Fish Trap Lake

I am coming up from Iowa to fish with my nephew and his family on Fish Trap lake by Cushing next weekend. We will be doing a family reunion there next year so wanted to come up and fish it this year and check out the area for the others in the family. Neither my nephew or I have fished this lake before abut we are fairly good anglers. Looking for any suggestions, don’t need specific spots unless you want to give them. I am guessing we will fishing mostly bass during the day since him will be bringing his family and I will be bringing my wife along. Might try for walleyes in the evening since the DNR report shows that they stock a large number each year. Pretty interesting looking lake and I am looking forward to fishing it. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Which state and which Fishtrap? Three lakes in WI named Fishtrap

Randy Wieland wrote:

Which state and which Fishtrap? Three lakes in WI named Fishtrap

he mentioned by Cushing so i’d reckon in Minnesota!!!!! seems to be a pretty popular lake in the area. lots of bass and panfish i hear!!!!

I don’t know all the towns around lakes.

Yeah – MN, by Cushing is correct. Surveys show LOTS of smaller fish of all types.

That’s a good lake. You’ll find action for bass and panfish but head to the east end of the lake. There is a midlake hump over there and you’ll get sunnies for days. Further east casting shorelines you’ll find bass or anywhere there are bullrushes I’d guess. There are walleyes in there but you’d have to fish in low light and around the islands.

My family has a cabin on ‘Trap and it’s a fantastic place. Lots of islands and bays and plenty of structure. Bass, Panfish and Pike are your top 3, but plenty of Walleyes in there, too. Both my son’s and my PB Walleye came from Fish Trap. (both 28″) Fish are mostly weedline related. This time of year work the deeper weed edges/drop-offs. The problem with fishing walleyes is if you’re going to pull spinners, jig a minnow or use a slip bobber, you will get robbed by panfish pretty much instantly. So if you’re gonna go for Walleyes, crankbaits after dark may be your best bet. Because it’s a big panfish lake, you’re competing with a lot of forage in there this time of year. So stay patient, especially if you’re targeting bass you should have no problem. It’s a special reg pike lake so you can actually keep 3 up to 24″ (not 10 under 22″ like the zone regs). Anything 24″ – 36″ goes back. The slot has worked over time so don’t count them out as a target, you can run into an occasional biggun’ A few muskie swimming in there as well, but not a lot. They mainly get in when they’re babies via the creek from Lake Alexander. But there’s a spawning population in there now, we see them every year on opener up shallow. HAVE FUN, Enjoy your time!

I grew up in that area and fished Fish trap as well as Lake Alexander and Shamineau that are also rather close. If for some reason the fishing is not good for you on Fish Trap, I’d take a short ride over to Lake Alexander. Of the 3 I think it is the best fishing lake. Lots on main lake structure that is idea for bobber fishing for Walleyes and you will also catch lots of SM bass mixed in as well.

Deep weed edges for big bass.

Thanks so much for the help. I see there looks to be a very good drop off around most of the lake so the deep weed edges look to be a good starting area. I will report back with what we find after the weekend.

Thanks for all your replies. We fished with two boats and 6 people for Sat and Sunday. Fished pretty hard all day on Sat, but had to contend with the recreational boating and some gusting winds which made some of the mid lake areas hard to fish. Sunday was tougher has a cold front went through Sat night and we only got to fish until noon has more rain was headed our way. I think between the two boats we landed about 19 bass and some small northern. I did manage to catch my first muskie which was fun even though it was small. I won the bass pool with a 18.5 and my nephews daughter won the northern pot with a 27″. Fun lake though.

Nice man! thanks for the report! Glad you enjoyed it, it’s been a blessing to have a place on ‘Trap. Will be up there over Labor Day wettin’ lines and whistles! Way to go on the Muskie! I’ve only seen them spawning or following my lure but never hitting it. I did have one break my line out there once. There’s not many but there’s some real nice ones in there.