Wilson Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Wilson Lake pulls an A: clarity at 21.3 ft and 21 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for 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.

A TSI near 40 places Wilson Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. Wilson Lake is a shallow lake at 12 ft maximum depth, which means it warms quickly, mixes constantly, and amplifies nutrient inputs. The lake is compact at 75 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Within the 30 graded lakes of Waushara County, Wilson Lake sits at rank 27, near the bottom of the county list.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at Wilson Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. The fishery is bass-led, with 4 documented species across the lake's records. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. 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.