Porters Lake in Waushara County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Porters Lake stands in Waushara County, Wisconsin. The setting is mixed forest. It runs to roughly 76 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Shoreline comes to about 1.6 miles, small enough to learn in a day. Supplies mean a trip to Mount Morris, 2 miles off. After that come Silver Lake at 2.9 miles and Wautoma at 3.6 miles. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Porters Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Open biodiversity records for Waushara County list brown trout, rainbow trout, bluegill and largemouth bass. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Work Porters Lake in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 71°F, with January the cold end at about 15°F. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly early April. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early April and starts locking again about early December. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Anyone fishing Porters Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Should this one be busy, Twin Lakes is 0.8 miles off. For Porters Lake in particular, ask before you travel.