Pleasant Lake

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

Trophically, Pleasant Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. A maximum depth of 29 ft puts Pleasant Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. The lake's 145 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 Walworth County's 34 graded waters, Pleasant Lake sits at rank 2, near the top of the local distribution.

Zebra mussels have been documented at Pleasant Lake, which alters the filter-feeding balance and can paradoxically increase water clarity while disrupting the food web. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 4 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. A documented public access point at Pleasant 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.