Ima Lake is a lake in Lake County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.

How deep is Ima Lake?

Ima Lake has a maximum depth of 116 feet. The lake covers 741.91 acres.

Does Ima Lake have blue-green algae?

There is no recent EPA CyAN cyanobacteria estimate for Ima Lake (clouds, ice, or an off-season gap). The most recent reading was moderate (34,995 cells/mL). Blue-green algae can appear and clear within days, so check Minnesota's current advisory before swimming.

Can I fish at Ima Lake?

Public access to Ima Lake is listed as no on the lake record, so confirm before you make the trip. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Minnesota's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.

Ima Lake

Lake County, Minnesota742 acresView map Directions

Minnesota PCA publishes the water-quality measurements for Ima Lake. Here is what has been measured.

Clarity

11 ft

Typical for Minnesota

Secchi · sampled 2025

Max depth

116 ft

Bathymetric survey

Area

742 acres

Surface area

Trend

Worsening

5 years of samples

Shoreline

14.9 mi

Measured length

Impaired · Mercury
116 ft max depth
Limited data

See the measurements Directions Where to stay

Ima Lake in Lake County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 11 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 116 ft. Surface area: 741.91 acres.

Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on September 8, 1998 caught 3.33 walleye per gill net at Ima Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 7–25 inches. DNR survey details →

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Ima Lake is a 742-acre lake in Lake County, Minnesota with a maximum depth of 116 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. No public access — the lake is private or restricted.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, last sampled 2025-08-31. Methodology: how these readings are compared.

What Ima Lake is good for

From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.

Clear water11 ft of visibility
Deep water116 ft surveyed max depth

Swimming conditions

No reading

Limited data

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Ima Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.

Whether Ima Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota DNR and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.

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Water quality measurements for Ima Lake

These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Ima Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.

Good clarity, visible to about 11 ft. TSI 43.

Water quality readings
Measure	Reading	Where it sits
Water clarity (Secchi depth)	11ft	Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer.
Total phosphorus		No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential.
Chlorophyll-a (algae)		No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water.
Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a.	43	Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic

Moderate nutrients, good water quality

Ask about Ima Lake

Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.

Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria)

No current satellite reading

There’s no recent EPA CyAN cyanobacteria estimate for Ima Lake — clouds, ice, or an off-season gap in coverage. The most recent reading was moderate (34,995 cells/mL) on April 25, 2026.

Blue-green algae can appear and clear within days, so check your state’s current advisory before swimming. EPA CyAN ↗

DNR fisheries survey

Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on September 8, 1998 caught 3.33 walleye per gill net at Ima Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 7–25 inches.

A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Ima Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 5 years of monitoring is declining. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.

DNR Fisheries Survey Summary

4 surveys on file from MN DNR Fisheries. Most recent: 2025-08-19 (Targeted Survey).

4 surveys on file · most recent 2025-08-19 (Targeted Survey)

Species	Catch rate (CPUE)	Size	Avg weight
Tullibee (Cisco)	14.75	6–12 in 1998-09-08	0.27 lb
Lake Trout	3.81	9–26 in 1998-09-08	1.98 lb
Walleye	3.00	7–25 in 1998-09-08	2.69 lb
Northern Pike	2.58	17–26 in 1998-09-08	2.68 lb
White Sucker	2.44	6–20 in 1998-09-08	1.41 lb
Yellow Perch	1.08	5–7 in 1998-09-08	0.1 lb

CPUE = catch per unit effort, fish caught per net per set in a standardised survey. It measures abundance, not size, and is not a weekly bite report.

Length Distributions

Number of fish caught at each inch class in the most recent survey that recorded lengths. Red dashed line marks an approximate trophy threshold for that species.

Tullibee (Cisco)

87 fish · 6–12 in · 1998-09-08

Lake Trout

33 fish · 9–26 in · 1998-09-08

Walleye

20 fish · 7–25 in · 1998-09-08

Northern Pike

15 fish · 17–26 in · 1998-09-08

From the 2025-08-19 survey

Temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) measurements were collected from the deepest basin in Ima Lake on August 19th, 2025, to evaluate the quantity and quality of cold, oxygenated water (i.e., oxythermal habitat) available to Lake Trout, the most sensitive coldwater species present in this lake (Cisco, also known as…

Source: MN DNR LakeFinder Fisheries Lake Survey

DNR Reports & Resources

Minnesota DNR LakeFinder publishes lake survey, fish stocking, water access, and aquatic plant data for Ima Lake. 1 report on file.

These links open on the official state DNR websites (Wisconsin DNR survey PDFs · Minnesota DNR LakeFinder).

—
Fisheries Lake Survey — Ima
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder

Lake Details

Max depth

116 ft

Surface area

742 acres

Shoreline

14.9 mi

Littoral zone

28%

Share shallower than 15 ft

Public access

Listed by Minnesota PCA

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area

194 sq mi

HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS

Elevation

1,493 ft

Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS).

Stays via Stay22

Stays near Ima Lake

Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Ima Lake in Lake County, Minnesota — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.

Top-rated places to stay near Ima Lake

Prices for Oct 9–11, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.

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Follow Ima Lake’s readings

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Fishing Ima Lake

Water Quality Trend: Worsening

Based on 5 years of monitoring (2020–2025).

Water clarity
Worsening
5 years

See year-by-year chart →

EPA Impairment Status

Ima Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).

Causes of impairment

Mercury

Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.

A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MN38-0400-00 · Official waterbody report

Nearby Lakes in Lake County

Alworth Lake—View →Hatchet Lake7 ft clear—View →Solitude Lake—View →Bullrush Lake—View →Moiyaka Lake—View →Three Eagle Lake—View →

Frequently asked questions about Ima Lake

Where is Ima Lake?: Ima Lake is a lake in Lake County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Ima Lake?: Ima Lake in Lake County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 11 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 116 ft. Surface area: 741.91 acres.
Is Ima Lake safe to swim in?: Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Ima Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Ima Lake?: Ima Lake has a maximum depth of 116 feet. The lake covers 741.91 acres.
What did the DNR fisheries survey find at Ima Lake?: Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on September 8, 1998 caught 3.33 walleye per gill net at Ima Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 7–25 inches. A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Ima Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 5 years of monitoring is declining. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.
Does Ima Lake have blue-green algae?: There is no recent EPA CyAN cyanobacteria estimate for Ima Lake (clouds, ice, or an off-season gap). The most recent reading was moderate (34,995 cells/mL). Blue-green algae can appear and clear within days, so check Minnesota's current advisory before swimming.
Can I fish at Ima Lake?: Public access to Ima Lake is listed as no on the lake record, so confirm before you make the trip. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Minnesota's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.

Explore Ima Lake across LakeQuality

Wakesurfing on Ima Lake

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Where this data comes from

43 measurements from 16 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Ambient Surface WaterMNPCA43 samples · 2020–2025

Analytical methods

Field measurement/observation, generic method

Monitoring station identifiers (16)

EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.

Other records on this page

Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database

Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)

Lake details from Minnesota DNR LakeFinder