What is the difference between Goose Lake and South Lindstrom Lake?

Goose Lake (Chisago County) carries readings with 4.5 ft clarity and 55 ft max depth. South Lindstrom Lake (Chisago County) carries readings with 5.6 ft clarity and 34 ft max depth.

Is Goose Lake or South Lindstrom Lake better for fishing?

Goose Lake has 15 documented fish species. South Lindstrom Lake has 14. The lake with more species and better water clarity (Secchi depth) generally supports more diverse and successful fishing.

Goose Lake vs South Lindstrom Lake, Water Quality Comparison

South Lindstrom Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Goose Lake. Both are in Chisago County, Minnesota.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated Aug 26, 2026

Both Goose Lake and South Lindstrom 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 meaningfully apart: South Lindstrom Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Goose Lake. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.

For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: South Lindstrom 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?

Goose Lake

Chisago County, Minnesota

Murky, only visible to about 4.5 ft.

South Lindstrom Lake

Chisago County, Minnesota

Murky, only visible to about 5.6 ft.

Stay near South Lindstrom Lake →Swap a lake

Side-by-Side Metrics

Metric	Goose Lake	South Lindstrom Lake
Water Clarity	4.5 ft	5.6 ft Better
Phosphorus	30.5 µg/L	16 µg/L Better
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)	11.5 µg/L	6.1 µg/L Better
Maximum Depth	55 ft Better	34 ft
Surface Area	732 acres	455 acres
Public Access	Yes	Yes
Fish Species	15 Better	14
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 Goose Lake or South Lindstrom Lake against a different lake.

Goose Lake vs Rush Lake Green Lake vs South Lindstrom Lake Rush Lake vs South Lindstrom Lake Chisago Lake vs South Lindstrom Lake South Center Lake vs South Lindstrom Lake South Lindstrom Lake vs Sunrise Lake

Verdict

South Lindstrom Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Goose Lake. Water clarity: 5.6 ft vs 4.5 ft. For more fish-species variety, Goose Lake edges ahead with 15 documented species.

Full Goose Lake report →Full South Lindstrom Lake report →All Chisago County lakes →Cleanest lakes in Minnesota →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.