Whitefish Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Whitefish Lake pulls an A: clarity at 43.3 ft and 14 µg/L of phosphorus 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.

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. At 105 ft of maximum depth, Whitefish Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. Whitefish Lake covers 800 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 52 graded lakes in Sawyer County, Whitefish Lake sits at rank 15, above the county median.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at Whitefish Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 7 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. Multiple sampling years from the Wisconsin DNR Citizen Lake Monitoring Network back the grade, so the letter should hold steady absent a major watershed shift.