Island Lake vs White Sand Lake Deep
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
White Sand Lake Deep has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Island Lake (B, Good). Both are in Vilas County, Wisconsin.
Island Lake and White Sand Lake Deep 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 grades are close: Island Lake (B) and White Sand Lake Deep (A) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.
With grades this close, the choice between the two lakes turns on non-water-quality factors: depth, fish species, public access, distance from home. The per-lake pages below cover all of those.
Island Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 9.9 ft.
White Sand Lake Deep
Crystal clear, you can see 18 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Island Lake | White Sand Lake Deep |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 9.9 ft | 18 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 35 ft | 63 ft |
| Surface Area | 865 acres | 1.2K acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
White Sand Lake Deep wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Island Lake's Grade B. Water clarity: 18 ft vs 9.9 ft. For fishing diversity, White Sand Lake Deep also leads with 0 species.