Rice Lake

Rice Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Iron County. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Rice Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. Rice Lake reaches 21 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. The lake's 114 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. Rice Lake ranks 29 of 34 in Iron County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Rice Lake has at least one documented invasive species (Banded Mystery Snail), so boaters and anglers should observe clean-drain-dry steps when leaving the lake. 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.