Mud Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Mud Lake pulls an A: clarity at 10.0 ft and 19 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. 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.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. A maximum depth of 15 ft puts Mud Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. Mud Lake covers 464 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Among the 50 graded lakes in Sawyer County, Mud Lake sits at rank 15, above the county median.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at Mud Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. Walleye are documented at Mud Lake, one of 4 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Mud Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.