Lake Ripley

Lake Ripley 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 39 puts Lake Ripley in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. The lake bottoms out at 44 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Lake Ripley covers 420 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 8 graded lakes in Jefferson County, Lake Ripley sits at rank 3, above the county median.

Zebra mussel presence at Lake Ripley means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. Walleye are documented at Lake Ripley, one of 4 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Lake Ripley makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.