Fishing Pickerel Lake in Oneida County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Pickerel Lake is one of the Oneida County listings for Wisconsin. The bank is 1,591 feet above sea level. At about 49 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. There is roughly 1.3 miles of shoreline here, which is a short walk end to end. Nearest town is Rhinelander, 7.1 miles off. The nearest city of size is Green Bay, 108 miles away. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Pickerel Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Open biodiversity records for Oneida County list brown trout, walleye, largemouth bass, northern pike and bluegill. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. On Pickerel Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 66°F; by January the average is down near 10°F. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. Once it clears, about mid April, the fishing comes on quickly. Expect the water usable from around mid April until roughly late November. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Time your trip to Pickerel Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Recorded parking is 0.9 miles off, far enough to travel light. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. If the gate is shut, Minnow Lake at 0.4 miles is the nearest alternative. Treat Pickerel Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.