Big Carr Lake, Wisconsin: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Big Carr Lake stands in Oneida County, Wisconsin. Around the bank it is pine and birch. With some 209 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. It is among the larger waters listed here for Oneida County. Some 15 miles away sits Rhinelander, the nearest settlement. Further out sit Lac du Flambeau (18 miles) and Eagle River (21 miles). It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Big Carr Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Fish documented in Oneida County include brown trout, walleye, largemouth bass and northern pike. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. Fish Big Carr Lake where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 66°F, while January sits near 9°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around mid April. Ice clears near mid April and comes back about late November in a typical year. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Anyone fishing Big Carr Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. If the gate is shut, Little Tomahawk Lake at 0.6 miles is the nearest alternative. Treat Big Carr Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.