Shaky Lake Fishing near Hortonville, Wisconsin

• Overview

  In Wisconsin, Shaky Lake falls inside Waupaca County. It sits at 794 feet above sea level. Surface area runs to about 11 acres — small enough to read in one session. On size it sits at the modest end of our Waupaca County list. Hortonville sits 4.7 miles from here and is the nearest stop. After that come New London at 5.7 miles and Weyauwega at 10 miles. Two sets of local rules meet not far from this water.

• Where to Fish on Shaky Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Open biodiversity records for Waupaca County list brown trout, flathead catfish and rainbow trout. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Shaky Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 70°F, with January the cold end at about 15°F. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Look for the thaw near early April; the fishing lifts straight after. The season between ice runs from about early April to early December. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. That is the shape of the year on Shaky Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. Shaky Lake State Natural Area runs up to the bank here, which usually means extra restrictions. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Squaw Lake sits 2.9 miles off and takes the overflow. Confirm before you fish Shaky Lake.