Spencer Lake

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

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. At 53 ft of maximum depth, Spencer Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. Spencer Lake is small — 70 acres alongside partial shoreline records — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Spencer Lake ranks 3 of 27 in Waupaca County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Spencer Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. Walleye are documented at Spencer Lake, one of 5 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Spencer Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.