Ball Club Lake vs Little Winnibigoshish Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Ball Club Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Little Winnibigoshish Lake. Both are in Itasca County, Minnesota.
Both Ball Club Lake and Little Winnibigoshish Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any differences in the readings here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies sampling them. The readings are close: Ball Club Lake and Little Winnibigoshish Lake sit within a narrow band of each other on phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and clarity. The per-parameter table below shows where the small differences actually live.
With readings 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.
Ball Club Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16 ft down.
Little Winnibigoshish Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 8.4 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Ball Club Lake | Little Winnibigoshish Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 16 ft Better | 8.4 ft |
| Phosphorus | 16.5 µg/L Better | 32 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | 10.5 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 85 ft Better | 28 ft |
| Surface Area | 4,335 acres | 1,002 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 11 | 16 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
A green ✓ marks the better value for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better). Surface area and trophic state carry no tick — a bigger lake is not a better lake.
Swap a lake
Compare Ball Club Lake or Little Winnibigoshish Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Ball Club Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Little Winnibigoshish Lake. Water clarity: 16 ft vs 8.4 ft. For more fish-species variety, Little Winnibigoshish Lake edges ahead with 16 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.