Fishing at Random Lake, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Look for Random Lake in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. The country here is rolling bush. It runs to roughly 212 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Around 2.9 miles of margin, front to back. Nearest place of any size is Random Lake, 0.5 miles away. For a city, Milwaukee is 36 miles off. The boundary is close enough to be worth checking before you fish.

• Where to Fish on Random Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Sheboygan County records list brown trout, rainbow trout and common carp among the fish reported. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. At Random Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 18°F to 70°F. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. After early April the shallows warm and the fish move up. Break-up sits around early April on average, with the water closing again about early December. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. Random Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. There is a mapped slipway roughly half a mile away. Parking sits half a mile out, which makes for a walk with tackle. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. If the gate is shut, Spring Lake at 1.1 miles is the nearest alternative. Where Random Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.