Spooner Lake vs Stone Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Stone Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Spooner Lake (C, Fair). Both are in Washburn County, Wisconsin.
Spooner Lake and Stone 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: Stone Lake grades a A while Spooner Lake grades a C. 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 — Stone 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?
Spooner Lake
Murky, only visible to about 6.5 ft.
Stone Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 23 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Spooner Lake | Stone Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | C (Fair) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 6.5 ft | 23 ft |
| Phosphorus | 22.7 µg/L | 10.8 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | - | 49 ft |
| Surface Area | 1.1K acres | 490 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
Stone Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Spooner Lake's Grade C. Water clarity: 23 ft vs 6.5 ft. For fishing diversity, Stone Lake also leads with 0 species.