Tug Lake

On the scoring rubric Tug Lake grades a D: clarity at 2.0 ft and 32 µg/L of phosphorus keep it in the lower bracket for Lincoln County. Clarity is the limiting factor — phosphorus is reasonable but suspended particles or algal cells keep water transparency below Wisconsin norms.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. A maximum depth of 21 ft puts Tug Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. Tug Lake covers 151 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Tug Lake ranks 18 of 19 in Lincoln County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

An invasive species record — Chinese Mystery Snail — has been logged at Tug Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. Walleye are documented at Tug Lake, one of 5 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Tug 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.