Pickerel Lake vs Pine Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Pickerel Lake has a higher water quality grade (B, Good) than Pine Lake (C, Fair). 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 grades are close: Pickerel Lake (B) and Pine Lake (C) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.
With grades 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | C (Fair) |
| Water Clarity | 10 ft | 4.8 ft |
| Phosphorus | 20.4 µg/L | 31.8 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 19 ft | 15 ft |
| Surface Area | 1,272 acres | 1,673 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 4 | 5 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Pickerel Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade B versus Pine Lake's Grade C. 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.