Ml-Malone Lake

Ml-Malone Lake sits at the top of the Minnesota PCA grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Minnesota. 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.

A TSI near 44 places Ml-Malone Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. The lake bottoms out at 42 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Ml-Malone Lake covers 128,250 acres alongside 105.5 miles of shoreline, large enough that conditions can vary meaningfully between bays. Within Mille Lacs County's 11 graded lakes, Ml-Malone Lake ranks 6 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Zebra mussel presence at Ml-Malone Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. Ml-Malone Lake's fishery is anchored by muskellunge, with 21 documented species in total — a destination water for muskie anglers. A documented public access point at Ml-Malone Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. Ice-out has been logged at Ml-Malone Lake more than two dozen times, putting the median around Apr 25 — a useful baseline for tracking climate trends. Multiple sampling years from Minnesota PCA volunteers and partner agencies back the grade, so the letter should hold steady absent a major watershed shift.