Lake Chetac North Basin

Lake Chetac North Basin sits at a C on the grading scale — not impaired, not pristine, with summer measurements that vary year to year. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

At a TSI of 62, Lake Chetac North Basin reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. The lake bottoms out at 26 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. With 2,400 acres of surface and partial shoreline records, Lake Chetac North Basin is a large water by Wisconsin standards — recreational pressure is spread across a long shoreline. Within the 52 graded lakes of Sawyer County, Lake Chetac North Basin sits at rank 49, near the bottom of the county list.

An invasive species record — Banded Mystery Snail — has been logged at Lake Chetac North Basin; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. Walleye are documented at Lake Chetac North Basin, one of 5 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Lake Chetac North Basin 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.