Rice Lake

The LakeGrade rubric puts Rice Lake at a C: clarity at 5.0 ft, 23 µg/L of phosphorus, and a TSI of 52 signal an intermediate trophic state. The lake's weakest score is on Secchi depth — the water looks more turbid than its phosphorus number alone would predict.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. 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. Within Iron County's 33 graded lakes, Rice Lake ranks 19 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

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 among the lake's 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.