Nokay Lake

Nokay Lake earns a C — middle-of-the-pack water quality, with one or two parameters dragging the average down from a stronger grade. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

A TSI near 47 places Nokay Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. A maximum depth of 42 ft puts Nokay Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. The lake's 704 acres and 6.3 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Within the 120 graded lakes of Crow Wing County, Nokay Lake sits at rank 108, near the bottom of the county list.

No invasive species are currently listed at Nokay Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. Walleye are documented at Nokay Lake, one of 15 fish species on record for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. Ice-out has been recorded 12 times at Nokay Lake, with a median around Apr 16. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.