Bear Lake

Bear Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Barron County. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Trophically, Bear Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. The lake's 87 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Wisconsin — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. With 1,348 acres of surface and partial shoreline records, Bear Lake is a large water by Wisconsin standards — recreational pressure is spread across a long shoreline. Within Barron County's 38 graded waters, Bear Lake sits at rank 4, near the top of the local distribution.

An invasive species record — Banded Mystery Snail — has been logged at Bear Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 5 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. 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.