Goose Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric Goose Lake fails the cutoffs — a TSI of 76 and persistent algal pressure put it in the bottom tier. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

Hypereutrophic conditions mean the lake is operating at the upper end of the productivity scale, with all the bloom risk that implies. A maximum depth of just 10 ft means sediment-bound phosphorus releases back into the water column whenever wind stirs the bottom — a classic shallow-lake dynamic. At 302 acres, Goose Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 4.9 miles of shoreline. Goose Lake sits at rank 29 of 40 in Carver County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Goose Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The fishery is bass-led, with 12 documented species across the lake's records. A documented public access point at Goose 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.