Fishing O'Day Lake in Oneida County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Wisconsin holds O'Day Lake, in Oneida County. It lies 1,522 feet above sea level. The water covers some 38 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Shoreline comes to about 1.0 miles, small enough to learn in a day. For a base, Rhinelander sits 11 miles out. Then Tomahawk, 13 miles, and Lac du Flambeau, 25 miles. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on O'Day Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Oneida County records list brown trout, walleye and largemouth bass among the fish reported. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Work O'Day Lake in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between 10°F in January and 66°F in July. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Ice-out usually falls in mid April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about mid April until roughly late November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Expect O'Day Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Parking sits half a mile out, which makes for a walk with tackle. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Failing this one, try Boggy Lake, 0.7 miles away. Nothing on O'Day Lake should be assumed from this page alone.