Minocqua Lake

Minocqua Lake sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Minocqua Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. The lake's 60 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Wisconsin — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. At 1,339 acres, Minocqua Lake is one of the larger lakes in Oneida County, with partial shoreline records supporting multiple distinct use patterns. Within Oneida County's 134 graded waters, Minocqua Lake sits at rank 33, near the top of the local distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Minocqua Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. Walleye are documented at Minocqua Lake, one of 6 fish species on record for the lake. 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.