Vilas County is home to some awesome largemouth bass fishing, however, most anglers don’t even realize it. You can find lots of action lakes with some bigger bass in the 4 to 5 pound range very possible as well. Occasionally, you will hear of a bigger largemouth bass, but it’s not the norm here. The challenging thing here is that many of the best action lakes for largemouth bass will be challenging to get onto. Think less about fishing out of your bass boat and more about canoes, kayaks and inflatable boats if you’re looking to get into some of the best largemouth bass waters throughout the county.
Below, we have it organized by towns to help you learn about the entire county’s best largemouth bass waters.
Arbor Vitae, WI
Arbor Vitae is a good place to visit if you’re looking to target largemouth bass in Vilas County. With Big Arbor Vitae Lake here, you could just stay on this lake for your entire trip while fishing for largemouth bass. There are good numbers of them with some big fish also. Add all the other species of fish and this is a great lake to fish for several days or even longer. While this is the only big lake to fish here for good numbers of largemouth bass, there are plenty of other lakes that also offer good fishing too. Carroll Lake, Little Arbor Vitae Lake, Madeline Lake and Ross Lake are are worth at least a half day fishing for largemouth bass. The Bittersweet Lakes State Natural Area gives anglers a little more of an adventure and there are other smaller lakes in the area as well. You have a lot of options to fish for largemouth bass around Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin.
Bittersweet Lakes State Natural Area
Four soft water seepage lakes, each separated by an isthmus are the main features of the natural area. The lakes are Bittersweet, Oberlin, Smith and Prong. The lakes offer good fishing, especially for panfish and largemouth bass. You will have to portage between the lakes, but for many people, the extra work to fish here is totally worth the additional effort.
Bittersweet Lake
Bittersweet Lake is a 104 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 31 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include panfish, largemouth bass and northern pike. All of these species of fish are listed as common by the DNR.
Oberlin Lake
Oberlin Lake is a 42 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 25 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include panfish and largemouth bass. Panfish and largemouth bass are considered common here by the Wisconsin DNR.
Smith Lake
Smith Lake is a 41 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 18 feet. Fish include panfish and largemouth bass. Panfish are considered abundant in the lake while largemouth bass are listed as common by the DNR.
Prong Lake
Prong Lake is a 31 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 50 feet. Fish include panfish and largemouth bass. According to the DNR, panfish are abundant in the lake while largemouth bass are listed as common.
Other Area Lakes
Big Arbor Vitae Lake
Big Arbor Vitae Lake is a 1,070 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 41 feet. Fish include muskie, largemouth bass, walleye, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, muskie and walleye are abundant in the lake while panfish and largemouth bass are considered common.
Carrol Lake
Carrol Lake is a 330 acre lake located in Oneida, Vilas Counties. It has a maximum depth of 27 feet. Fish include muskie, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye and panfish. According to the DNR, panfish are abundant in the lake while largemouth bass and muskie are considered common. Northern pike and walleye are listed as present.
Little Arbor Vitae Lake
Little Arbor Vitae Lake is a 480 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 32 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, largemouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, all these species of fish are considered common in the lake.
Madeline Lake
Madeline Lake is a 172 acre lake located in Vilas, Oneida Counties. It has a maximum depth of 17 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, panfish are abundant in the lake while muskie and largemouth bass are considered common. Northern pike and walleye are listed as present.
Ross Lake
Ross Lake is a 149 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 14 feet. Fish include largemouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, largemouth bass and panfish are considered common in the lake.
Boulder Junction, WI
Boulder Junction is definitely more of a walleye, smallmouth bass and muskie area, but there are some lakes to fish for largemouth bass as well. In the Northern Highland Fishery Research Area, some anglers target largemouth bass on Spruce Lake, however, it can definitely be hit or miss and is a little bit of a challenge to get a canoe, kayak or inflatable boat on the water. Escanaba Lake & Lost Canoe Lake will also attract plenty of anglers and you can target largemouth bass on both of them. There are a lot of smaller lakes in this area that also have good populations of largemouth bass and panfish. Many anglers will target bass in these lakes with canoe, kayaks, rowboats and inflatable boats.
Northern Highland Fishery Research Area
Escanaba Lake
Escanaba Lake is a 303 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 26 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, walleye are abundant in this lake. Muskie, largemouth bass and panfish are considered common in the lake. Northern pike are listed as present. The DNR website doesn’t mention smallmouth bass, but they are in Escanaba Lake as well.
