Carpenter Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Carpenter Lake pulls an A: clarity at 28.2 ft and 17 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI value of 37 puts Carpenter Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. A maximum depth of 16 ft puts Carpenter Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. At 339 acres, Carpenter Lake fits the Wisconsin median for monitored lakes, with partial shoreline records. Carpenter Lake ranks 40 of 202 in Vilas County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

An invasive species record — Chinese Mystery Snail — has been logged at Carpenter 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. 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.