Sand Lake

Sand Lake sits at a C on the grading scale — not impaired, not pristine, with summer measurements that vary year to year. Clarity is the limiting factor — phosphorus is reasonable but suspended particles or algal cells keep water transparency below Minnesota norms.

At a TSI of 53, Sand Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. The lake bottoms out at 27 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Sand Lake covers 128 acres alongside 2.1 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Sand Lake sits at rank 19 of 33 in Carlton County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Sand Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The fishery is panfish-dominated — bluegill, crappie, and sunfish among the 3 species documented for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. 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.