trophy smallmouth lake in northern Wisconsin

Hey guys, Im in search of a trophy smallie inland lake or lakes to try in northern Wisconsin as i retire in 2 yrs and wanna spend my time fishing for them on inland lakes. thanks for your replies

Thinking we are around 15 bass over 20 inches so far this year fishing in Door County.

Losing track of trips here, but guessing we are at about 8 bass trips, including shore fishing.

Biggest has been 21.  Heard rumors of bigger ones, but we haven't found them yet.

I'd say Plum or Pallette.

Don't know why that got under lined.

I agree with snakester, there are a lot of lakes that  have trophies.  I never fish for them and have caught quite a few over 20"

Being from Iowa I would think your best chance would be in Northern Minnesota. Look up the Major League Fishing episode up there.

As I have recently retired and still in search of that 6 lb. smallie, this subject is very interesting to me. I enjoy fishing the smaller waters too. I know my chances of getting a big one would be much greater on the Great Lake somewhere but I also enjoy the pine trees and loons etc. I feel a little safer on the smaller waters too. I am strictly a CPR fisherman. Any more thoughts are appreciated.

I know you didn't mention rivers, but the boundary waters between the U.P. and Wisconsin can be outstanding for smallmouth, i.e. the Menominee/Brule and Paint rivers.  You can even fish/launch boat from either side of the boarder.  

The bigger rivers like the Menominee you can launch a bigger boat and the other ones you can Kayak fish and maybe a bigger boat in the flowages.

Bassman Strikes

My personal preference is crappie, but I have caught some very nice smallmouth on lake Owen.  My biggest smallmouth ever was caught on Drummond Lake.  (21") 

Sawyer county lakes, round grindstone, and big lco all have huge smallies.

I have had very good success on Red Cedar Lake in Barron county over the years. Best day we caught 50 Smallies in just under 4 hours. With a 19.5” fish and several over 18”. Not true giants, but any 4.5 lb Smallie gets my attention. I will say my personal best @ 5 lb 13oz came out of the Suamico River by Green Bay. 

I am currently still fishing Smallies in Southern WI on Lake Geneva and have caught several 3-4lb fish in recent weeks. Still looking for that late season Giant. Had her boat side but she pulled off! Hope to get out a few more times before I put the boat away.

This is the only recent photo from Oct. 21st. It was 23 degree air temp that morning brrrrr. Water temp was 53-55 degrees. Caught on a jerkbait in 12 fow.

Good luck finding that trophy lake!

Buckman

True, Door County has a tremendous population of big bass, but weather will nearly always play a factor up there. It's BIG water, and even the bays can be really rough at times depending on the wind. Certainly a destination to try, but OP is asking about inland lakes in the (I'm assuming) traditional "northern" Wisconsin...defined as north of 29, 64 or 8 depending on who you talk to lol.

I will say the two biggest smallies I caught in that area were both around 18-19". One from Diamond Lake just north of Trout and one where the Manitowish River flows next to 51. I think the river would be a great option to try. Looked very fishy!

You kind of have to define "northern Wisconsin".  When I read the title, I instantly thought of Door County.  But, it isn't everyone's definition of "northern Wisconsin".  But, if you want the best smallmouth fishing in the state, hands down it is Door County.  All the way up....Tons of fish in there and very, very large ones.  

Don't worry about big water, there are plenty of bays and harbors that hold smallies and I've even heard rumors of smallies being on the Lake Michigan side.  Tons to explore up there.

Without a doubt!  Turtle Flambeau Flowage. I’ve fished with my good friend Jordan Rhey known as “ Porky”. He and his wife Roseanne owned DONNERS BAY RESORT on the flowage until his terminal illness forced them to sell about 3 years ago. The best he caught was just over 6 pounds but many 5# + he swore that the record would be broken on the Flowage. Beautiful area.   Good luck.    CARPIO 

I just checked the WDNR stocking reports and there are no listings of smallmouth being stocked in Plum Lake going back to 1972 but they may have been stocked by the lake association.  That being said there are large smallmouth in Plum.  Keep in mind the aquarium effect....larger lakes tend to produce larger fish.  In contrast to that effect, the state record was caught in Indian Lake, Oneida County which is just under 400 acres.  I would concentrate on deep. rocky lakes like Trout, some of the lakes in the Flambeau Chain, Plum, and Presque Isle.

Pallete lake by Boulder Junction last time I was there landed 3 over 20" in 4 hours of fishing. Plus we landed 60 plus fish. It is a portage or walk-in style lake though.