Pickerel Lake

Pickerel Lake earns a C — middle-of-the-pack water quality, with one or two parameters dragging the average down from a stronger grade. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. A maximum depth of just 12 ft means sediment-bound phosphorus releases back into the water column whenever wind stirs the bottom — a classic shallow-lake dynamic. The lake is compact at 39 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Within Portage County's 28 graded lakes, Pickerel Lake ranks 18 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Pickerel Lake carries an invasive watermilfoil record — boat-launch decontamination and shoreline care matter more here than at uninfested lakes. The fishery is bass-led, with 3 documented species across the lake's records. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.