Fishing Kating Lake in Waupaca County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Kating Lake lies within the bounds of Waupaca County, Wisconsin. The surface lies 928 feet up. Surface area runs to about 17 acres — small enough to read in one session. For a base, Iola sits 1.1 miles out. Green Bay is the closest city, 53 miles away. Close by you also have: Norby Lake out at 0.9 miles, Hermanson Lake (1.4 miles), Myklebust Lake out at 1.5 miles, Iola Lake (1.6 miles) and Hatch Lake out at 1.8 miles. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Kating Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Public occurrence data for Waupaca County names brown trout, flathead catfish, rainbow trout and common carp. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Kating Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 70°F for July and 14°F for January. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. Count the season from break-up, usually early April. Break-up near early April, freeze-up near early December: that is the shape of an average year. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. That shapes the year on Kating Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. A car park sits roughly half a mile away. There is a campsite 0.9 miles from the water. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. The nearest alternative is Norby Lake, 0.9 miles out. Treat access at Kating Lake as something to verify.