Little Blake Lake

Little Blake Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Wisconsin lake of its size and depth. 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.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. At only 14 ft deep, Little Blake Lake is shallow — wind keeps the water column mixed and sediment resuspension drives phosphorus levels harder to manage. Little Blake Lake is small — 78 acres alongside partial shoreline records — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Within the 77 graded lakes of Polk County, Little Blake Lake sits at rank 60, near the bottom of the county list.

An invasive species record — Banded Mystery Snail — has been logged at Little Blake Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Little Blake Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.