Ball Club Lake vs Little Winnibigoshish Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Ball Club Lake has a higher water quality grade (B, Good) than Little Winnibigoshish Lake (C, Fair). 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 grade differences here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies grading them. The grades are close: Ball Club Lake (B) and Little Winnibigoshish Lake (C) 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | C (Fair) |
| Water Clarity | 16 ft | 8.4 ft |
| Phosphorus | 16.5 µg/L | 32 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | 10.5 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 85 ft | 28 ft |
| Surface Area | 4,335 acres | 1,002 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 11 | 16 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Ball Club Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade B versus Little Winnibigoshish Lake's Grade C. 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.