Whiskey Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Whiskey Lake pulls an A: clarity at 18.8 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.

A TSI value of 35 puts Whiskey Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. Whiskey Lake reaches 46 ft at its deepest point — typical for Minnesota mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. The lake's 160 acres and 2.4 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Whiskey Lake ranks 7 of 51 in Douglas County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Whiskey Lake is on the Minnesota infested-waters list for zebra mussels — boaters should follow clean-drain-dry protocols when moving gear to or from the lake. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 13 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. 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.