Ross Allen Lake Fishing in Vilas County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Out in Vilas County, Wisconsin, sits Ross Allen Lake. The land about it is rolling bush. At about 62 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The whole outline is near 1.7 miles, and most of it is walkable. Some 3.1 miles away sits Lac du Flambeau, the nearest settlement. Green Bay is the closest city, 137 miles away. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Ross Allen Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. County-wide records name bluegill, yellow perch and walleye. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Work Ross Allen Lake in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 66°F; by January the average is down near 9°F. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Once it clears, about mid April, the fishing comes on quickly. Averages suggest open water from about mid April through to roughly late November. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. Ross Allen Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, Minette Lake is 1 mile distant. Nothing on Ross Allen Lake should be assumed from this page alone.