Hawthorn Lake in Polk County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Polk County in Wisconsin is where Hawthorn Lake sits. Around the bank it is pine and birch. Surface area runs to about 11 acres — small enough to read in one session. Our Polk County list holds plenty of bigger water. Some 4.3 miles away sits Frederic, the nearest settlement. Saint Paul is the closest city, 61 miles away. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Hawthorn Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Survey and observation records for Polk County include brown trout, rainbow trout, northern pike, largemouth bass and bluegill. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Hawthorn Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 10°F to 69°F. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early April. Ice usually gives way near early April, and forms again about late November. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. Time your trip to Hawthorn Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. If the gate is shut, Godfrey Lake at 0.9 miles is the nearest alternative. Nothing on Hawthorn Lake should be assumed from this page alone.