Mud Flat Lake, Wisconsin: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  The Bayfield County entry here is Mud Flat Lake, in Wisconsin. Elevation runs to 1,053 feet. At 12 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Nearest place of any size is Lake Nebagamon, 20 miles away. Beyond it, Ashland at 21 miles and Washburn at 23 miles. Within easy reach: Heart Lake 0.3 miles off, Phantom Lake 0.4 miles away, Getsey Lake 0.6 miles off, Hay Lake 0.7 miles away and Bear Lake 0.7 miles off. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Mud Flat Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Survey and observation records for Bayfield County include rainbow smelt, brown trout and yellow perch. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. On Mud Flat Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 67°F and January at 9°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Once it clears, about mid April, the fishing comes on quickly. Ice usually gives way near mid April, and forms again about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. The season on Mud Flat Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Failing this one, try Heart Lake, 0.3 miles away. None of that is settled for Mud Flat Lake in what we hold.