Spirit Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Spirit Lake pulls an A: clarity at 18.0 ft and phosphorus readings still being added put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Trophically, Spirit Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. A maximum depth of 27 ft puts Spirit Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. Spirit Lake covers 592 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 70 graded lakes in Burnett County, Spirit Lake ranks 5 — in the top quartile locally.

An invasive species record — Banded Mystery Snail — has been logged at Spirit Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 3, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. A documented public access point at Spirit 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.