West Lost Lake

West Lost Lake sits at a C on the grading scale — not impaired, not pristine, with summer measurements that vary year to year. 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 sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. The lake bottoms out at 16 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. West Lost Lake covers 795 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. Within the 97 graded lakes of Otter Tail County, West Lost Lake sits at rank 81, near the bottom of the county list.

Zebra mussel presence at West Lost Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. The fishery is bass-led, with 8 documented species across the lake's records. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.