Big Pine Lake vs Pelican Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Pelican Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Big Pine Lake (B, Good). Both are in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
Both Big Pine Lake and Pelican 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. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Big Pine Lake (B) versus Pelican Lake (A). The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
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.
Big Pine Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7 ft.
Pelican Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16.1 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Big Pine Lake | Pelican Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 7 ft | 16.1 ft |
| Phosphorus | 27 µg/L | 15 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 4.6K acres | 4.0K acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 1 | 1 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Pelican Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Big Pine Lake's Grade B. Water clarity: 16.1 ft vs 7 ft. For fishing diversity, Pelican Lake also leads with 1 species.