Clara Lake, Wisconsin: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Clara Lake lies in Polk County, in Wisconsin. What surrounds it is rolling bush. It runs to roughly 56 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Bank access stretches around 1.2 miles in total. Turtle Lake is the closest place, 10 miles off. Then Luck, 10 miles, and Amery, 14 miles. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Clara Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Polk County records list brown trout, rainbow trout, northern pike and largemouth bass among the fish reported. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. Fish Clara Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 70°F, with January the cold end at about 10°F. Four clear seasons, with a proper winter at one end. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early April. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early April and starts locking again about late November. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. Clara Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. For a change of water, Little Blake Lake is 0.8 miles distant. Where Clara Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.