Shepard Lake

On the scoring rubric Shepard Lake grades a D: clarity at 4.5 ft and phosphorus readings still being added keep it in the lower bracket for Oneida County. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

A TSI in the eutrophic range signals a lake doing what nutrient-loaded waters do — supporting an active algal community at the cost of clear water. A maximum depth of 18 ft puts Shepard Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. Shepard Lake covers 179 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within the 134 graded lakes of Oneida County, Shepard Lake sits at rank 107, near the bottom of the county list.

An invasive species record — Chinese Mystery Snail — has been logged at Shepard Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 4 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.