Big Rice Lake vs Pimushe Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Pimushe Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Big Rice Lake. Both are in Beltrami County, Minnesota.
Big Rice Lake and Pimushe 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. Pimushe Lake reads materially cleaner than Big Rice Lake on nutrients and algae. A gap that wide is unlikely to close in a single year of remediation work; it reflects multi-decade differences in the lakes themselves.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Pimushe Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Big Rice Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.7 ft.
Pimushe Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 8.2 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Big Rice Lake | Pimushe Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 5.7 ft | 8.2 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 26 µg/L | 22 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 11.4 µg/L | 6.2 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 13 ft | 40 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 642 acres | 1,230 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 14 | 15 Better |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | mesotrophic |
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.
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Compare Big Rice Lake or Pimushe Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Pimushe Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Big Rice Lake. Water clarity: 8.2 ft vs 5.7 ft. For fishing diversity, Pimushe Lake also leads with 15 species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.