WISCONSIN'S VILAS COUNTY

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If you live to fish, you will love Wisconsin's Vilas County. Wisconsin is blessed with thousands of lakes and Vilas County has thirteen hundred of them within its boundaries. A little research will show that most have public access. Some have walk-in or carry-in access, while a majority have ramps that are easily accessible for 16-18 foot boats. A good share of these lakes have maps available which show depth, structure including vegetation, and species available. Many also show access sites as well as where to fish for a particular species.

Most sport shops in the Eagle River area carry maps that are as good as you can find anywhere. Also, I meet many of my clients at Eagle Sports in Eagle River and have found the sales personnel there to be very knowledgeable about the fishing conditions, as we often share information. I strongly suggest you pick their brain when in their shops. In these thirteen hundred lakes, you will find that most fresh water species are present and in some lakes you will find them abundant, however, in others the catching can be challenging.

Perhaps, the most well known species in the area is the musky ,which, of course, is the largest species and the top of the food chain. If muskies are your thing, Vilas County is the place to be. Musky season opens around the 1st of June and runs through November. June is my favorite month, as I have taken many 25-30 pound fish then, but the really big fish are taken in late September, October, and November. Fall fishing styles are considerably different than early and mid-summer fishing, so if you are new to the sport of just going to get into it, you will need some help to get on track.

Walleyes are another important species native to our lakes. Although our walleye fishing is not like it was twenty years ago, it has come back somewhat in the last couple of years. However, in my opinion, we have a ways to go to get back to quality walleye fishing. Walleye season generally starts the first of May and runs to March of the following year. May and June are our more productive months, however, the fishing does pick up in August and continues to improve through freeze-up in November. Again, I can't help but remind you to check with the locals and sport shops for conditions. They can save you valuable time. Further, bag and size limits vary from lake to lake.

Northern Pike are found in many lakes, although only a few lakes in our area have decent size pike. Most have numbers of small pike, but they really are too small to make good table fish.

Trout can be found in some of our lakes also, and the trout found can be Brook, Brown, Rainbow, Splake or Lake trout. Most trout in lakes are stocked annually and are probably an under fished species. In addition to lake fishing, the area has numerous spring lakes and streams that hold a good population of Brookies and Browns. Trout season opens early in May and runs to March of the following year in lakes and late September on streams and spring. Fishing for trout can be productive throughout most of the season.

Bass fishing has turned into a spectacular fishery over the past few years. Both small mouth and large mouth fishing has been fantastic. It has not been uncommon to have catches of thirty of forty per day with fish in the three, four, or five pound range. This summer was most unusual in as much as the water never did warm up enough to give the fish a chance to spawn in many lakes. This tends to cause the fish to be less active, and also seems to retard weed growth, which is needed for a healthy fishery. Bass season opens (for catch and release) in early May and progressively get better as the water warms throughout the summer. Bag and possession limits kick in, in June. If you have not tried bass fishing in Wisconsin, you are missing some quality fishing.

Last, but not least, is pan fishing. Many of our lakes have an abundance of them. Included in this category are Crappies, Bluegills, Sunfish, and Perch. Bag limits are liberal and these species make excellent table fare. As an added bonus, they can be taken year around and you don't need a lot of sophisticated equipment to do it. Pan fishing is an excellent way to introduce a youngster to fishing. When they graduate to game fish, the smile only gets bigger, as observed on the smiles in the enclosed picture, of Cody and Tanner Konyny catching their first Small mouth bass while fishing with their dad, Dan, and myself. Keep those kids fishing!!! LaMont

Oh, and by the way, while you are here in Vilas County you might consider taking your wife fishing. My wife, Marian, started fishing with me about 10 years ago, and has turned into an excellent fishing partner as well as an excellent fisher-woman.

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