Fishing Cranberry Lake in Burnett County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Wisconsin holds Cranberry Lake, in Burnett County. It sits at 981 feet above sea level. The water measures roughly 14 acres, so nothing here is far from anything else. Our Burnett County list holds plenty of bigger water. Some 15 miles away sits Spooner, the nearest settlement. For a city, Saint Paul is 86 miles off. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Cranberry 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. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. County-wide records name brown trout, northern pike, largemouth bass, bluegill and pumpkinseed. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. Treat Cranberry Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 69°F; by January the average is down near 9°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Ice-out usually falls in mid April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages suggest open water from about mid April through to roughly late November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. The season on Cranberry Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Mapping shows an empty shoreline: no ramp, no jetty, no marked entry. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Lily Lake at 0.6 miles is the sensible second choice. Confirm access to Cranberry Lake locally before you travel.