Big Sand Lake vs Yellow Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Big Sand Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Yellow Lake. Both are in Burnett County, Wisconsin.
Big Sand Lake and Yellow Lake are both in Wisconsin — a same-state head-to-head where the comparison comes down to lake-specific differences in depth, watershed, and monitoring history rather than the broader state-level water-quality regime. The readings are meaningfully apart: Big Sand Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Yellow Lake. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Big Sand Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Big Sand Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11 ft.
Yellow Lake
Murky, only visible to about 6 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Big Sand Lake | Yellow Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 11 ft Better | 6 ft |
| Phosphorus | 19.5 µg/L Better | 26.9 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 2.3 µg/L | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 55 ft Better | 31 ft |
| Surface Area | 1,434 acres | 2,283 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 5 | 8 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
A green ✓ marks the better value for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better). Surface area and trophic state carry no tick — a bigger lake is not a better lake.
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Compare Big Sand Lake or Yellow Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Big Sand Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Yellow Lake. Water clarity: 11 ft vs 6 ft. For more fish-species variety, Yellow Lake edges ahead with 8 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.