Upper Red Lake

Upper Red Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Wisconsin lake of its size and depth. Of the three parameters, phosphorus is the worst — at 39 µg/L of phosphorus, it keeps the lake susceptible to algal blooms in warm years.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. The lake bottoms out at 15 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Upper Red Lake covers 195 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Upper Red Lake ranks 22 of 27 in Shawano County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Upper Red Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 6, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. 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.