Peary Lake

Peary Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Minnesota lake of its size and depth. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. The lake bottoms out at 15 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Peary Lake covers 116 acres alongside 2.6 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Among the 187 graded lakes in St. Louis County, Peary Lake sits at rank 79, above the county median.

Peary Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 8, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. No formal public access is documented at Peary Lake — most use is by shoreline residents and their guests. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.