Hatch Lake

Hatch Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Waupaca County. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI value of 38 puts Hatch Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. The lake's maximum depth is not yet documented in state morphometric records — context for its physical structure remains limited. Hatch Lake covers 113 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Hatch Lake sits at rank 20 of 27 in Waupaca County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Hatch Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. The fishery is bass-led, with 3 documented species across the lake's records. A documented public access point at Hatch 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.