Machickanee Flowage Lake

Machickanee Flowage Lake pulls a D on the LakeGrade rubric — phosphorus loading and limited clarity hold it below the Wisconsin average. Secchi readings are the weakest of the three parameters, suggesting suspended sediment or algal biomass dominates the optical signal.

At a TSI of 58, Machickanee Flowage Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. A maximum depth of 21 ft puts Machickanee Flowage Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. Machickanee Flowage Lake covers 436 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within the 62 graded lakes of Oconto County, Machickanee Flowage Lake sits at rank 58, near the bottom of the county list.

Zebra mussel presence at Machickanee Flowage Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. The fishery is bass-led, with 4 documented species across the lake's records. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. 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.