Moon Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Moon Lake pulls an A: clarity at 42.7 ft and 14 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

The lake's low TSI puts it in oligotrophic territory — the cleanest of the four trophic classes, but also the most vulnerable to nutrient-driven shifts. The lake bottoms out at 38 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. At 131 acres, Moon Lake fits the Wisconsin median for monitored lakes, with partial shoreline records. Among the 202 graded lakes in Vilas County, Moon Lake sits at rank 61, above the county median.

An invasive species record — Chinese Mystery Snail — has been logged at Moon Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 6 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. 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.