Totagatic Lake near Hayward: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  Set in Sawyer County, Totagatic Lake is a Wisconsin water. Beyond the shoreline you have pine and birch. At some 538 acres it is far too large to cover on foot in a day. The margin runs to about 4.6 miles in total. It is among the larger waters listed here for Sawyer County. Hayward sits 11 miles from the bank. It is 117 miles to Saint Paul, the nearest city. Being near a boundary, it pays to know which side you are fishing.

• Where to Fish on Totagatic Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Across Sawyer County, recorded fish include walleye, brown trout, largemouth bass, muskellunge and northern pike. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. On Totagatic Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 66°F in July and bottom out at 8°F in January. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around mid April. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about mid April until roughly late November. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. At Totagatic Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• 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. Part of this sits inside or beside Totagatic Lake Wildlife Area, so read the notices. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Fuller Lake, 1 mile away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing on Totagatic Lake should be assumed from this page alone.