Little Trout Lake Deep

Little Trout Lake Deep sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Trophically, Little Trout Lake Deep reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. Little Trout Lake Deep is unusually deep for Wisconsin at 98 ft, which buffers the lake against summer warming and helps the deep water stay oxygenated. At 1,007 acres, Little Trout Lake Deep is one of the larger lakes in Vilas County, with partial shoreline records supporting multiple distinct use patterns. Little Trout Lake Deep ranks 24 of 191 in Vilas County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

No invasive species are currently listed at Little Trout Lake Deep — the lake remains off the Wisconsin infested-waters roster. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 6 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. 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.