Ochotto Lake

Ochotto Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Minnesota lake of its size and depth. 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.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. Ochotto Lake reaches 40 ft at its deepest point — typical for Minnesota mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. At 40 acres, Ochotto Lake sits below the Minnesota median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Among the 55 graded lakes in Stearns County, Ochotto Lake sits at rank 19, above the county median.

No invasive species are currently listed at Ochotto Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The fishery is bass-led, with 7 documented species across the lake's records. A documented public access point at Ochotto Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. Ice-out has been recorded 5 times at Ochotto Lake, with a median around Apr 7. 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.