Fishing Pallette Lake in Vilas County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Set in Vilas County, Wisconsin, this is Pallette Lake. The bank is 1,637 feet above sea level. With some 180 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The bank runs about 2.0 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. It sits higher than most water we list in Wisconsin. Lac du Flambeau sits 15 miles from the bank. Green Bay is the closest city, 132 miles away. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Pallette Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Across Vilas County, recorded fish include bluegill, yellow perch, walleye and largemouth bass. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. On Pallette Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 66°F and January reads 9°F. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about late April. In an average year the thaw lands around late April and the freeze near late November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Time your trip to Pallette Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. A slipway 0.9 miles out gives trailer access. There is camping recorded roughly half a mile off. Somewhere to sit and eat is half a mile out. Public toilets are recorded roughly half a mile off. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Lost Canoe Lake, 0.7 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Treat Pallette Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.