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Present. Stocked. Low density, high quality.

Muskellunge

Esox masquinongy

The DNR netted 46 muskies in the whole system in 2023, and the longest went 49.8 inches. Every one of them counts.

When to go

Best months for muskellunge on Shawano Lake: September and October.

January: season closed.

February: season closed.

March: season closed.

April: season closed.

May: fair.

June: good.

July: fair.

August: fair.

Prime

September: prime.

Prime

October: prime.

November: good.

December: fair.

Spawn

Ice, most years Ice

Prime
Good
Fair
Slow
Season closed

When muskellunge spawn here

May, when the shallows hold 50 to 60 °F

Musky spawn last of the predators here, in the shallow dark-bottom bays. The May 2 opener lands on fish that are still shallow and still recovering, so they are catchable and they are not eating hard.

Closed season. Closed January 1 to May 1. Open water only, and it ends December 31. There is no ice season for musky on this lake.

Why the year looks like this

The bucktail bite runs June through August on the deep weed edge. The size comes in the fall: once the surface drops under 65 °F, gliders, jerkbaits and live suckers take the biggest fish of the year. Ice often beats the December 31 close.

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

Fish measured, 2023: 46 across the whole system
Length range: 19.3 – 49.8 inches
Average length: 38.2 inches
Netting catch rate: 0.2 per net night, 32nd percentile statewide
Size structure (PSD): 51, which is the 17th percentile statewide
Stocking: About 3,000 large fingerling spotted musky in 2019 and again in 2021. 1,250 of the 2021 fish carry PIT tags.

What that means on the water

The DNR calls this a low-quantity, high-quality fishery. No stocking happened between 2013 and 2017, and that hole is still visible in the adult population. The fish stocked since 2018 are not adults yet. The recommendation on the books is 2,500 musky every other year.

Where to find it

Work the weedlines and the transitions where cabbage gives way to sand.
The channel to Loon Lake, on a wind-blown day.
Fish the shallow bays in spring at 50 to 60 degrees, when musky spawn.
Cover the outlet during the spring run out of the lake.

How to catch it

Double-blade bucktails with size 8 blades, 1 to 2 oz, burned along and over the deep weed edge.
Topwater at first and last light in summer.
Jerkbaits and gliders in September and October, when the biggest fish feed hardest.
Figure-eight every cast. This lake is stained and fish follow late.

Month-by-month calendar for muskellunge

Fish the deep weed edge with a big bucktail from June to August, then switch to gliders, jerkbaits and live suckers from mid-September to the December 31 close, which is when the 45-inch-plus fish in this lake feed.

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

Bucktail

Double-blade, size 8 blades, 1 to 2 oz. Black, orange, or black and orange.

A heavy wire shaft carrying two spinning metal blades and a skirt of deer hair over a big treble. You cast it and reel it straight back. There is no technique to learn, only speed to pick.

On this lake. The June through August musky bait on this lake. Cast it across the deep weed edge and burn it back fast enough to make a wake. Finish every cast with a figure eight beside the boat, because most Shawano follows commit right there.

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

A drawing of a wooden jerkbait with two treble hooks.

Lure

Glider or jerkbait

8 to 10 inches, wood or hard plastic, no lip. Sucker or perch pattern.

A wooden or plastic bait with no lip and no action of its own. You pull the rod down to make it dart, then let it glide, then pull again. The pause is what triggers the fish.

On this lake. This replaces the bucktail once the surface drops under 65 °F, which on Shawano Lake is the middle of September. Work it over the outside weed edge and along the transitions where cabbage gives way to sand.

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

A box of large musky lures, the hardware a sucker fisherman carries alongside.

Live bait

Live sucker

10 to 12 inches, sold live in the fall by bait shops around the lake.

A live baitfish big enough that only a musky or a large pike will eat it. It goes on a quick-strike rig under a float, not on a single hook.

On this lake. From mid-October to the December 31 musky close, this out-fishes anything you can cast. Set it in the deepest water you can find and watch the float.

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

Rig

Quick-strike rig

Two size 4 or 6 trebles on 12 inches of 90 lb fluorocarbon, under a large float.

A short leader carrying two treble hooks. Both hooks go in the flank of a live sucker, so the hooks are already in the fish when it bites and you set immediately.

On this lake. The November musky and pike method here, and the reason it exists is welfare: a musky swallows a sucker head first, so a single hook in the bait means a gut-hooked fish. Fish it under a float in the deepest water you can find.

January: no.
February: no.
March: no.
April: no.
May: no.
June: no.
July: no.
August: no.
September: no.
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 muskellunge

4 of the 10 named areas hold muskellunge. Tap a marker for the reason.

Spot	Why it holds them
The channel to Loon Lake	A quarter mile of moving water joins the north shore of Shawano Lake to the south tip of Loon Lake. Current concentrates bait, fish move through it in both directions, and the DNR PIT tag arrays went in exactly here in 2024 to measure that movement. Anglers call this stretch the Narrows.
The west basin	The widest and deepest part of the lake, running just under 3 miles north to south. Only 6.16% of Shawano Lake is deeper than 20 feet, and most of that sits here. Winter crappie hold in the basin and summer walleye slide to the edge of it.
North shore flats, off the county park	Sand bottom under weed growth, with the biggest launch on the lake a cast away. The DNR electrofished this shoreline and counted 123.3 bluegill and 85.3 pumpkinseed per mile.
Shawano Lake Outlet	The channel that drains the lake into the Wolf River, and the best-scoring water in the whole system. Largemouth size structure of 73 against 49 in the main lake, and the longest yellow perch the DNR measured at 12.6 inches. Spring runs of walleye, pike and musky pass through it.

All 10 spots and the season-by-season pattern

Records and rules

Season on Shawano Lake: May 2 to December 31, open water only. September and October are the trophy months.
Limit: 40-inch minimum, 1 per day.
Wisconsin state record: 69 lbs 11 oz, 63.5 in
Where the record came from: Chippewa Flowage, Sawyer County, 1949-10-20
Registers as a trophy at: 45 inches, DNR live-release standard