Curfman Lake

On the LakeGrade scale Curfman Lake grades a B, with clarity at 12.0 ft and 20 µg/L of phosphorus placing it above the Minnesota median. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Curfman Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. A maximum depth of 24 ft puts Curfman Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. The lake's 121 acres and 1.9 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Curfman Lake sits at rank 61 of 102 in Becker County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Curfman Lake is on the Minnesota infested-waters list for zebra mussels — boaters should follow clean-drain-dry protocols when moving gear to or from the lake. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Curfman Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. The lake lacks a documented public access point, so visitor use is limited. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.