Des Moines Lake

Des Moines Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Burnett County. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI value of 28 puts Des Moines Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. Des Moines Lake reaches 37 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. Des Moines Lake covers 215 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Among the 70 graded lakes in Burnett County, Des Moines Lake ranks 16 — in the top quartile locally.

An invasive species record — Banded Mystery Snail — has been logged at Des Moines Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 3, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. 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.