Lake Metonga

On the LakeGrade rubric, Lake Metonga pulls an A: clarity at 22.0 ft and 14 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. The two scored sub-grades — clarity and phosphorus — track close together, so neither one is dragging the average down.

The lake's low TSI puts it in oligotrophic territory — the cleanest of the four trophic classes, but also the most vulnerable to nutrient-driven shifts. The lake's 79 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Wisconsin — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. With 2,038 acres of surface and partial shoreline records, Lake Metonga is a large water by Wisconsin standards — recreational pressure is spread across a long shoreline. Lake Metonga ranks 2 of 34 in Forest County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Zebra mussel presence at Lake Metonga means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. The fishery includes walleye among the lake's 5 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. 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.