Skip to main content
LakeQuality

Lake Chetac North Basin vs Sissabagama Lake

Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.

Sissabagama Lake has a higher water quality grade (B, Good) than Lake Chetac North Basin (D, Poor). Both are in Sawyer County, Wisconsin.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated

Lake Chetac North Basin and Sissabagama 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 grades are meaningfully apart: Sissabagama Lake grades a B while Lake Chetac North Basin grades a D. That two-letter spread reflects real underlying differences — different watershed inputs, different depth profiles, or different monitoring rigor.

For a recreational visitor, the wider grade gap is decisive — Sissabagama Lake is the better water-quality choice. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?

D

Lake Chetac North Basin

Sawyer County, Wisconsin

No clarity data.

B

Sissabagama Lake

Sawyer County, Wisconsin

Moderate clarity, visible to about 8 ft.

Side-by-Side Metrics

MetricLake Chetac North BasinSissabagama Lake
Overall GradeD (Poor)B (Good)
Water ClarityNo data8 ft
Phosphorus56.3 µg/L18.7 µg/L
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No dataNo data
Maximum Depth26 ft48 ft
Surface Area2,400 acres805 acres
Public AccessYesYes
Fish Species56
Trophic Stateeutrophicmesotrophic

Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).

Verdict

Sissabagama Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade B versus Lake Chetac North Basin's Grade D. For fishing diversity, Sissabagama Lake also leads with 6 species.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.