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. The two scored sub-grades — clarity and phosphorus — track close together, so neither one is dragging the average down.

A TSI in the eutrophic range signals a lake doing what nutrient-loaded waters do — supporting an active algal community at the cost of clear water. The lake bottoms out at 28 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. The lake's 176 acres and 2.3 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 8 of 17 in Scott County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Fish Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2023, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Walleye are documented at Fish Lake, one of 14 fish species on record for the lake. 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 — 12 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 3. 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.