Little Ripley Lake

Little Ripley Lake 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.

Trophically, Little Ripley Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. At only 14 ft deep, Little Ripley Lake is shallow — wind keeps the water column mixed and sediment resuspension drives phosphorus levels harder to manage. The lake is compact at 39 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Within Washburn County's 48 graded lakes, Little Ripley Lake ranks 30 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Little Ripley Lake has at least one documented invasive species (Purple Loosestrife), so boaters and anglers should observe clean-drain-dry steps when leaving the lake. The fishery is bass-led, with 2 documented species across the lake's records. 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.