Fish Lake

Fish Lake earns a C — middle-of-the-pack water quality, with one or two parameters dragging the average down from a stronger grade. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. A maximum depth of 34 ft puts Fish Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. At 31 acres, Fish Lake sits below the Minnesota median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Among the 36 graded lakes in Dakota County, Fish Lake sits at rank 13, above the county median.

Fish Lake carries an invasive watermilfoil record — boat-launch decontamination and shoreline care matter more here than at uninfested lakes. The fishery is bass-led, with 7 documented species across the lake's records. A documented public access point at Fish Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The lake has a partial ice record — 6 observed ice-outs, centered near Mar 31. 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.