Common carp

Cyprinus carpio

The biggest fish most people on this lake ever hook, and they hook it by accident.

When to go

Best months for common carp on Shawano Lake: May and June.

January: slow.

February: slow.

March: slow.

April: fair.

Prime

May: prime.

Prime

June: prime.

July: good.

August: good.

September: fair.

October: fair.

November: slow.

December: slow.

Spawn 62–72 °F

Ice, most years Ice

Prime
Good
Fair
Slow
Season closed

When common carp spawn here

May and June, when the shallows hold 62 to 72 °F

Carp thrash in the shallow mud flats in the bays, loud enough to hear from the road. You can see them tailing in a foot of water. Late May into June in a normal year.

Why the year looks like this

The spawn is the one time of year a carp is easy to find. Through the summer you sight-fish them on the mud flats. They shut down in cold water.

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

Carp root through soft bottom and re-suspend sediment, which is one of the reasons a shallow lake like this one runs cloudy. They are also a legitimate sport target on heavy tackle.

Where to find it

Watch the shallow mud flats in the bays in spring.
You can often see them tailing in a foot of water.

How to catch it

Sweetcorn or a dough ball on a hair rig behind a #6 hook.
Bowfishing is legal in Wisconsin for rough fish and is popular here.

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.

Terminal tackle · Start here

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 common carp

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

Spot	Why it holds them
Wolf River below the dam	The spring run water, and the bank where people gather in April to watch lake sturgeon spawn. Note the closure: from April 15 to May 15 the stretch below the dam is a fish refuge and is off limits.

All 10 spots and the season-by-season pattern

Records and rules

Season on Shawano Lake: Open all year. Spring, when they move shallow to spawn.
Limit: Rough fish: no minimum length, unlimited daily bag.
Wisconsin state record: 57 lbs 2 oz
Where the record came from: Lake Wisconsin, Columbia County, 1966-08-28
Registers as a trophy at: 34 inches, DNR live-release standard