Fish Lake

Fish Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Otter Tail County. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Trophically, Fish Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. At 69 ft of maximum depth, Fish Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. The lake's 293 acres and 5.0 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Fish Lake ranks 6 of 97 in Otter Tail County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Zebra mussel presence at Fish Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. Walleye are documented at Fish Lake, one of 17 fish species on record for the lake. The lake lacks a documented public access point, so visitor use is limited. The lake has a partial ice record — 5 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 15. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.