Shawano Lake ( ) is a lake situated in Shawano County in northeastern

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. Shawano Lake is a hard water drainage lake with multiple inlets and one major outlet, the Wolf River. A dam on the Wolf River located in the City of Shawano raises the water levels of Shawano Lake. Shawano Lake is approximately , with an average depth of approximately and a maximum depth of approximately . The shoreline length is estimated at . The Towns of Wescott, and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, and the Village of Cecil border Shawano Lake.

Activities

Shawano Lake is a popular lake for recreational fishing, boating, swimming, water skiing, bird watching, hunting, and other outdoor activities. It is currently a

eutrophic lake The Trophic State Index (TSI) is a classification system designed to rate water bodies based on the amount of biological productivity they sustain. Although the term "trophic index" is commonly applied to lakes, any surface water body may be inde ...

with elevated levels of algae blooms, nutrients, and nuisance aquatic plants. Aquatic plant management is a major management objective for the lake. Shawano Lake is one of the most heavily fished lakes in the area. It contains many species of fish, including walleye, largemouth bass and panfish in the early season. Ice fisherman concentrate on northern pike and panfish. Fishing tournaments are common on the lake. Two ice racing tracks are used on the lake in the winter.

Development

Shawano Lake is heavily developed, with dense residential housing surrounding most of the shoreline. It lies within the Shawano Lake Sanitary District, so all dwellings have sanitary sewers and public water supply. There are many resorts and cabin rentals on the lake.

Fishing and Wildlife

Shawano Lake is managed as a warm water fishery. The primary game fish species are

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

, and

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

. The predominant panfish are

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

black crappie The black crappie (''Pomoxis nigromaculatus'') is a freshwater fish in the sunfish family ( Centrarchidae). It is endemic to North America, one of the two types of crappies. It is very similar to the white crappie (''P. annularis'') in size, s ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

and

pumpkinseed The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as sun perch, pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small to medium–sized freshwater fish of the genus ''Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from the sunfish fami ...

.Shawano Lake Watershed (WR15)
/ref> Good natural reproduction supports the fishery. Over the last ten years a musky population has been established and is maintained by annual stocking. A walleye spawning reef was developed on Shawano Lake in the mid-1980s. Annual fall electrofishing surveys are conducted on the lake to monitor the reproductive success of walleye and largemouth bass, with periodic spring fyke netting surveys conducted to monitor the overall fishery. Shawano Lake is important as a resting stop for migrating waterfowl. Numerous species of wildlife inhabit the undeveloped shoreland areas. Standing dead and dying trees (snags) on the uplands provide habitat for various species of birds and insects, including

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...

s, and songbirds. Several species of mammals and birds use cavities in trees for dens. Salamanders, small mammals, and invertebrates use downed and rotting logs for protection, feeding and breeding sites. Downed trees in or at the water's edge (woody cover) are especially valuable for resting and feeding areas. Aquatic and wetland vegetation at or near the water's edge provides critical habitat for small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and fish at all life stages.

Lake Access

Shawano Lake has about 24 access points, which are a combination of public and private landings and town owned fire lanes. A county park is located on Shawano Lake, with a swimming beach and boat launch. A second park is located within the Village of Cecil, which is used as an access point for one of the ice racing tracks. Shawano Municipal Airport is also located on Shawano Lake and uses part of the lake for a runway. It is frequently used for pontoon plane take-offs and landings during the summer months.

Media

File:WIS117NorthTerminusWIS22.jpg, Ice-covered Shawano Lake in winter File:IceRacingShawanoLake1.jpg, Ice racing File:ShawanoLakeShantiesJan2010.jpg, Ice shanties

References

{{authority control Lakes of Wisconsin Bodies of water of Shawano County, Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Shawano County, Wisconsin Articles containing video clips