Nichols Lake

Nichols Lake earns a C — middle-of-the-pack water quality, with one or two parameters dragging the average down from a stronger grade. Clarity is the limiting factor — phosphorus is reasonable but suspended particles or algal cells keep water transparency below Minnesota norms.

At a TSI of 51, Nichols Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. The lake bottoms out at 31 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Nichols Lake covers 419 acres alongside 4.9 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Nichols Lake sits at rank 112 of 187 in St. Louis County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Nichols Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2020, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 12 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The lake has a partial ice record — 6 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 15. 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.