Comus Lake

Comus Lake earns an F: 193 µg/L of phosphorus and clarity at 1.5 ft signal heavy nutrient loading from the surrounding watershed. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

The hypereutrophic status — TSI 76 — reflects sustained heavy nutrient loading from the surrounding watershed and frequent algal pressure. A maximum depth of just 6 ft means sediment-bound phosphorus releases back into the water column whenever wind stirs the bottom — a classic shallow-lake dynamic. Comus Lake covers 131 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within the 35 graded lakes of Walworth County, Comus Lake sits at rank 32, near the bottom of the county list.

No invasive species are currently listed at Comus Lake — the lake remains off the Wisconsin infested-waters roster. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 3, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. A documented public access point at Comus Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. Monitoring depth is thin here: the LakeGrade rubric is applied to a small number of sample years, and the grade will be revised as more data accumulates.