Fishing Lily Lake in Oneida County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  You will find Lily Lake in Oneida County, Wisconsin. The ground around here is pine and birch. It runs to roughly 42 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Bank access stretches around 1.3 miles in total. Rhinelander at 4.8 miles is the nearest place to stop. Tomahawk lies 14 miles off, Nashville another 23 miles. A county line runs close by, so local bylaws can differ within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Lily Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Records held for Oneida County cover brown trout, walleye, largemouth bass and northern pike. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Lily Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 67°F, the coldest about 10°F. A hard winter is normal, and the thaw brings a strong few weeks. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around mid April. Ice usually gives way near mid April, and forms again about late November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. The season on Lily Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. You can launch from a ramp around half a mile away. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Should this one be busy, Cook Lake is 0.5 miles off. What applies at Lily Lake may have changed since it was mapped.