Little Bass Lake

Little Bass Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Vilas County. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

A TSI value of 27 puts Little Bass Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. A maximum depth of 35 ft puts Little Bass Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. At 26 acres, Little Bass Lake sits below the Wisconsin median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Little Bass Lake ranks 74 of 202 in Vilas County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Little Bass Lake has at least one documented invasive species (Chinese Mystery Snail), so boaters and anglers should observe clean-drain-dry steps when leaving the lake. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 2, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. 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.