Deer Lake vs Pelican Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Deer Lake and Pelican Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
Both Deer 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. The grades are close: Deer Lake (A) and Pelican Lake (A) 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.
Deer Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.3 ft.
Pelican Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16.4 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Deer Lake | Pelican Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 12.3 ft | 16.4 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 21 µg/L | 15 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4.8 µg/L | 3 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 26 ft | 55 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 447 acres | 3,962 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 16 | 20 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | 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.
Swap a lake
Compare Deer Lake or Pelican Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Deer Lake: 12.3 ft, Pelican Lake: 16.4 ft) and what you want from the lake. Deer Lake has fewer fish species than Pelican Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.