Nelson Lake vs Yellow Smoke Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Nelson Lake and Yellow Smoke Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of D (Poor). Both are in Crawford County, Wisconsin.
Both Nelson Lake and Yellow Smoke Lake sit in Iowa. 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: Nelson Lake (D) and Yellow Smoke Lake (D) 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.
Nelson Lake
Murky, only visible to about 3.8 ft.
Yellow Smoke Lake
Very murky, less than 3 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Nelson Lake | Yellow Smoke Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | D (Poor) | D (Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 3.8 ft | 3 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 30.6 µg/L | 21.6 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 11 acres | 38.4 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade D. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Nelson Lake: 3.8 ft, Yellow Smoke Lake: 3 ft) and what you want from the lake. Nelson Lake matches its peer on species count.