Boulder Junction is home to some incredible smallmouth bass fishing. Whether you choose to fish the special regulation lakes in the Northern Highlands Fishery Research area or some of the other lakes up here, you can find good numbers of smallmouth bass with big fish too.
In the fishery research area, anglers can catch lots of smallmouth bass in Nebish Lake, although, most fish will run on the small side. Nearby, you can stay in the research area and head over to Pallette Lake to find solid numbers of smallmouth bass with a lot of quality fish due to the special regulations on the lake. Nebish Lake has a decent boat launch while Pallette Lake is gated, so you will have about a quarter mile carry-in to get onto this lake.
Outside of the research area, White Sand Lake & Trout Lake are both solid smallmouth bass lakes with some big fish potential too. Trout Lake is huge, so plan on having a solid boat to get you around this lake to find the better spots. Both of these lakes have a lot of deep water, which can make it tough to find some active bass, but they are definitely there in both lakes if you’re willing to put in some work to find them.
Nebish Lake
Nebish Lake is a 93 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 52 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include smallmouth bass and panfish. Smallmouth bass are abundant in this lake. It is more of an action lake, but if you’re looking to catch a lot of smallmouth bass, Nebish Lake is a good one to fish.
Pallette Lake
Pallette Lake is a 180 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 60 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from a public boat landing. Fish include northern pike, smallmouth bass and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, smallmouth bass and panfish are common in this lake. Northern pike are listed as present.
Trout Lake
Trout Lake is a 3,864 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 117 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from multiple public boat landings. Fish include muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, trout and panfish. According to the Wisconsin DNR, muskie, walleye, northern pike, trout, smallmouth bass and panfish are common in this lake. Largemouth bass are listed as present.
White Sand Lake
White Sand Lake is a 746 acre lake located in Vilas County. It has a maximum depth of 71 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, muskie, walleye and smallmouth bass are common in this lake. Northern pike, largemouth bass and panfish are listed as present.
