Jay Gould Lake vs Rice Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Jay Gould Lake and Rice Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of B (Good). Both are in Itasca County, Minnesota.
Jay Gould Lake and Rice 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. The grades are close: Jay Gould Lake (B) and Rice Lake (B) 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.
Jay Gould Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 13 ft.
Rice Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 13.8 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Jay Gould Lake | Rice Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 13 ft | 13.8 ft |
| Phosphorus | 21 µg/L | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 33 ft | 68 ft |
| Surface Area | 551.74 acres | 863.38 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 1 | 1 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade B. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Jay Gould Lake: 13 ft, Rice Lake: 13.8 ft) and what you want from the lake. Jay Gould Lake matches its peer on species count.