Bahr Lake

On the LakeGrade scale Bahr Lake grades a B, with clarity at 6.8 ft and 20 µg/L of phosphorus placing it above the Wisconsin median. clarity and phosphorus rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. The lake bottoms out at 44 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. At 7 acres, Bahr Lake sits below the Wisconsin median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Bahr Lake ranks 13 of 27 in Shawano County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Bahr Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 4, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. Monitoring depth is thin here: the LakeGrade rubric is applied to a small number of sample years, and the grade will be revised as more data accumulates.