Silver Lake

Silver Lake sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in 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.

The lake's low TSI puts it in oligotrophic territory — the cleanest of the four trophic classes, but also the most vulnerable to nutrient-driven shifts. Silver Lake is unusually deep for Wisconsin at 50 ft, which buffers the lake against summer warming and helps the deep water stay oxygenated. The lake's 328 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. Silver Lake ranks 5 of 30 in Waushara County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Zebra mussel presence at Silver Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 4 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. A documented public access point at Silver Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.