Norway Lake

The LakeGrade rubric puts Norway Lake at a C: clarity at 6.6 ft, 21 µg/L of phosphorus, and a TSI of 49 signal an intermediate trophic state. The lake's weakest score is on Secchi depth — the water looks more turbid than its phosphorus number alone would predict.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Norway Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. Norway Lake is a shallow lake at 12 ft maximum depth, which means it warms quickly, mixes constantly, and amplifies nutrient inputs. Norway Lake covers 515 acres alongside 4.1 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Norway Lake ranks 122 of 132 in Cass County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Norway Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The fishery is bass-led, with 14 documented species across the lake's records. A documented public access point at Norway Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The lake has a partial ice record — 10 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 19. 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.