West Davis Lake in Bayfield County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  West Davis Lake is a Bayfield County water, in Wisconsin. The bank is 1,450 feet above sea level. About 14 acres of surface, which puts the far bank inside easy sight. The nearest place of any size is Ashland, 23 miles away. Little Round Lake lies 27 miles off, Hayward another 27 miles. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on West Davis Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Records held for Bayfield County cover rainbow smelt, brown trout, yellow perch and rainbow trout. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Read West Davis Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 9°F to 66°F. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near mid April. The water is typically free of ice between mid April and late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. At West Davis Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Failing this one, try East Davis Lake, 0.4 miles away. Treat access at West Davis Lake as something to verify.