West Silent Lake

West Silent Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Otter Tail County. 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.

A TSI value of 35 puts West Silent Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. At 58 ft of maximum depth, West Silent Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. The lake's 347 acres and 4.9 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Within Otter Tail County's 97 graded waters, West Silent Lake sits at rank 16, near the top of the local distribution.

Zebra mussel presence at West Silent 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 9 documented species across the lake's records. A documented public access point at West Silent Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.