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Pigeon Lake News
Jan 22, 2022 Reprinted with permission. Please subscribe to the Valders Journal and follow the Valders Journal on facebook. Treatment aimed to kill invasive Eurasian milfoil in Pigeon Lake had an unusual result–it worked. Gus Gospodarek, president of the Pigeon Lake Association, said a recent consultant’s report shows improvement in the rural Valders lake because of treatment for the invasive aquatic plant a few years ago. “We are weed free so far,” he said. The report produced by Onterra Lake Management Planning noted treatment took place in 2017. “We are thrilled about it,” Gospodarek said. “That will be five years without the finding of Eurasian milfoil.”Pigeon Lake beats the invasive odds
Treatment for Eurasian milfoil holds for five years, restoring popular lake to health
By Todd S. Bergmann, Valders Journal
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Click on the maps to enlarge. Bathymetric Map Courtesy of and Copyright Sportsman’s Connection, based on Wisconsin DNR data. Watershed map courtesy of Manitowoc County Soil and Water Conservation Department. New! Zoom in even closer with this new interactive watershed mapping tool.
MCLA Lake Director: Randy Steinbruecker
Directions: Pigeon Lake Road, Town of Liberty. Take Highway 42 South from Manitowoc, West on County Highway F approximately 3.5 miles to Pigeon Lake Road. Travel North on Pigeon Lake Road approximately .75 miles to driveway to on the West side of the road.
About Pigeon Lake
Lake Health
- 2023 Condition: Good/Mesotrophic read more
Recreation
- Features: Parking space for 10 car/trailer units, a boat ramp and outdoor lighting. A popular spot for water skiing and boating, which are regulated by a town ordinance and posted at the access. The access and parking area are blacktopped with a port-a-pier. The facility also has a toilet building. The lake is best known for walleye and northern pike, but also contains large mouth bass, white bass and trout.
- Boat Ramp: Concrete ramp, 8% slope, >3 ft launch depth, boarding dock.
- Launch Fee: The daily fee is $5 and the seasonal fee is $20.
- ADA Accessibility Features: No. Not ADA accessible. The slope to the boarding dock exceeds the maximum allowable for ADA purposes.
- Restrictions: Rafts, piers, slow-no-wake hours, swimming regulations, boating restrictions, water skiing restrictions, counterclockwise boating. Town of Liberty. See posted at access. Wisconsin boating handbook
- Manitowoc County Map and Photos:
https://manitowoccountywi.gov/departments/parks/lake-access/pigeon-lake/
Statistics
- Surface Area: 86 acres
- Depth: Max 62′, Mean 20′
- Bottom: 0% sand, 15% gravel, 0% rock, 85% muck
- Shorelength: 1.6 mi
- Lake Type: Deep seepage (no inlet or outlet), stratified.
- Lat/Long: 43″ 59′ 22.85″ N / 8T 52′ 11.48″W
Aquatic Invasive Species Threats
- Verified: Banded Mystery Snail (2008), Curly-Leaf Pondweed (2005), Eurasian Water-Milfoil (1994), Zebra Mussel (2007)
Fishing
- Fish present: Largemouth bass, walleye, northern pike, rock bass, perch, bluegill.
Regulations
- Open All Year
- Panfish: 25/10 Year-Round. This limit is in effect through 2026.
25 panfish may be kept, but no more than 10 of any one species (all year). No minimum length limit.
Panfish fact sheet - Catfish: Daily bag limit 10; no min length.
- Panfish: 25/10 Year-Round. This limit is in effect through 2026.
- Open May 4, 2024 – March 2, 2025:
- Largemouth/smallmouth bass: 14″ Limit 5.
- Northern Pike: 26″ Limit 2.
- Walleye: 15″ Limit 3.
- Motor Trolling is allowed with up to 3 hooks, baits, or lures, per angler.
- View Pigeon lake fishing regulations on DNR website and familiarize yourself with Wisconsin fishing: WDNR Hook & Line Guide
- Consumption Advisory: General Manitowoc County/Mercury. Click here.
Stocking and DNR Surveys
| DNR Fish Stocking Data | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Species | Strain | Age Class | Number Stocked | Average Length (inches) |
| 2023 | WALLEYE | LAKE MICHIGAN | LARGE FINGERLING | 398 | 7.95 |
| 2023 | WALLEYE | UNSPEC | LARGE FINGERLING | 2,000 | 6 |
| 2019 | WALLEYE | ROCK-FOX | SMALL FINGERLING | 5,033 | 1.80 |
| 2018 | WALLEYE | UNSPEC | LARGE FINGERLING | 2,000 | 6 |
| 2017 | WALLEYE | MISSISSIPPI HEADWATERS | SMALL FINGERLING | 2,788 | 1.70 |
| 2016 | WALLEYE | UNSPEC | LARGE FINGERLING | 1,988 | 6 |
| 2015 | WALLEYE | LAKE MICHIGAN | SMALL FINGERLING | 3,333 | 1.70 |
| View more history | |||||
Condition: GOOD (2023) Source
New! Explore lake data with the DNR’s WEx Water Explorer Tool
(takes a minute to load)
- 2023 Trophic State Index (TSI): 44/Mesotrophic. Based on Chlorophyll.
What does this mean?
Mesotrophic lakes are characterized by moderately clear water, but have an increasing chance of low dissolved oxygen in deep water during the summer. - 2023 Secchi Disk: Not available. Last year was 7.5ft. Summer water was typically reported as GREEN with algae present.
- 5-Year Average Summer Chemistry:
Summer Chlorophyll 6.7 µg/l.
Summer Total Phosphorus 16 µg/l.
TSI: 48 Based on Chlorophyll readings.
- 10-Year Average late summer trophic status compared to other deep seepage lakes. Averages (red) from the last 10 years compared to other lakes (gray).
There use to be a tavern on pigeon lake in the 1970s and a public swimming area was just wondering what the name of the tavern and if there are any public pictures of this place. (Pigeon lake Manitowoc county)
Thank you
Miss Brenda Meyer
Thanks for asking, Brenda. We’ll refer your question to our Pigeon Lake director but in the meantime, you might ask Joe Kazda (joe@manitowoctavernhistory.org) who is the local expert on tavern history in Manitowoc or the Manitowoc County Historical Society (INFO@MANITOWOCCOUNTYHISTORY.ORG). Both of those sources also have facebook pages, which is sometimes quicker if you need immediate answers.
Our Pigeon Lake Director says “Sis & Dave’s.” Hope this helps!