Canoe Lake
Cook County, Minnesota96 acresView mapDirections
Minnesota PCA publishes the water-quality measurements for Canoe Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 40 ft max depth
- Limited data
Canoe Lake in Cook County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 20.5 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 40 ft. Surface area: 96.41 acres.
Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on July 19, 1999 caught 0.33 walleye per gill net at Canoe Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 8–21 inches. DNR survey details →
Canoe Lake is a 96-acre lake in Cook County, Minnesota with a maximum depth of 40 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. The lake supports 4 documented fish species including green sunfish, walleye, and white sucker. No public access — the lake is private or restricted.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, last sampled 2020-08-28. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Canoe Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water20.5 ft of visibility
- Fishing4 species recorded
- Deep water40 ft surveyed max depth
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Canoe Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota DNR and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Canoe Lake
These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Canoe Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Crystal clear, you can see 20.5 ft down. TSI 34.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 20.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 34 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Canoe Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on July 19, 1999 caught 0.33 walleye per gill net at Canoe Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 8–21 inches.
A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Canoe Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 2 years of monitoring is declining. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.
DNR Fisheries Survey Summary
1 survey on file from MN DNR Fisheries. Most recent: 1999-07-19 (Standard Survey).
1 survey on file · most recent 1999-07-19 (Standard Survey)
27 years old| Species | Catch rate (CPUE) | Size | Avg weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Sunfish | 17.78 | 1–4 in 1999-07-19 | 0.06 lb |
| White Sucker | 1.67 | 8–21 in 1999-07-19 | 2.75 lb |
| Yellow Perch | 0.75 | 2–6 in 1999-07-19 | 0.04 lb |
| Walleye | 0.33 | 8–21 in 1999-07-19 | 1.98 lb |
CPUE = catch per unit effort, fish caught per net per set in a standardised survey. It measures abundance, not size, and is not a weekly bite report.
Length Distributions
Number of fish caught at each inch class in the most recent survey that recorded lengths. Red dashed line marks an approximate trophy threshold for that species.
Green Sunfish
White Sucker
Yellow Perch
Walleye
From the 1999-07-19 survey
Canoe Lake is generally not known as a destination lake for BWCAW fishing trips, and the results of the 1999 survey bear this out. Catches for all species were below average for lakes of this class. Very few walleye were present, and no northern pike or smallmouth bass were taken (although they may have been present…
DNR Reports & Resources
Minnesota DNR LakeFinder publishes lake survey, fish stocking, water access, and aquatic plant data for Canoe Lake. 1 report on file.
These links open on the official state DNR websites (Wisconsin DNR survey PDFs · Minnesota DNR LakeFinder).
- —Fisheries Lake Survey — CanoeFisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
Lake Details
Max depth
40 ft
Surface area
96 acres
Shoreline
2.4 mi
Littoral zone
57%
Share shallower than 15 ft
Public access
No
Listed by Minnesota PCA
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Fish Species
Click a species to see every lake where it is documented.
Fishing Canoe Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2020–2025). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Nearby Lakes in Cook County
Frequently asked questions about Canoe Lake
Where is Canoe Lake?
- Canoe Lake is a lake in Cook County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Canoe Lake?
- Canoe Lake in Cook County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 20.5 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 40 ft. Surface area: 96.41 acres.
Is Canoe Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Canoe Lake?
- Canoe Lake has a maximum depth of 40 feet. The lake covers 96.41 acres.
What fish are in Canoe Lake?
- Fish species found in Canoe Lake include green sunfish, walleye, white sucker, yellow perch. Canoe Lake is located in Cook County, Minnesota.
What did the DNR fisheries survey find at Canoe Lake?
- Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on July 19, 1999 caught 0.33 walleye per gill net at Canoe Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 8–21 inches. A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Canoe Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 2 years of monitoring is declining. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.
Can I fish at Canoe Lake?
- Public access to Canoe Lake is listed as no on the lake record, so confirm before you make the trip. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Minnesota's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Canoe Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
1 measurement from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Ambient Surface Water
MNPCA1 sample · 2020
Analytical methods
- Field measurement/observation, generic method
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Lake details from Minnesota DNR LakeFinder