Fishing at Holmes Lake, Bayfield County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  You will find Holmes Lake in Bayfield County, Wisconsin. The setting is rolling bush on every side. Roughly 55 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The edge runs 1.3 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Little Round Lake sits 14 miles from the bank. After that come Hayward at 17 miles and Ashland at 35 miles. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Holmes Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Records held for Bayfield County cover rainbow smelt, brown trout and yellow perch. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. The near bank of Holmes Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about 8°F in January to roughly 66°F in July. Winter shuts the surface down for months. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly mid April. Ice clears near mid April and comes back about late November in a typical year. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. The season on Holmes Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Stearns Lake sits 0.4 miles off and takes the overflow. Check the position on Holmes Lake before loading the car.