ marks the better value for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better). Surface area and trophic state carry no tick — a bigger lake is not a better lake.
Swap a lake
Compare Pickerel Lake or Pine Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Pickerel Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Pine Lake. Water clarity: 10 ft vs 4.8 ft. For more fish-species variety, Pine Lake edges ahead with 5 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.