← All species

Present, classed as rough fish. Native.

Bowfin

Amia calva

Called dogfish locally. A native fish older than the dinosaurs, and it fights harder than anything else here.

When to go

Best months for bowfin on Shawano Lake: June, July, and August.

January: slow.

February: slow.

March: slow.

April: slow.

May: good.

Prime

June: prime.

Prime

July: prime.

Prime

August: prime.

September: good.

October: fair.

November: slow.

December: slow.

Spawn 60–70 °F

Ice, most years Ice

Prime
Good
Fair
Slow
Season closed

When bowfin spawn here

May and June, when the shallows hold 60 to 70 °F

A male bowfin clears a nest in the weed and guards the fry in a dense black cloud. He will hit anything that comes near it, which is why June bowfin are easy.

Why the year looks like this

A bowfin breathes air, so it lives in the stagnant backwater where nothing else can. The warmer the water, the better the bite. Ignore them from November to April.

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 as rough fish: no minimum length, unlimited daily bag.

What that means on the water

Bowfin gulp air, so they thrive in warm, weedy, low-oxygen backwater that other predators avoid. The shallow bays here suit them.

Where to find it

Fish the thick weeds and lily pads in the shallow bays.
Try the stagnant backwater off the outlet, where nothing else will live.

How to catch it

A live sucker or a big shiner under a float, in the thickest weed you can find.
They will eat a spinnerbait meant for pike and then straighten the hook.

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.

Lure · Start here

Spinnerbait

3/8 oz, white or chartreuse skirt, single Colorado blade for stained water.

A bent wire with a blade on the top arm and a skirted hook on the bottom. The wire runs interference, so it comes through weed and timber that would snag anything else.

On this lake. The bait for the reed beds and the pads in Cecil Bay, where a treble hook would foul on every cast. A Colorado blade thumps hardest, and in water this stained the thump is what the bass find.

January: no.
February: no.
March: no.
April: no.
May: yes.
June: yes.
July: yes.
August: yes.
September: yes.
October: no.
November: no.
December: no.

Lure

Paddle-tail swimbait

3 to 5 inches on a 1/4 oz head for bass and pike. 8 to 10 inches for musky.

A soft plastic fish with a flat paddle on the tail. Reel it steadily and the paddle kicks. It needs no rod work at all.

On this lake. The easiest way to cover the deep weed edge on the main basin. Count it down to the top of the cabbage and reel just fast enough to feel the tail.

January: no.
February: no.
March: no.
April: no.
May: yes.
June: yes.
July: yes.
August: yes.
September: yes.
October: yes.
November: no.
December: no.

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 bowfin

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

Spot	Why it holds them
Cecil Bay and the east taper	The lake narrows to under a mile from north to south at its east end and shallows out. Heavy vegetation, warm water, and the Cecil launch right on it. This is the best largemouth and panfish water on the east half.

All 10 spots and the season-by-season pattern

Records and rules

Season on Shawano Lake: Open all year. Summer, in the warmest water you can find.
Limit: Rough fish: no minimum length, unlimited daily bag.
Wisconsin state record: 13 lbs 1 oz, 31.6 in
Where the record came from: Willow Flowage, Oneida County, 1980-07-19