Silver Island Lake vs Windy Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Windy Lake has a higher water quality grade (B, Good) than Silver Island Lake (C, Fair). Both are in Lake County, Minnesota.
Both Silver Island Lake and Windy Lake sit in Minnesota. 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: Silver Island Lake (C) and Windy 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.
Silver Island Lake
Murky, only visible to about 4.4 ft.
Windy Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Silver Island Lake | Windy Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | C (Fair) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 4.4 ft | 5.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 21 µg/L | 11 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 16 ft | 39 ft |
| Surface Area | 1.2K acres | 456 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 11 | 7 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Windy Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade B versus Silver Island Lake's Grade C. Water clarity: 5.5 ft vs 4.4 ft. For more fish-species variety, Silver Island Lake edges ahead with 11 documented species.