Cook Lake Fishing Guide, Forest County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Cook Lake lies within the bounds of Forest County, Wisconsin. This is pine and birch country. This is a pocket water of some 15 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Crandon is the closest place, 8.7 miles off. Nashville is 9.8 miles and Antigo 26 miles. Nearby, in order: Clark Lake at 0.5 miles, Kimberly Lake at about 0.7 miles, Jungle Lake at 0.8 miles, Walsh Lake at about 1.1 miles and Crawford Lake at 1.4 miles. Local rules may differ a few miles either side of here.

• Where to Fish on Cook Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Survey and observation records for Forest County include brown trout, largemouth bass, yellow perch and northern pike. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. At Cook Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 10°F and July at about 65°F, the water has a wide range to work through. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near mid April. The water is typically free of ice between mid April and late November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. That is the shape of the year on Cook Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Should this one be busy, Clark Lake is 0.5 miles off. Nothing here settles the position at Cook Lake for certain.