Little Friess Lake

Little Friess Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Wisconsin lake of its size and depth. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

A TSI near 50 places Little Friess Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. A maximum depth of 34 ft puts Little Friess Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. The lake is compact at 16 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Little Friess Lake sits at rank 10 of 15 in Washington County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Zebra mussels have been documented at Little Friess Lake, which alters the filter-feeding balance and can paradoxically increase water clarity while disrupting the food web. Walleye are documented at Little Friess Lake, one of 4 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Little Friess Lake 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.