Gilmore Lake

Gilmore Lake sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Trophically, Gilmore Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. The lake bottoms out at 36 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Gilmore Lake covers 371 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Gilmore Lake sits at rank 29 of 48 in Washburn County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Gilmore Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. Walleye are documented at Gilmore Lake, one of 4 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Gilmore Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.