Wood Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Wood Lake pulls an A: clarity at 18.0 ft and 23 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.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Wood Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. A maximum depth of 35 ft puts Wood Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. At 521 acres, Wood Lake fits the Wisconsin median for monitored lakes, with partial shoreline records. Wood Lake ranks 53 of 70 in Burnett County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

An invasive species record — Chinese Mystery Snail — has been logged at Wood 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 Wood 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.