Crooked Lake
Cook County, Minnesota244 acresView mapDirections
Minnesota PCA publishes the water-quality measurements for Crooked Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 66 ft max depth
- Limited data
Crooked Lake in Cook County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.5 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 66 ft. Surface area: 244.35 acres.
Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on June 21, 2016 caught 4.00 lake trout per gill net at Crooked Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 8–22 inches. DNR survey details →
Crooked Lake is a 244-acre lake in Cook County, Minnesota with a maximum depth of 66 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. The lake supports 3 documented fish species including burbot, lake trout, and white sucker. No public access — the lake is private or restricted.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, last sampled 2025-07-06. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Crooked Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Fishing3 species recorded
- Deep water66 ft surveyed max depth
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Crooked Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Crooked 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 Crooked Lake
These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Crooked Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 5.5 ft. TSI 53.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 5.5ft | 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. | 53 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Crooked Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on June 21, 2016 caught 4.00 lake trout per gill net at Crooked Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 8–22 inches.
A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Crooked 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
5 surveys on file from MN DNR Fisheries. Most recent: 2024-08-06 (Targeted Survey).
5 surveys on file · most recent 2024-08-06 (Targeted Survey)
| Species | Catch rate (CPUE) | Size | Avg weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Trout | 3.34 | 8–22 in 2016-06-21 | 2.34 lb |
| White Sucker | 2.34 | 6–20 in 2016-06-21 | 2.19 lb |
| Northern Pike | 0.20 | 20 in 1997-07-16 | 1.73 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.
Lake Trout
White Sucker
Northern Pike
From the 2024-08-06 survey
Temperature and dissolved oxygen measurements were collected in the deepest basin in Crooked Lake on August 6, 2024, to evaluate the quantity and quality of cold, oxygenated water (i.e., oxythermal habitat) available to Lake Trout, the most sensitive coldwater species present in this lake. During the summer, Lake…
Lake Details
Max depth
66 ft
Surface area
244 acres
Shoreline
9.1 mi
Littoral zone
45%
Share shallower than 15 ft
Public access
No
Listed by Minnesota PCA
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
24 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,640 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS).
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Stays near Crooked Lake
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Fish Species
Click a species to see every lake where it is documented.
Fishing Crooked Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2022–2025). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
EPA Impairment Status
Crooked Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MN16-0723-00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Cook County
Frequently asked questions about Crooked Lake
Where is Crooked Lake?
- Crooked 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 Crooked Lake?
- Crooked Lake in Cook County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.5 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 66 ft. Surface area: 244.35 acres.
Is Crooked Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Crooked Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Crooked Lake?
- Crooked Lake has a maximum depth of 66 feet. The lake covers 244.35 acres.
What fish are in Crooked Lake?
- Fish species found in Crooked Lake include burbot, lake trout, white sucker. Crooked Lake is located in Cook County, Minnesota.
What did the DNR fisheries survey find at Crooked Lake?
- Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on June 21, 2016 caught 4.00 lake trout per gill net at Crooked Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 8–22 inches. A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Crooked 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 Crooked Lake?
- Public access to Crooked 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 Crooked Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
1 measurement from 1 monitoring station, 2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Ambient Surface Water
MNPCA1 sample · 2025
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
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Lake details from Minnesota DNR LakeFinder