Lake of the Pines in Sawyer County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lake of the Pines is listed under Sawyer County, Wisconsin. What surrounds it is lake country bush. It measures some 273 acres, and wind has room to build across it. The outline measures near 4.3 miles, so local knowledge counts. Size puts it in the front rank of our Sawyer County list. The closest town, Phillips, is 16 miles away. The big place round here is Saint Paul, 129 miles distant. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Lake of the Pines

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Fish documented in Sawyer County include walleye, brown trout and largemouth bass. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Lake of the Pines the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 67°F for July and 10°F for January. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around mid April. Average temperatures cross freezing around mid April in spring and again near late November in autumn. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. That shapes the year on Lake of the Pines.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Launching is possible: a slipway lies half a mile off. A campsite is mapped about half a mile away, which makes an early start easier. There is a toilet block some half a mile out. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Connors Lake, 1.7 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Lake of the Pines in what we hold.