Whitefish Lake

Whitefish Lake sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

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. Whitefish Lake reaches 40 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. At 200 acres, Whitefish Lake fits the Wisconsin median for monitored lakes, with partial shoreline records. Whitefish Lake ranks 51 of 202 in Vilas County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Whitefish Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2022, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 4 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.