Lake Size
Lake size is an often talked about, rarely thought about topic. Essentially there are three sizes of lakes. There are the small lakes that are less than 100 acres, medium size lakes that are between 100-500 acres, and then big lakes that are over 500 acres. The problem with looking at lake size in terms of acreage is it does not paint the full picture. For instance, a 400 acre lake with a unique shape could have 10 miles of shoreline and an oval shaped lake that is 1,000 acres might only have 6 miles of shoreline. If you plan to take a pontoon boat around the lake every evening, you would have more shoreline on the "small" lake than the "big" lake. There is also the aspect of access to look at. A public 1,000 acre lake will have more boats per acre on it than a private 100 acre lake.
As a general rule, if you have a big fast boat that you want to drive at top speeds for an extended amount of time, you want more than 1000 acres of water. If you have a normal sized boat for waterskiing/family fun you want to be on a lake that is at least 100 acres. If you are most concerned with fishing, the acreage of a lake is probably not going to be as important as other aspects.
The one thing that size can affect is view. Some people prefer a view of more water. When thinking about the view, you have to consider how your lot fits on the lake. There are numerous lots on big water in Northern Wisconsin that have small views. If your lot is located in a bay and you only see 30 acres of water, the overall size of the lake does not mean much as far as the view goes. If you can see 1,000 acres it does change the view. People spend a majority of their time in Northern Wisconsin on their lake lot and in their home, this means that a mile long view on a 200 acre lake will feel a lot bigger than a quarter mile view on a 10,000 acre lake.
