Where to begin on this lake

Going to be spending the next couple days on this 170 acre lake in northern wisco. no public access. I don’t have any huge expectations other than time on the water with my kid.

Anything on the map jump out at you as being of particular interest? The bay marked “home” is lily pad central and we’ve done OK with some bass here in years past. Venturing out into the lake more this year hoping to find some pike or walleye.

The point directly northwest of our bay looks interesting. Gravel bottom, directly next to deeper water.

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I like the gravel saddle right in the middle. Looks like a nice funnel, provided the fish are active and moving. But I also can’t gauge the distance on the map. If that saddle area is 1 mile across, nevermind.

mplspug wrote:

I like the gravel saddle right in the middle. Looks like a nice funnel, provided the fish are active and moving. But I also can’t gauge the distance on the map. If that saddle area is 1 mile across, nevermind.

Thank you, mplspug! The whole lake is 170 acres. Running from the southwest to the northest is about 1 mile. That area is maybe 1/10th of a mile.

I fish a small lake in northern MN similar to this. For pike I usually have good luck around the islands casting jawbreakers into/along some sort of cover.

Mookie Blaylock wrote:

I fish a small lake in northern MN similar to this. For <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>pike I usually have good luck around the islands casting jawbreakers into/along some sort of cover.

Thanks! I’ve been debating which kind of spoons to pick up when I stop at the bait shop and those jaw-breakers are on the list.

I would agree with Pug – that looks like a great spot, especially in the evening. I’d throw swim baits, raps, etc at it.

For such a small lake, I’d troll the edges during the day wherever there are weeds nearby for pike. You might also pickup walleye if they are relating to the weeds doing that.

I’d also grab a couple of ratltraps for throwing for pike and bass. My guess is they will be active given the consistent weather. I always have success with chrome colors on shallow lakes. The pike absolutely t bone those….that’s what I caught the pike in my avatar on.

Looks like fun!

Is it spring fed like many of those lakes over der? What’s water clarity?

nhamm wrote:

Is it spring fed like many of those lakes over der? What’s water clarity?

It’s a seepage lake, so no inlet/outlet. 37 feet max
depth, pretty clear as there’s not a lot of dirty runoff anywhere near. 75% sand bottom.

Matt Moen wrote:

I would agree with Pug – that looks like a great spot, especially in the evening. I’d throw swim baits, raps, etc at it.

For such a small lake, I’d troll the edges during the day wherever there are weeds nearby for pike. You might also pickup walleye if they are relating to the weeds doing that.

I’d also grab a couple of ratltraps for throwing for <em class=”ido-tag-em”>pike and bass. My guess is they will be active given the consistent weather. I always have success with chrome colors on shallow lakes. The pike absolutely t bone those….that’s what I caught the pike in my avatar on.

Looks like fun!

Thanks for the thoughts. We have more rattle traps than we know what to do with thanks to my dad’s old obsession.

At only 170 acres, I would start trolling shallow and work my way out deeper until I saw something that needed more attention or marked fish. In my experience these smaller lakes aren’t mapped very well, and there could be some great structure not indicated on the map.

BigWerm wrote:

At only 170 acres, I would start trolling shallow and work my way out deeper until I saw something that needed more attention or marked fish. In my experience these smaller lakes aren’t mapped very well, and there could be some great structure not indicated on the map.

Thanks — forgot to mention no sonar! 12ft boat with a 6hp merc, navionics on a tablet with gps. Last year the lake wasn’t even mapped, this year looks like it’s been fished by somebody with sonarchart, so at least I’ll have a general idea of what’s going on. I’ll take some measurements for reference, just dropping a heavy jig on metered braid.

I’d stick to trolling raps/spoons or lindy rigging then, or bring a vexilar and look for the crappie suspended over the deep water.

The map says brush refugees which in WI probably means wooden cribs . Walleye and bass are always on them. Fall also means the steep drops along shorline maybe promising

Mwal

For pike I like shallow next to deep, or deep next to shallow-points, any flow or neck down is good too-classic stuff should work this time of year.

Just want to say thanks to all for the input. This definitely gives me a good start.

@mal, thanks for the heads-up on the cribs. Having down-imaging would sure help locate the exact location but I’ll muddle through.

BigWerm wrote:

I’d stick to trolling raps/spoons or lindy rigging then, or bring a vexilar and look for the crappie suspended over the deep water.

I would second this. I would think the crappies would start to bunch and suspend now over that muck bottom in deeper water right straight out from your bay.

In order to target the potential of various species that may or may not be in this body of water, what’s in there?
No need to spend time on a specific tactic if that species is non existent in that particular body of water. What’s in there is the big question and once you find that out, go with the recommendations posted above. Whatever is NOT in there, disregard those suggestions.
JMHO.

bullcans wrote:

In order to target the potential of various species that may or may not be in this body of water, what’s in there?
No need to spend time on a specific tactic if that species is non existent in that particular body of water. What’s in there is the big question and once you find that out, go with the recommendations posted above. Whatever is NOT in there, disregard those suggestions.
JMHO.

