North Bay Lake

North Bay Lake grades an F: water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate poorly, placing it among the most stressed lakes monitored in Wisconsin. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. The lake bottoms out at 19 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. North Bay Lake covers 270 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. North Bay Lake ranks 190 of 191 in Vilas County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at North Bay Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 5 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. A documented public access point at North Bay Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.