Pleasant Lake

Pleasant Lake sits at the top of the Minnesota PCA grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Minnesota. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI near 42 places Pleasant Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. The lake bottoms out at 33 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Pleasant Lake covers 335 acres alongside 5.8 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, Pleasant Lake ranks 36 — in the top quartile locally.

No invasive species are currently listed at Pleasant Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. Walleye are documented at Pleasant Lake, one of 11 fish species on record for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The lake has a partial ice record — 6 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 25. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.