Little Shoepack Lake

Little Shoepack Lake pulls a D on the LakeGrade rubric — phosphorus loading and limited clarity hold it below the Minnesota average. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

At a TSI of 51, Little Shoepack Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. The lake bottoms out at 25 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Little Shoepack Lake is small — 51 acres alongside 2.1 miles of shoreline — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Within the 187 graded lakes of St. Louis County, Little Shoepack Lake sits at rank 144, near the bottom of the county list.

Little Shoepack Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2023, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Little Shoepack Lake's fishery is anchored by muskellunge, with 3 documented species in total — a destination water for muskie anglers. No formal public access is documented at Little Shoepack Lake — most use is by shoreline residents and their guests. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.