Six Mile Lake vs Tamarack Bay Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Six Mile Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Tamarack Bay Lake. Both are in Cass County, Minnesota.
Six Mile Lake and Tamarack Bay 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 meaningfully apart: Six Mile Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Tamarack Bay Lake. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Six Mile 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?
Six Mile Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11.5 ft.
Tamarack Bay Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Six Mile Lake | Tamarack Bay Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 11.5 ft | 11.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 14.5 µg/L Better | 26 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 6.7 µg/L | 4.6 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 68 ft | 69.8 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 1,323 acres | 56,471 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 16 | 20 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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Verdict
Six Mile Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Tamarack Bay Lake. Water clarity: 11.5 ft vs 11.5 ft. For more fish-species variety, Tamarack Bay Lake edges ahead with 20 documented species.
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.