Lost Canoe Lake
Lost Canoe Lake is a 279 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 41 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass and panfish are common in this lake. Muskie and smallmouth bass are listed as present.
Spruce lake
Spruce Lake is a 16 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 16 feet. Fish include panfish and largemouth bass. Panfish are abundant and largemouth bass are common in the lake. It is a carry-in boat landing at the bottom of a hill. It isn’t the easiest place to get a boat into, but the canoe slide does help you get your canoes and kayaks down to the water.
Other Lakes in This Area
Allequash Lake
Allequash Lake is a 406 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 24 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, panfish are abundant in this lake. Muskie, northern pike, walleye and largemouth bass are considered common in the lake. Smallmouth bass are listed as present.
Fishtrap Lake
Fishtrap Lake is a 339 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 34 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, muskie, walleye, largemouth bass and panfish are common in this lake. Smallmouth bass and northern pike are listed as present. The lake’s water is moderately clear.
Little John Lake
Little John Lake is a 151 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 19 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and trout. According to the Wisconsin DNR, trout are abundant in Little John Lake. Muskie, walleye and largemouth bass are common in the lake. Smallmouth bass and northern pike are listed as present.
Upper Gresham Lake
Upper Gresham Lake is a 362 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 32 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, panfish are abundant in the lake while muskie, largemouth bass and walleye are considered common. Northern pike are listed as present.
Whitney Lake
Whitney Lake is a 226 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 8 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include northern pike, largemouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, largemouth bass are common in this lake. Northern pike and panfish are listed as present.
Wolf Lake
Wolf Lake is a 403 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 28 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, muskie, walleye, largemouth bass and panfish are considered common in the lake while smallmouth bass are listed as present.
Conover & Phelps, WI
Many of the lakes in the Conover area do have largemouth bass available in them, but they are a secondary species on many of the larger lakes. On the smaller lakes, largemouth bass and panfish are the dominant species, but the average size bass runs on the small side in many of the smaller lakes. If you target them though, you can catch bass in the 2 to 3 pound range with some bigger bass mixed in too.
Hunter Lake
Hunter Lake is a 175 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 40 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from one public boat landing. Fish include panfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and walleye. Panfish, largemouth bass and walleye are considered common in this lake and smallmouth bass are listed as present according to the Wisconsin DNR.
Little Tamarack Flowage
Little Tamarack Flowage is a 236 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 16 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from one public boat landing. Fish include muskie, panfish, largemouth bass and northern pike. According to the Wisconsin DNR, panfish, largemouth bass and northern pike are common in this lake and muskie are present.
Pioneer Lake
Pioneer Lake is a 429 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 27 feet. Fish include muskie, panfish, largemouth bass, northern pike and walleye. According to the Wisconsin DNR, muskie, panfish and largemouth bass are common in this lake. Northern pike and walleye are listed as present in this lake.
Spectacle Lake
Spectacle Lake is a 166 acre lake located in Nicolet National Forest of Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 35 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include panfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, trout and walleye. The lake’s water clarity is very clear. This lake is uncrowded and it is known as a good bass fishing lake for both largemouth & smallmouth bass.
Upper Buckatabon Lake & Lower Buckatabon Lake
Upper Buckatabon Lake is a 493 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 47 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from one public boat landing. Lower Buckatabon Lake is a 378 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 16 feet. Both lakes have muskie, panfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike and walleye in them. Panfish are considered abundant in these lakes according to the Wisconsin DNR. Northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass and muskie are considered common and smallmouth bass are considered present.
Eagle River, WI
The largemouth bass fishing has gotten a lot better in the Eagle River area over the past 10 years or so. Many anglers prefer to fish for muskie and walleye up here, so largemouth bass are under fished on many of the lakes in this area. If you go out and target largemouth bass, you should be able to catch some bass in the 2 to 3 pound range. There are reports of bass in the 4 to 5 pound range caught up here, but don’t expect to see too many bass in this size range. Some of the lakes that offer anglers some quality largemouth bass are Watersmeet Lake, Silver Lake, Kentuck Lake and in the channels between the Eagle River Chain of Lakes.
If you head into the Chequamegon National Forest, there are some quality small waters that do not allow motors on them. Luna Lake, Three Johns Lake, White Deer Lake & McKinley Lake are all worth a half day on the water. Luna, Three Johns & White Deer Lakes get the better reports for largemouth bass, but some anglers report decent bass fishing on McKinley Lake as well.
