Overview

Pike Lake is a hard water drainage lake having slightly alkaline, light brown water of moderate transparency. The immediate shoreline (70 percent) is predominantly upland of hardwood, conifer, cleared land, and cultivated land with the remainder wetland of shrub, conifer, hardwood, and marsh. The littoral materials are composed of sand (60 percent), muck (35 percent), and gravel (5 percent). Floating and emergent aquatic vegetation grow in moderate quantities while submergent vegetation is dense. Fish inhabiting the lake include northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass, yellow perch, bluegill, black crappie, pumpkinseed, black bullhead, and golden shiner. A public boat landing with parking is located on the southeast shore. The inlet is drainage from Rice Lake and the outlet flows to the Plover River. A water control structure of 1- head foot owned by the Pike Lake Club is located at the outlet. This lake experiences both winter and summer fish kills. The lake is chemically treated annually for algae control.

Source: 1977, Surface Water Resources of Marathon County Pike Lake, T27N, R9E, Section 13 Surface Acres = 204.9, Maximum Depth = 34 feet, Secchi Disk = 7 feet

Date  1977

Author   Aquatic Biologist

General Condition

Pine Lake was evaluated every two years between 2012 and 2020 for phosphorus and algae and was found to be in good condition. This lake is on the healthy waters list.

Date  2019

Author  Ashley Beranek

Condition

Wisconsin has over 84,000 miles of streams, 15,000 lakes and milllions of acres of wetlands. Assessing the condition of this vast amount of water is challenging. The state's water monitoring program uses a media-based, cross-program approach to analyze water condition. An updated monitoring strategy (2015-2020) is now available. Compliance with Clean Water Act fishable, swimmable standards are located in the Executive Summary of Water Condition in 2018. See also the 'monitoring and projects' tab.

Reports

Management Goals

Wisconsin's Water Quality Standards provide qualitative and quantitative goals for waters that are protective of Fishable, Swimmable conditions [Learn more]. Waters that do not meet water quality standards are considered impaired and restoration actions are planned and carried out until the water is once again fishable and swimmable

Management goals can include creation or implementation of a Total Maximum Daily Load analysis, a Nine Key Element Plan, or other restoration work, education and outreach and more. If specific recommendations exist for this water, they will be displayed below online.

Monitoring

Monitoring the condition of a river, stream, or lake includes gathering physical, chemical, biological, and habitat data. Comprehensive studies often gather all these parameters in great detail, while lighter assessment events will involve sampling physical, chemical and biological data such as macroinvertebrates. Aquatic macroinvertebrates and fish communities integrate watershed or catchment condition, providing great insight into overall ecosystem health. Chemical and habitat parameters tell researchers more about human induced problems including contaminated runoff, point source dischargers, or habitat issues that foster or limit the potential of aquatic communities to thrive in a given area. Wisconsin's Water Monitoring Strategy was recenty updated.

Grants and Management Projects

Monitoring Projects

Watershed Characteristics

Pike Lake is located in the Plover and Little Plover Rivers watershed which is 202.19 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (41.70%), agricultural (23.60%) and a mix of wetland (18%) and other uses (16.60%). This watershed has stream miles, lake acres and 22,761.70 wetland acres.

Nonpoint Source Characteristics

This watershed is ranked Medium for runoff impacts on streams, Medium for runoff impacts on lakes and High for runoff impacts on groundwater and therefore has an overall rank of High. This value can be used in ranking the watershed or individual waterbodies for grant funding under state and county programs.However, all waters are affected by diffuse pollutant sources regardless of initial water quality. Applications for specific runoff projects under state or county grant programs may be pursued. For more information, go to surface water program grants.