Fishing Williams Lake in Marinette County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Set in Marinette County, Wisconsin, this is Williams Lake. It lies 955 feet above sea level. At 10 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Niagara at 17 miles is the nearest place to stop. Kingsford follows at 19 miles, then Norway at 20 miles. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Williams Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Marinette County records list brown trout, rainbow trout, largemouth bass and bluegill among the fish reported. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. At Williams Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 67°F; the cold one sits at 12°F. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. Ice-out usually falls in mid April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Climate averages put the opening at about mid April and the closing near early December. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. Williams Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Redman Lake, 0.6 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. For Williams Lake in particular, ask before you travel.