Spice Lake

The LakeGrade rubric puts Spice Lake at a C: clarity at 8.2 ft, phosphorus readings still being added, and a TSI of 47 signal an intermediate trophic state. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

A TSI near 47 places Spice Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. A maximum depth of 34 ft puts Spice Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. The lake is compact at 20 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Within the 66 graded lakes of Oconto County, Spice Lake sits at rank 61, near the bottom of the county list.

Spice Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2019, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Spice Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. 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.