Sagamore Mine Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Sagamore Mine Lake pulls an A: clarity at 23.8 ft and phosphorus readings still being added put it in the top bracket for Minnesota. 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's low TSI puts it in oligotrophic territory — the cleanest of the four trophic classes, but also the most vulnerable to nutrient-driven shifts. At 210 ft of maximum depth, Sagamore Mine Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. Sagamore Mine Lake covers 119 acres alongside 3.3 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Among the 123 graded lakes in Crow Wing County, Sagamore Mine Lake sits at rank 46, above the county median.

No invasive species are currently listed at Sagamore Mine Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 11, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. A documented public access point at Sagamore Mine Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.