Baby Lake vs Man Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Baby Lake and Man Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Cass County, Minnesota.
Baby Lake and Man Lake are both in Minnesota — a same-state head-to-head where the comparison comes down to lake-specific differences in depth, watershed, and monitoring history rather than the broader state-level water-quality regime. The grades are close: Baby Lake (A) and Man Lake (A) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.
With grades this close, the choice between the two lakes turns on non-water-quality factors: depth, fish species, public access, distance from home. The per-lake pages below cover all of those.
Baby Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.5 ft.
Man Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Baby Lake | Man Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 12.5 ft | 11 ft |
| Phosphorus | 10 µg/L | 10 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 2.9 µg/L | 2.7 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 69 ft | 93 ft |
| Surface Area | 737 acres | 491 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | No |
| Fish Species | 16 | 14 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Baby Lake: 12.5 ft, Man Lake: 11 ft) and what you want from the lake. Baby Lake supports more documented fish species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.