Fishing at Lyman Lake, Douglas County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Set in Douglas County, Lyman Lake is a Wisconsin water. Height above sea level is 1,171 feet. Roughly 368 acres of surface: treat each bay as a water in its own right. The outline measures near 4.4 miles, so local knowledge counts. Size puts it in the front rank of our Douglas County list. The nearest town is Lake Nebagamon, 14 miles away. Saint Paul sits 117 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lyman Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Fish documented in Douglas County include yellow perch, walleye, white sucker, black crappie and rainbow smelt. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Lyman Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 67°F and January reads 8°F. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around mid April. From about mid April to around late November, expect open water on the long-run figures. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. Expect Lyman Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is a toilet block some half a mile out. Walleye come to jigs worked slow near bottom, and to trolled crankbaits along the drops at dusk. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Scout Lake, 1.2 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Treat access at Lyman Lake as something to verify.