Deer Lake vs Pickerel Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Deer Lake and Pickerel Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
Deer Lake and Pickerel 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. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Deer Lake (A) versus Pickerel 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.
Deer Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.3 ft.
Pickerel Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 14.1 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Deer Lake | Pickerel Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 12.3 ft | 14.1 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 21 µg/L | 12 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4.8 µg/L | 3.3 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 26 ft | 78 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 447 acres | 849 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 16 | 16 |
| 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 Pickerel Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Deer Lake: 12.3 ft, Pickerel Lake: 14.1 ft) and what you want from the lake. Deer Lake matches its peer on species count.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.