Nest Lake

Nest Lake sits at a C on the grading scale — not impaired, not pristine, with summer measurements that vary year to year. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI in the eutrophic range signals a lake doing what nutrient-loaded waters do — supporting an active algal community at the cost of clear water. The lake bottoms out at 40 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. At 969 acres, Nest Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 10.2 miles of shoreline. Nest Lake ranks 14 of 35 in Kandiyohi County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Zebra mussels have been documented at Nest Lake, which alters the filter-feeding balance and can paradoxically increase water clarity while disrupting the food web. Muskie are on the species list at Nest Lake, alongside the lake's 19 other documented fish. A documented public access point at Nest Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.