Lake Emily

Lake Emily sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. 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.

A TSI value of 35 puts Lake Emily in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. Lake Emily reaches 35 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. Lake Emily covers 108 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Among the 29 graded lakes in Portage County, Lake Emily ranks 3 — in the top quartile locally.

Lake Emily carries an invasive watermilfoil record — boat-launch decontamination and shoreline care matter more here than at uninfested lakes. Walleye are documented at Lake Emily, one of 5 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Lake Emily 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.