Little Emily Lake

Little Emily Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Minnesota lake of its size and depth.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Little Emily Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. Little Emily Lake reaches 26 ft at its deepest point — typical for Minnesota mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. The lake is compact at 99 acres, with 1.8 miles of shoreline and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Within Crow Wing County's 120 graded lakes, Little Emily Lake ranks 88 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

No invasive species are currently listed at Little Emily Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Little Emily Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. The lake lacks a documented public access point, so visitor use is limited. 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.