Big Wolf Lake vs Midge Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Midge Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Big Wolf Lake. Both are in Hubbard County, Minnesota.
Both Big Wolf Lake and Midge 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: Big Wolf Lake and Midge 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.
Big Wolf Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11.5 ft.
Midge Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 18 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Big Wolf Lake | Midge Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 11.5 ft | 18 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 21 µg/L | 16 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | 2.5 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 57 ft Better | 24 ft |
| Surface Area | 1,076 acres | 546 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 18 Better | 11 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | oligotrophic |
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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Verdict
Midge Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Big Wolf Lake. Water clarity: 18 ft vs 11.5 ft. For more fish-species variety, Big Wolf Lake edges ahead with 18 documented species.
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.