Star Lake Fishing near Little Round Lake, Wisconsin

• Overview

  In Wisconsin, Star Lake falls inside Bayfield County. The setting is pine and birch on every side. Surface area is around 108 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. Roughly 1.7 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Few waters listed in Bayfield County are bigger. Little Round Lake is the closest place, 17 miles off. For a city, Saint Paul is 126 miles off. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Star Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. County-wide records name rainbow smelt, brown trout, yellow perch and rainbow trout. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Star Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 66°F and January near 8°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. The lid usually goes in mid April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. The open-water window runs from around mid April to about late November in an average year. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. It holds true on Star Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Overnight stays are possible half a mile away. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. The nearest alternative is Spring Lake, 0.7 miles out. Signs at Star Lake carry more weight than any list.