Scout Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Scout Lake pulls an A: clarity at 46.8 ft and phosphorus readings still being added put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. 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 22 puts Scout Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. The lake bottoms out at 26 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Scout Lake is small — 24 acres alongside partial shoreline records — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Scout Lake sits at rank 24 of 39 in Florence County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Scout Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2022, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 2, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.