Crooked Lake
Lake County, Minnesota10,360 acresView mapDirections
Minnesota PCA publishes the water-quality measurements for Crooked Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- spiny waterflea
- 165 ft max depth
- Limited data
Crooked Lake in Lake County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 165 ft. Surface area: 10359.52 acres.
Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on July 9, 2007 caught 6.73 walleye per gill net at Crooked Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 7–29 inches. DNR survey details →
Crooked Lake is a 10,360-acre lake in Lake County, Minnesota with a maximum depth of 165 feet (37-foot average). Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. No public access — the lake is private or restricted.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, last sampled 2025-06-24. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Crooked Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Deep water165 ft surveyed max depth
- Big water10,360 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. 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.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 9 ft. TSI 45.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 9ft | 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. | 45 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Crooked Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on July 9, 2007 caught 6.73 walleye per gill net at Crooked Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 7–29 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 5 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: 2025-08-01 (Targeted Survey).
5 surveys on file · most recent 2025-08-01 (Targeted Survey)
| Species | Catch rate (CPUE) | Size | Avg weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tullibee (Cisco) | 7.34 | 6–12 in 2007-07-09 | 0.37 lb |
| Walleye | 4.84 | 7–29 in 2007-07-09 | 1.19 lb |
| Northern Pike | 3.96 | 11–38 in 2007-07-09 | 3.04 lb |
| White Sucker | 2.33 | 4–23 in 2007-07-09 | 2.1 lb |
| Yellow Perch | 1.21 | 5–8 in 2007-07-09 | 0.17 lb |
| Rock Bass | 1.20 | 3–9 in 2007-07-09 | 0.41 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.
Tullibee (Cisco)
Walleye
Northern Pike
White Sucker
From the 2025-08-01 survey
Temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) measurements were collected from the deepest basin in Crooked Lake on August 1st, 2025, to evaluate the quantity and quality of cold, oxygenated water (i.e., oxythermal habitat) available to Lake Whitefish, the most sensitive coldwater species present in this lake (Cisco, also…
DNR Reports & Resources
Minnesota DNR LakeFinder publishes lake survey, fish stocking, water access, and aquatic plant data for Crooked Lake. 1 report on file.
These links open on the official state DNR websites (Wisconsin DNR survey PDFs · Minnesota DNR LakeFinder).
- —Fisheries Lake Survey — CrookedFisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
Lake Details
Max depth
165 ft
Average depth
37 ft
Surface area
10,360 acres
Shoreline
231.7 mi
Littoral zone
18%
Share shallower than 15 ft
Public access
No
Listed by Minnesota PCA
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Stays near Crooked Lake
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Fishing Crooked Lake
Invasive & Introduced Species
Red chips are ecologically harmful invasive species. Gray chips are stocked or introduced fish that aren't a current ecological concern.
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2020–2024).
Water clarity
Worsening5 years
Nearby Lakes in Lake County
Frequently asked questions about Crooked Lake
Where is Crooked Lake?
- Crooked Lake is a lake in Lake 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 Lake County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 165 ft. Surface area: 10359.52 acres.
Is Crooked Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Crooked Lake?
- Crooked Lake has a maximum depth of 165 feet and an average depth of 37 feet. The lake covers 10359.52 acres.
What did the DNR fisheries survey find at Crooked Lake?
- Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on July 9, 2007 caught 6.73 walleye per gill net at Crooked Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 7–29 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 5 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
53 measurements from 23 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Ambient Surface Water
MNPCA53 samples · 2020–2025
Analytical methods
- Field measurement/observation, generic method
Monitoring station identifiers (23)
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-100
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-234
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-221
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-222
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-212
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-232
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-218
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-213
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-237
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-203
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-215
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-240
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-230
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-219
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-214
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-241
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-227
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-223
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-228
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-231
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-216
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-201
- MNPCA-38-0817-00-208
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