Bass Lake
Bass Lake is a 272 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 15 feet with moderately clear water. Fish include muskie, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye and panfish. According to the DNR, largemouth bass and panfish are considered common in the lake. Muskie, northern pike and walleye are listed as present.
Boot Lake
Boot Lake is a 286 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 15 feet. Fish include muskie, northern pike, largemouth bass, walleye and panfish. According to the DNR, panfish are abundant in the lake while muskie, northern pike, largemouth bass and walleye are considered common.
Deerskin Lake
Deerskin Lake is a 301 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 18 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from 2 public boat landings. Fish include muskie, panfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike and walleye. Muskie, walleye and largemouth bass are listed as common on this lake according to the Wisconsin DNR with panfish being abundant. This lake also has a reputation for small northern pike to along with some good sized ones. The lake’s water is moderately clear.
Luna & White Deer Lake
Luna Lake is a 64 acre lake located in Forest County. It has a maximum depth of 35 feet. It is “no motor lake” so bring your small watercraft if you want to come here to fish for largemouth bass and panfish. It is a good largemouth bass lake for numbers with some quality fish too.
White Deer Lake is a 62 acre lake located in Forest County. It has a maximum depth of 50 feet. It is “no motor lake” so bring your small watercraft if you want to come here to fish for largemouth bass, trout and panfish. This lake’s clear waters are also very deep. Many anglers report good success here by using lighter line with finesse tactics for largemouth bass.
Three Johns Lake & McKinley Lake
Three Johns Lake is a 48 acre lake located in Forest County. It has a maximum depth of 42 feet. It is “no motor lake” so bring your small watercraft if you want to come here to fish for largemouth bass and panfish. It is a good largemouth bass lake for numbers with some quality fish too.
McKinley Lake is a 48 acre lake located in Forest County. It has a maximum depth of 20 feet. It is located close to Three Johns Lake and Butternut Lake. McKinley Lake is a decent largemouth bass lake with some panfish too. It is “no motor lake” so bring your small watercraft.
Lac du Flambeau, WI
The Lac du Flambeau area is home to some excellent smallmouth bass fishing and the largemouth bass are often overlooked by many anglers. However, there are plenty of good largemouth bass lakes in this area too. Squirrel Lake and Shishebogama Lake are larger lakes that give anglers the opportunity to catch some decent numbers of bass with some quality fish too. Many of the other largemouth bass lakes in this area will be much smaller.
Big Crooked Lake
Big Crooked Lake is a 394 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 87 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, muskie, largemouth bass and panfish are common in this lake. Walleye and smallmouth bass are listed as present.
Gunlock Lake
Gunlock Lake is a 264 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 26 feet. Fish include muskie, northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, panfish are abundant in the lake while muskie and largemouth bass are considered common. Smallmouth bass, northern pike and walleye are listed as present.
Moss Lake
Moss Lake is a 185 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 29 feet with moderately clear water. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, largemouth bass and panfish are considered common in the lake while the other species of fish are listed as present.
Shishebogama Lake
Shishebogama Lake is a 700 acre lake located in Vilas, Oneida Counties. It has a maximum depth of 42 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, muskie, walleye, largemouth bass and panfish are considered common in the lake. Smallmouth bass and northern pike are listed as present.
Squirrel Lake
Squirrel Lake is a 1,309 acre lake located in Vilas, Oneida Counties. It has a maximum depth of 46 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, muskie, walleye, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and and panfish are common in the lake. Northern pike are listed as present.
Land O’Lakes, WI
The Land O’Lakes area is home to so many awesome fishing lakes. While smallmouth bass are here in much better numbers on most of the bigger lakes here, there are still so many lakes you can fish for largemouth bass in the area. Black Oak Lake and Palmer Lake are two of the bigger lakes that are good for largemouth bass, but if you want to experience some awesome action for largemouth bass, you’re going to want to get out the canoes, kayaks, rowboats or inflatables to explore some of the smaller lakes for largemouth bass.
Black Oak Lake
Black Oak Lake is a 564 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 85 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include trout, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, panfish are abundant in this lake. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and northern pike are common in the lake. Trout and walleye are listed as present. The lake’s water clarity is very clear.
Palmer Lake
Palmer Lake is a 644 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 13 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, muskie, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye and panfish are considered common in the lake while smallmouth bass are listed as present.
