Korth Lake

Korth Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Shawano County. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

Trophically, Korth Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. Korth Lake reaches 48 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. The lake is compact at 22 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Korth Lake ranks 10 of 27 in Shawano County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Zebra mussels have been documented at Korth Lake, which alters the filter-feeding balance and can paradoxically increase water clarity while disrupting the food web. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 4, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. 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.