Ham Lake

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

A TSI near 40 places Ham Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. A maximum depth of 29 ft puts Ham Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. The lake's 313 acres and partial shoreline records put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Among the 57 graded lakes in Burnett County, Ham Lake sits at rank 20, above the county median.

Ham Lake carries an invasive watermilfoil record — boat-launch decontamination and shoreline care matter more here than at uninfested lakes. Walleye are documented at Ham Lake, one of 4 fish species on record for the lake. 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.