Manitowish Waters, WI
The Manitowish Waters area is home to much better smallmouth bass fishing. If you’re looking for largemouth bass, they will be here in smaller numbers on the bigger lakes, but there are some good action lakes if you’re willing to do a little exploring on the smaller lakes in the area.
Presque Isle, WI
There are plenty of area lakes that offer fishing for largemouth bass. On most of the bigger lakes, largemouth bass are a secondary species and on some lakes, you won’t find many largemouth bass at all. Smallmouth bass are the dominant bass species on many of the bigger lakes up here. However, on some of the smaller lakes, largemouth bass and sunfish are usually the dominant species of fish and you can find some solid numbers lakes if you’re willing to put it some extra work to get on some of these lakes.
McCullough Lake
McCullough Lake is a 221 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 27 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, largemouth bass and panfish are considered common in the lake while the other species of fish are listed as present.
Morton Lake
Morton Lake is a 165 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 29 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, largemouth bass and panfish are considered common in the lake while the other species of fish are listed as present.
Round Lake
Round Lake is a 173 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 25 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include walleye, muskie, largemouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, muskie, largemouth bass, walleye and panfish are common in this lake.
Sayner & Star Lake, WI
Many of the area lakes have decent to good fishing for largemouth bass. Because bass are usually under fished in this part of the state, you can usually target largemouth bass and expect to catch some fish. Bass in the 2 to 3 pound range are fairly common with some bigger fish too.
Big Muskellunge Lake
Big Muskellunge Lake is a 897 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 70 feet. Fish include muskie, northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, muskie, largemouth bass, walleye and panfish are considered common in the lake. Northern pike and smallmouth bass are listed as present.
Irving Lake
Irving Lake is a 419 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 8 feet with moderately clear water. Fish include muskie, largemouth bass, walleye and panfish. According to the DNR, muskie, largemouth bass and panfish are considered common in the lake while walleye are listed as present.
Partridge Lake
Partridge Lake is a 235 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 19 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, largemouth bass and panfish are considered common in the lake while muskie, smallmouth bass and walleye are listed as present.
Razorback Lake
Razorback Lake is a 381 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 35 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, walleye and panfish are considered common in the lake while muskie are listed as present.
St. Germain, WI
This area has become a much better largemouth bass fishing destination than it used to be many years ago. On many of the lakes, largemouth bass are a secondary species of fish, but there are several lakes that do offer some pretty good fishing for largemouth bass. In this part of the state, most of the quality bass that you catch will be in the 2 to 3 pound range. On some of the bigger lakes, you may find some bass even bigger in the 4 to 5 pound range, but they aren’t very common up here. Some of the better lakes to fish for largemouth bass in this area are Big St. Germain Lake, Little St. Germain Lake, Found Lake and Lost Lake. On many of the smaller lakes in our area, the dominant species of fish will be largemouth bass and sunfish, so you can definitely target largemouth bass and catch them, but the average size fish will be smaller than what you will find on the bigger lakes. St. Germain is one of the better towns in Vilas County for good boat access to some good-sized lakes for largemouth bass.
Found Lake
Found Lake is a 336 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 21 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from one public boat landing. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, panfish are abundant in this lake and the other species of fish are listed as common.
Little St. Germain Lake
Little Saint Germain Lake is a 972 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 53 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, northern pike are abundant in this lake. Muskie, walleye, largemouth bass and panfish are common in this lake. Smallmouth bass are considered present.
Lost Lake
Lost Lake is a 539 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 20 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from one public boat landing. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, panfish are abundant in this lake and the other species of fish are listed as common.
North Nokomis Lake
North Nokomis Lake is a 470 acre lake located in Oneida County. It has a maximum depth of 73 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from one public boat landing. Fish include walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, panfish, largemouth bass and walleye are common in this lake. Smallmouth bass and northern pike are listed as present.
Winchester, WI
Winchester is a small town with some very good fishing lakes, but you won’t find a bunch of great largemouth bass lakes here. Birch Lake is solid and No Mans Lake is worth fishing too, but you’re going to need to do a little exploring on some of the small lakes if you’re looking for excellent largemouth bass action.
Birch Lake
Birch Lake is a 506 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 45 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include walleye, muskie, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, muskie, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye and panfish are common in this lake. Northern pike are listed as present. The lake’s water is moderately clear.
No Mans Lake
No Mans Lake is a 230 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 31 feet. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the DNR, largemouth bass are common in the lake while the other species of fish are listed as present.
