Cochran Lake

Cochran 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.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. A maximum depth of just 12 ft means sediment-bound phosphorus releases back into the water column whenever wind stirs the bottom — a classic shallow-lake dynamic. Cochran Lake covers 133 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Cochran Lake ranks 159 of 202 in Vilas County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Cochran Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2025, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 4 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.