Bass Lake

Bass Lake sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

A TSI near 43 places Bass Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. A maximum depth of 15 ft puts Bass Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. At 272 acres, Bass Lake fits the Wisconsin median for monitored lakes, with partial shoreline records. Among the 191 graded lakes in Vilas County, Bass Lake sits at rank 53, above the county median.

Bass Lake has at least one documented invasive species (Chinese Mystery Snail), so boaters and anglers should observe clean-drain-dry steps when leaving the lake. Walleye are documented at Bass Lake, one of 5 fish species on record for the lake. 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.