Crane Lake

Crane Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Wisconsin lake of its size and depth. With clarity and phosphorus scored, the sub-grades cluster within a letter of each other, pointing to stable conditions rather than one specific stressor.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. The lake bottoms out at 25 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Crane Lake covers 355 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within the 34 graded lakes of Forest County, Crane Lake sits at rank 26, near the bottom of the county list.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Crane Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. Walleye are documented at Crane Lake, one of 4 fish species on record for the lake. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.