Sissabagama Lake

Sissabagama Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Wisconsin lake of its size and depth. Clarity is the limiting factor — phosphorus is reasonable but suspended particles or algal cells keep water transparency below Wisconsin norms.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. Sissabagama Lake reaches 48 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. Sissabagama Lake covers 805 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within Sawyer County's 50 graded lakes, Sissabagama Lake ranks 32 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Sissabagama Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. The fishery includes walleye among the lake's 6 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. 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.