Oak Lake

Oak Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Burnett County. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI value of 25 puts Oak Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. A maximum depth of 19 ft puts Oak Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. The lake's 183 acres and partial shoreline records put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Oak Lake ranks 27 of 70 in Burnett County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Oak Lake — the lake remains off the Wisconsin infested-waters roster. 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.