Lower Sucker Lake vs Portage Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lower Sucker Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Portage Lake. Both are in Cass County, Minnesota.
Both Lower Sucker Lake and Portage 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. Lower Sucker Lake reads materially cleaner than Portage Lake on nutrients and algae. A gap that wide is unlikely to close in a single year of remediation work; it reflects multi-decade differences in the lakes themselves.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Lower Sucker 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?
Lower Sucker Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 8.3 ft.
Portage Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lower Sucker Lake | Portage Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 8.3 ft Better | 7.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 21 µg/L Better | 22 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 6.5 µg/L Better | 7.1 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 35 ft | 55 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 592 acres | 1,539 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 14 | 15 Better |
| 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.
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Compare Lower Sucker Lake or Portage Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Lower Sucker Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Portage Lake. Water clarity: 8.3 ft vs 7.5 ft. For more fish-species variety, Portage Lake edges ahead with 15 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.