Mud Lake in Florence County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Mud Lake is a Florence County water, in Wisconsin. It sits at 1,404 feet above sea level. The water measures roughly 12 acres, so nothing here is far from anything else. Our Florence County list holds plenty of bigger water. Some 16 miles away sits Stambaugh, Iron River, the nearest settlement. For a city, Green Bay is 96 miles off. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Mud Lake

  Open data we checked carries no depth for this water. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Reported across Florence County: brown trout, rainbow trout, largemouth bass, bluegill and northern pike. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Mud Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 65°F at the top of summer and 11°F at the bottom of winter. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around mid April. Break-up sits around mid April on average, with the water closing again about late November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. On Mud Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. For a change of water, Dorothy Lake is 0.4 miles distant. Check the current arrangement for Mud Lake.