Rice Lake

On the LakeGrade scale Rice Lake grades a B, with clarity at 13.8 ft and phosphorus readings still being added placing it above the Minnesota median. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Trophically, Rice Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. The lake's 68 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Minnesota — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. Rice Lake covers 863 acres alongside 12.5 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Among the 141 graded lakes in Itasca County, Rice Lake sits at rank 66, above the county median.

No invasive species are currently listed at Rice Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. Walleye are documented at Rice Lake, one of 14 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Rice Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. Ice-out has been recorded 12 times at Rice Lake, with a median around Apr 22. 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.