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Spring Lake News
The annual banquet of the Manitowoc County Lakes Association took place on Friday, October the 13th, hosted by Dan Dufek and the Larrabee Sportsman’s Club, who provided a delicious broasted chicken dinner and great company. MCLA members stepped up to provide an abundance of door prizes. The Annual Lake Stewardship awards were presented at the meeting.Annual Banquet Held on Oct. 13th, 2023
MCLA Annual Banquet held on Friday Oct. 13, 2023
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.
Directions: Spring Lake Road, Town Meeme. Take Highway 42 South from Manitowoc, West on County Highway F approximately 3.5 miles to Spring Lake Road. Travel South on Spring Lake Road approximately .5 miles Driveway to the West.
About Spring Lake
Lake Health
- 2022 Condition: Good/Mesotrophic read more
Recreation
- Features: Parking spaces for 8 car/trailer units is provided at the lake access. Several years ago, a combination launch and fishing pier was installed.
- Boat Ramp: Paved ramp, 6% 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 transition to the boarding dock is not ADA accessible (August/2011)
- Restrictions: Electric motors only, Slow-No-Wake Areas.
Town of Meeme ordinance | Wisconsin boating handbook - Manitowoc County Map and Photos:
https://manitowoccountywi.gov/departments/parks/lake-access/spring-lake/
Statistics
- Lat/Long: 43° 58′ 11.84″N / 87″ 53′ 40.89″W
- Surface Area: 9 acres
- Shorelength: .5 mi
- Depth: Max 24′, Mean 11′
- Bottom: 0% sand, 0% gravel, 0% rock, 99% muck
- Type of Lake: Small seepage. What does this mean?
Aquatic Invasive Species Threats
- Verified: Banded Mystery Snail (2009), Eurasian Water-Milfoil (2012), Purple Loosetrife (2018)
Fishing
- Fish present: Largemouth bass and bluegill common. Panfish present.
Regulations
- Open All Year
- Panfish: Daily bag limit 25. No min length.
- Catfish: Daily bag limit 10. No min length.
- Open May 6, 2023 – March 3, 2024:
- Largemouth/smallmouth bass: 14″ Limit 5.
- Northern Pike: 26″ Limit 2.
- Walleye: 15″ Limit 5.
- Motor Trolling is allowed with up to 3 hooks, baits, or lures, per angler.
- View Spring 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 Species Summary (2019): Number of fish caught by species: |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| species | Number | Ave. Length | Length range | ||||||
| Northern Pike | 4 | 22.2″ |
18.6- 29.4″ |
||||||
| Largemouth Bass | 47 | 11.9″ |
6.5-16.9″ |
||||||
| Green Sunfish | 4 | 4.9″ |
4.8-5.0″ |
||||||
| Pumpkinseed Sunfish | 1 | 6.0″ |
6.0″ |
||||||
| Bluegill | 136 | 4.4″ |
2.7- 8.1″ |
||||||
| Black Crappie | 6 | 8.1″ |
6.6- 12.0″ |
||||||
| Yellow Perch | 3 | 4.4″ |
2.8- 5.0″ |
||||||
| Brown Bullhead | 12 | 9.7″ |
9.0- 11.2″ |
||||||
Survey Date: 05-22-2019/Gear: Electrofishing
Conclusions from Spring 2019 Survey
- Largemouth Bass is the dominant gamefish; the number caught was greater than previous surveys; average length was smaller.
- 11 Northern Pike were captured in 2019. It is likely that limited spawning habitat is responsible for the low number.
- Panfish continue to dominate the fish community of the lake.
- Bluegill present in good number; average length at age indicates that they continue to exhibit slow growth.
- Yellow Perch number continued to be low. Possible reasons include poor recruitment, over-harvest or that the perch were suspended in deeper water that we did not survey.
- Recommendations from the current Panfish Study once completed should be considered to improve the size structure of Bluegill in Spring Lake.
Stocking
- No record of DNR Stocking since 1975
Condition: GOOD (2022) Source
- 5-Year Average Trophic State: 48/Mesotrophic
- Secchi Disk: Average summer reading 10.75 ft. (SE Georegion average 6.2 ft.)
Typically the summer (July-Aug) water was reported as CLEAR. Could not be nicer.
- Chemistry:
Average summer Chlorophyll 4.8 µg/l (SE Georegion average 24.7 µg/l.)
Average summer Total Phosphorus 15.2 µg/l. - Trophic State Index (TSI): 47/Mesotrophic. What does this mean?
This TSI usually suggests decreased clarity, fewer algal species, oxygen-depleted bottom waters during the summer, plant overgrowth evident, warm-water fisheries (pike, perch, bass, etc.) only.
View TSI data graph on the DNR website
We have property on Spring Lake and Love the area!
Concerns of ours and other on the lake that the weeds are spreading and growing more each year. Is there something that can be done to kill the weeds?? Very difficult when fishing constantly getting snagged in weeds. They are also unsightly and a mess.
Also, at the boat landing the large board with information and cleaning supplies is great but the only thing left of the equipment is the sprayer and has not been working, so no one is spraying their boats. Not sure who is responsible for checking the spray tank but the pump is broke.
Thank you!
Hi David and Julie,
Yes, Spring Lake does have a hybrid Eurasian milfoil which is difficult to kill with herbicide due to it being hybridized with the native milfoil that is naturally somewhat resistant to herbicides.
MCLA had a trained aquatic invasive species (AIS) monitor on Spring Lake until two years ago when he moved. We are currently trying to obtain funding to help train new AIS monitors for the lake. Monitors survey the lake monthly during the summer.
The good news is that there is a wide diversity of native aquatic species in Spring Lake, indicating that the lake is still healthy. However, significant rain events in the last two years cause accelerated levels of phosphorus that can enhance plant growth and even native species can become a nuisance.
Plant management is a complicated issue and requires a management plan to address your type of concerns. We have copied two of the DNR staff who deal with this type of programming on our County Lakes.
Regarding the Boat Cleaning Station: Spring Lake has not had an active Lake Association as many lakes do. Our monitor who moved off the lake had also maintained the bleach station and tools. It appears in his absence no one has picked up on the responsibility to maintain the cleaning station.
We would love to have representation from Spring Lake at MCLA to help improve dialog. Due to Covid-19 we have not been able to meet in person but we hope to see you and your neighbors when meetings resume.
In the meantime, please continue to monitor our website for information and links to other resources.
Tom Ward,
MCLA President