Long Lake

Long Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Wisconsin lake of its size and depth. With clarity and phosphorus scored, the sub-grades cluster within a letter of each other, pointing to stable conditions rather than one specific stressor.

A TSI near 50 places Long Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. A maximum depth of 21 ft puts Long Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. At 353 acres, Long Lake fits the Wisconsin median for monitored lakes, with partial shoreline records. Within Florence County's 39 graded lakes, Long Lake ranks 26 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

An invasive species record — Banded Mystery Snail — has been logged at Long Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 3, 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.