Bassett Lake

Bassett Lake sits at a C on the grading scale — not impaired, not pristine, with summer measurements that vary year to year. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Bassett Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. Bassett Lake reaches 21 ft at its deepest point — typical for Minnesota mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. At 403 acres, Bassett Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 5.4 miles of shoreline. Bassett Lake sits at rank 99 of 187 in St. Louis County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Bassett Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. Walleye are documented at Bassett Lake, one of 12 fish species on record for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. Ice-out has been recorded 10 times at Bassett Lake, with a median around May 1. Monitoring depth is thin here: the LakeGrade rubric is applied to a small number of sample years, and the grade will be revised as more data accumulates.