Lake Content

Lake Content – What are these amazing natural events?

• Lake Content, a clear tranquil lake, originally flowed into Big Saint by a stream. 
• With 239 acres, max depth 14 ft, and a manmade channel, Lake Content is a healthy fisheries lake, with diverse & dense aquatic plant communities and abundant wildlife, including nesting loons. 
• The entire lake is a littoral zone, sunlight reaching the bottom, where 42 native aquatic plants grow.

What is this?  A sign of good water quality on Lake Content!

• A sign of good water quality, bryozoans are microscopic invertebrates living in colonies. 
• Bryozoans die off in the fall, and eggs form new colonies in the spring.
• Not harmful, if you see a bryozoan colony, it means organisms are busy filtering the water!

What is going on? Plumes coming out of the pines?

• Lake Content mayfly hatch!  With 157 mayfly species in WI, Lake Content has many hatching events.
• The biggest mayfly hatches are in June & July. Adult mayflies only live about 24 hours & they never eat!
• Adults mate, drop eggs, & the larval nymphs live on the lakebed, swimming to the surface to emerge as adults.
• During hatches, fish feast on nymphs & emerging adults. Large mayfly swarms indicate a healthy lake!

What is Lake Content Weed Culture?

Fern-leaf pondweed (photo by Peter Dziuk)

• Weed beds are aquatic plant communities, critically important in Lake Content.  These plants are not weeds.
• Aquatic plants are food, habitat, fish nurseries, erosion control, dissolved oxygen producers, & much more.
• Lake Content’s clear water – aquatic plants are reducing algae growth & absorbing nutrients, like phosphorus.
• Lake Content is rich in diverse species, 42 surveyed plants by Onterra LLC. Plants were growing on the lakebed at 14 feet!
• Healthy, diverse native plants help stop invasive plants, like Eurasian watermilfoil & curly-leaf pondweed, from taking hold.  
• With 13 emergent, 8 free floating, & 20 submergent plants, Content has many plants supporting a healthy fishery.

Loons on Lake Content?

• Yes! Loons nest on Lake Content and Big Saint Germain Lake.
• Understanding loons allows lake users to respectfully co-exist with these iconic birds. 
• Nesting on the water’s edge, loon nests are easily disturbed & washed away by waves. 
• Links below are excellent for understanding How Close is Too Close & loon behaviors.

https://loon.org/about-the-common-loon/loon-behavior

3_brochure_How-Close-Is-Too-Close_16-x-9-Open-Double-Gatefold-for-print-1.pdf

Permission to use photos & information: Onterra LLC Lake Management Planning, WI DNR, Katy Chayka & Peter Dziuk (MN Wildflowers), Loon Preservation Committee, LoonWatch, and Maine Audobon.