Pine Lake

Pine 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.

A TSI near 46 places Pine Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. 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. With 1,236 acres of surface and 11.1 miles of shoreline, Pine Lake is a large water by Minnesota standards — recreational pressure is spread across a long shoreline. Within Clearwater County's 40 graded lakes, Pine Lake ranks 25 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

No invasive species are currently listed at Pine Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. 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 — 8 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 21. 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.