SHAWANO Lake fishing field guide

Shawano County, Wis. WBIC 322800 19 species

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Present, with no bag limit at all.

Black bullhead

Ameiurus melas

The lake bottom is 12% muck, which suits them, and no bag limit applies.

Illustration of a black bullhead, Ameiurus melas.

When to go

Best months for black bullhead on Shawano Lake: May and June.
January: slow.
February: slow.
March: slow.
April: fair.
Prime
May: prime.
Prime
June: prime.
July: good.
August: fair.
September: fair.
October: fair.
November: slow.
December: slow.
Spawn 68–75 °F
Ice, most years Ice
  • Prime
  • Good
  • Fair
  • Slow
  • Season closed

When black bullhead spawn here

May and June, when the shallows hold 68 to 75 °F

Bullhead build a nest in the soft muck in the shallow bays and both parents guard the black ball of fry, which you can see swarming in a foot of water in June.

Why the year looks like this

Spring, before the water warms all the way through, is when they feed in daylight. After that it is a night bite. No minimum length and no bag limit.

Seasons come from the Wisconsin DNR regulation page for WBIC 322800, for the 2026-27 license year. The month ratings and the spawn dates are angling practice for this lake, not DNR findings. The spawn moves with the water temperature, so treat the dates as a normal year and the temperature as the trigger.

What the DNR measured

Shawano Lake data
No stand-alone table in the 2023 comprehensive report.
Season
Open all year, no minimum length, unlimited daily bag.

What that means on the water

Bullheads are not a survey target. Nothing in the regulations restricts you, and they are good eating out of cold water.

Where to find it

  • Fish the soft muck bottom in the shallow bays.
  • Try any backwater off the outlet.

How to catch it

  • A whole crawler on a #4 hook on the bottom, and wait. That is the whole method.

What to tie on

Sizes and weights, not brand names. Every picture is a real piece of tackle, and the drawn plates carry a ruler. The full gear page explains the words.

A nightcrawler, the large earthworm sold as fishing bait.

Live bait · Start here

Nightcrawler

A dozen in a foam cup, about $4 at any bait shop in Shawano or Cecil.

A big earthworm, four to six inches long. It is not a garden worm and it is not a red wiggler. For panfish you pinch off a half-inch piece; the whole worm is for catfish and bullhead.

On this lake. A half inch of crawler on a #10 hook under a float, fished within a cast of shore, is the easiest fish you will catch on this lake. It is also what to hand a kid.

  • January: no.
  • February: no.
  • March: no.
  • April: yes.
  • May: yes.
  • June: yes.
  • July: yes.
  • August: yes.
  • September: yes.
  • October: yes.
  • November: no.
  • December: no.
Hook sizes Eight fish-hook sizes drawn to scale from 5/0 down to a number 10, with a ruler. The number gets bigger as the hook gets smaller. HOOK SIZES, DRAWN TO SCALE The number counts down as the hook grows. A #10 is small enough to hide in a piece of crawler. A 5/0 is not. 5/0 Quick-strike rig, musky sucker 3/0 Quick-strike rig, pike sucker 1/0 Plastic worm, largemouth bass #2 Cut bait, channel catfish #4 Half a crawler, catfish and bullhead #6 Fathead minnow, perch and walleye #8 Crappie minnow under a float #10 A pinch of crawler, bluegill and pumpkinseed 1 inch 0 50 MM

Terminal tackle

Hooks

#10 and #8 for panfish, #6 for perch, #4 for catfish, 1/0 for a plastic worm.

Hook sizes count backwards. A #10 is small enough to hide inside a pinch of crawler. Once the numbers pass #1 they flip to 1/0, 3/0, 5/0, and those get bigger as the number climbs.

On this lake. Almost everything on Shawano Lake is caught on a #10, a #8 or a #6. Buy those three and you can fish the whole lake.

  • January: yes.
  • February: yes.
  • March: yes.
  • April: yes.
  • May: yes.
  • June: yes.
  • July: yes.
  • August: yes.
  • September: yes.
  • October: yes.
  • November: yes.
  • December: yes.

Seasons and limits come from the Wisconsin DNR regulation page for WBIC 322800, for the 2026-27 license year. The lures, depths and water temperatures are angling practice for this lake, not DNR findings. Rules change every license year, and the DNR page is the authority.

Spots on this lake for black bullhead

1 of the 10 named areas hold black bullhead. Tap a marker for the reason.

SpotWhy it holds them
Wolf River PondThe slack water above the Shawano dam. It produced the longest crappie in the 2023 survey at 13.1 inches, and its bluegill reach 7 inches roughly two and a half years faster than the fish in the main lake.

All 10 spots and the season-by-season pattern

Records and rules

Season on Shawano Lake
Open all year. Best in spring, before the water warms through.
Limit
No minimum length, unlimited daily bag.
Wisconsin state record
5 lbs 8 oz, 21.5 in
Where the record came from
Big Falls Flowage, Rusk County, 1989-09-02
Registers as a trophy at
15 inches, DNR live-release standard

Other fish here

Illustration of a walleye.

Walleye

Sander vitreus

 Illustration of a muskellunge.

Muskellunge

Esox masquinongy

 Illustration of a northern pike.

Northern pike

Esox lucius

 Illustration of a largemouth bass.

Largemouth bass

Micropterus salmoides

 Illustration of a smallmouth bass.

Smallmouth bass

Micropterus dolomieu

 Illustration of a black crappie.

Black crappie

Pomoxis nigromaculatus

 Illustration of a bluegill.

Bluegill

Lepomis macrochirus

 Illustration of a pumpkinseed.

Pumpkinseed

Lepomis gibbosus

 Illustration of a yellow perch.

Yellow perch

Perca flavescens

 Illustration of a rock bass.

Rock bass

Ambloplites rupestris

 Illustration of a white bass.

White bass

Morone chrysops

 Illustration of a lake sturgeon.

Lake sturgeon

Acipenser fulvescens

 Illustration of a channel catfish.

Channel catfish

Ictalurus punctatus

 Illustration of a freshwater drum.

Freshwater drum

Aplodinotus grunniens

 Illustration of a common carp.

Common carp

Cyprinus carpio

 Illustration of a bowfin.

Bowfin

Amia calva

 Illustration of a white crappie.

White crappie

Pomoxis annularis

 Illustration of a golden shiner.

Golden shiner

Notemigonus crysoleucas