Silver Island Lake vs Windy Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Silver Island Lake and Windy Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). 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 (A) and Windy Lake (A) 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 | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 4.4 ft | 5.5 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 22 µg/L | 11 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 5.9 µg/L | 2.1 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 16 ft | 39 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 1,239 acres | 456 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 11 Better | 7 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | 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.
Swap a lake
Compare Silver Island Lake or Windy Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Silver Island Lake: 4.4 ft, Windy Lake: 5.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Silver Island Lake supports more documented fish species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.