What is the difference between Little Cut Foot Lake and Little Winnibigoshish Lake?

Little Cut Foot Lake (Itasca County) carries readings with 6.6 ft clarity and 20 ft max depth. Little Winnibigoshish Lake (Itasca County) carries readings with 8.4 ft clarity and 28 ft max depth.

Is Little Cut Foot Lake or Little Winnibigoshish Lake better for fishing?

Little Cut Foot Lake has 15 documented fish species. Little Winnibigoshish Lake has 16. The lake with more species and better water clarity (Secchi depth) generally supports more diverse and successful fishing.

Little Cut Foot Lake vs Little Winnibigoshish Lake, Water Quality Comparison

Little Winnibigoshish Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Little Cut Foot Lake. Both are in Itasca County, Minnesota.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated Aug 26, 2026

Little Cut Foot Lake and Little Winnibigoshish 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 readings are close: Little Cut Foot Lake and Little Winnibigoshish Lake sit within a narrow band of each other on phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and clarity. The per-parameter table below shows where the small differences actually live.

With readings 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.

Little Cut Foot Lake

Itasca County, Minnesota

Murky, only visible to about 6.6 ft.

Little Winnibigoshish Lake

Itasca County, Minnesota

Moderate clarity, visible to about 8.4 ft.

Stay near Little Winnibigoshish Lake →Swap a lake

Side-by-Side Metrics

Metric	Little Cut Foot Lake	Little Winnibigoshish Lake
Water Clarity	6.6 ft	8.4 ft Better
Phosphorus	42 µg/L	32 µg/L Better
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)	No data	10.5 µg/L
Maximum Depth	20 ft	28 ft Better
Surface Area	619 acres	1,002 acres
Public Access	Yes	Yes
Fish Species	15	16 Better
Trophic State	eutrophic	eutrophic

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 Little Cut Foot Lake or Little Winnibigoshish Lake against a different lake.

Little Cut Foot Lake vs Tamarack Bay Lake Bowstring Lake vs Little Cut Foot Lake Little Cut Foot Lake vs Shallow Lake Little Winnibigoshish Lake vs Tamarack Bay Lake Ball Club Lake vs Little Winnibigoshish Lake Little Winnibigoshish Lake vs Six Mile Lake

Verdict

Little Winnibigoshish Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Little Cut Foot Lake. Water clarity: 8.4 ft vs 6.6 ft. For fishing diversity, Little Winnibigoshish Lake also leads with 16 species.

Full Little Cut Foot Lake report →Full Little Winnibigoshish Lake report →All Itasca County lakes →Cleanest lakes in Minnesota →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.