Pearl Lake

Pearl Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Waushara County. 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.

A TSI value of 36 puts Pearl Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. A maximum depth of 45 ft puts Pearl Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. The lake's 101 acres and partial shoreline records put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Within Waushara County's 32 graded waters, Pearl Lake sits at rank 2, near the top of the local distribution.

Zebra mussels have been documented at Pearl Lake, which alters the filter-feeding balance and can paradoxically increase water clarity while disrupting the food web. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 3, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. A documented public access point at Pearl 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.