Eagle Lake vs Otter Tail Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Eagle Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Otter Tail Lake (A, Excellent). Both are in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
Both Eagle Lake and Otter Tail 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: Eagle Lake (A) and Otter Tail 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.
Eagle Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 22.6 ft down.
Otter Tail Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.1 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Eagle Lake | Otter Tail Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 22.6 ft | 12.1 ft |
| Phosphorus | 5 µg/L | 16 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 46 ft | 120 ft |
| Surface Area | 907.4 acres | 14.1K acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 10 | 17 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Eagle Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Otter Tail Lake's Grade A. Water clarity: 22.6 ft vs 12.1 ft. For more fish-species variety, Otter Tail Lake edges ahead with 17 documented species.