Panfish, bass, pike/skis, walleye. Probably in that order in terms of prevalence.

bullcans wrote:

In order to target the potential of various species that may or may not be in this body of water, what’s in there?
No need to spend time on a specific tactic if that species is non existent in that particular body of water. What’s in there is the big question and once you find that out, go with the recommendations posted above. Whatever is NOT in there, disregard those suggestions.
JMHO.

That sums it up pretty well. Walleye in that lake most likely just cigars. They don’t hold them, maybe lucky to get the one big one…18-20″?

Don’t over complicate this, small lake…structure will mostly be shoreline related. This is a common lake in Northern Wisconsin, not to be compared with MN lakes. You could troll, but why? Right out of the gate you will be looking at “fishy” structure. Here is a map of an almost identical lake in Iron Cty I fished many times. About the same expectations…small pike, some nice bass and small muskie but you might get a nice one!
BTW, I do have a portable fish finder/sonar you are welcome to borrow. Runs on flashlight batteries. Let me know before you go?

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And one more thing, for a number of years, motor trolling would have been illegal on the lake you will be fishing. Something unknown to most MN anglers not familiar with different rules over there. I do think the reg changed in 2015 but best to make sure. Here is article quote from 2014…
“The state’s current trolling regulations will remain in effect for the 2014 season with many waters closed to motor trolling.
“We know that some musky anglers would like to troll a sucker or minnow behind their boat while they are using a motor to position the boat for casting,” Staggs said. “That is still a form of motor trolling and will remain illegal in waters closed to trolling.”
Anglers should check the Wisconsin fishing regulations pamphlet for information on trolling waters they plan to fish.”

Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

And one more thing, for a number of years, motor trolling would have been illegal on the lake you will be fishing. Something unknown to most MN anglers not familiar with different rules over there. I do think the reg changed in 2015 but best to make sure. Here is article quote from 2014…
“The state’s current trolling regulations will remain in effect for the 2014 season with many waters closed to motor trolling.
“We know that some musky anglers would like to troll a sucker or minnow behind their boat while they are using a motor to position the boat for casting,” Staggs said. “That is still a form of motor trolling and will remain illegal in waters closed to trolling.”
Anglers should check the Wisconsin fishing regulations pamphlet for information on trolling waters they plan to fish.”

Thanks Andy. That’s pretty much how I’m approaching it. Almost guaranteed bass in our lily pad-laden bay. Should be able to find hungry crappie. Going to cast and troll pike. And if all that doesn’t keep us busy, then I might start to think about walleye.

I’m up on all the current regs. Motor trolling limited to 1 line per angler, max 2 per boat on this lake. The only fish we’ll keep are panfish and maybe a pike or 2 if we get the right size.

And thanks for the generous offer to use your sonar, but we’re leaving straight from work tonight. Need to get to the cabin and get her warmed up in time for the kiddo to get some zzz’s tonight, so can’t make any extra stops.

I can’t see depths on this map, but I would try anything in the 15+ foot range, around that small Island on the north end.. preferably with a wind blowing, go on the wind blown side and drag some leeches along the gravel edges where it drops to deeper water.

pool2fool wrote:

Thanks — forgot to mention no sonar! 12ft boat with a 6hp merc, navionics on a tablet with gps. Last year the lake wasn’t even mapped, this year looks like it’s been fished by somebody with sonarchart, so at least I’ll have a general idea of what’s going on. I’ll take some measurements for reference, just dropping a heavy jig on metered braid.

FWIW Your ice fishing locator will read right through the hull of that aluminum boat.

Thanks fellas. Great couple days. Couldn’t find the eyes but basically unlimited 20-26″ pike which kept my kid very busy and happy. Spoons, reef runners, thundersticks all caught equal numbers. Trolling, casting, all good. No live bait used.

The best spot for us was weed edges around the islands on the SW Bay. Water was as high so that kind of expanded the fishable area. The sand and gravel spots were awfully quiet.

Sounds like fun!

pool2fool wrote:

Thanks fellas. Great couple days. Couldn’t find the eyes but basically unlimited 20-26″ pike which kept my kid very busy and happy. Spoons, reef runners, thundersticks all caught equal numbers. Trolling, casting, all good. No live bait used.

The best spot for us was weed edges around the islands on the SW Bay. Water was as high so that kind of expanded the fishable area. The sand and gravel spots were awfully quiet.

Most likely there were no eyes to be found. As disrespected as they seem to be, 20-26 pike can be a blast to catch particularly for a young fella such as your son. For me at that young age it was always such a thrill, not a sunnie but a gamefish with big teeth!