Pokegama Lake

Pokegama Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Wisconsin lake of its size and depth. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

The lake's low TSI puts it in oligotrophic territory — the cleanest of the four trophic classes, but also the most vulnerable to nutrient-driven shifts. 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. Pokegama Lake covers 433 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within Barron County's 38 graded lakes, Pokegama Lake ranks 22 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

An invasive species record — Banded Mystery Snail — has been logged at Pokegama Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 5 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. A documented public access point at Pokegama 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.