Lake Noquebay

Lake Noquebay comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Wisconsin lake of its size and depth. The lake's weakest score is on Secchi depth — the water looks more turbid than its phosphorus number alone would predict.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. The lake's 51 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Wisconsin — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. Lake Noquebay covers 2,398 acres alongside partial shoreline records, large enough that conditions can vary meaningfully between bays. Within Marinette County's 21 graded lakes, Lake Noquebay ranks 11 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Zebra mussel presence at Lake Noquebay means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. Walleye are documented at Lake Noquebay, one of 6 fish species on record for the lake. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.