Jackson Lake in Bayfield County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Jackson Lake is a Bayfield County water, in Wisconsin. The surface lies 1,381 feet up. Surface area is around 138 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. Bank access stretches around 2.4 miles in total. Size puts it in the front rank of our Bayfield County list. Supplies mean a trip to Little Round Lake, 23 miles off. Saint Paul is the closest city, 131 miles away. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Jackson Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Reported across Bayfield County: rainbow smelt, brown trout, yellow perch, rainbow trout and white sucker. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. At Jackson Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 8°F to 66°F. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Count the season from break-up, usually mid April. From about mid April to around late November, expect open water on the long-run figures. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Expect Jackson Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Boats go in at Funnys Lane Boat Launch, roughly half a mile from the water. A nature reserve borders this water, which usually brings restrictions. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Cranberry Lake, 0.8 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. What applies at Jackson Lake may have changed since it was mapped.