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Present.

Rock bass

Ambloplites rupestris

The bycatch that saves a slow day. A rock bass will eat almost anything you drop past it.

When to go

Best months for rock bass on Shawano Lake: June.

January: slow.

February: slow.

March: slow.

April: fair.

May: good.

Prime

June: prime.

July: good.

August: good.

September: good.

October: fair.

November: slow.

December: slow.

Spawn 60–70 °F

Ice, most years Ice

Prime
Good
Fair
Slow
Season closed

When rock bass spawn here

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

Rock bass fan nests on gravel, which this lake has almost none of. They use the rip-rap, the bridge pilings and the dock cribs instead.

Why the year looks like this

No minimum length and no daily bag limit. They bite hardest in warm water and they are close to absent through the ice.

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.
Regulation grouping: Managed with yellow bass and white bass, not with panfish.

What that means on the water

Rock bass are not a survey target here and the lake has almost no rock, so they concentrate on the few hard-bottom edges: rip-rap, dock cribs, bridge pilings and the outlet.

Where to find it

Fish the rip-rap and the bridge pilings.
Work the Shawano Outlet, which has the only real current.
Try dock cribs and any hard edge next to deeper water.

How to catch it

A half inch of crawler on a 1/32 oz jig.
Any small crankbait or spinner.

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.

Two bare lead jig heads and a third rigged with a green curly-tail plastic body.

Lure · Start here

Panfish jig

1/32 oz round head, #8 or #10 hook. Chartreuse, black, or white.

A ball of lead moulded onto a hook. You thread a soft plastic body onto the hook, or you hang a waxworm off it, and it sinks at a steady rate you can count.

On this lake. This is the single most useful lure on Shawano Lake. Hang it 18 inches under a slip float on the north shore flats and it catches bluegill, pumpkinseed and crappie all summer. Count it down along the weed edge in 6 to 12 feet after the spawn.

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

Live bait

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.

Lure

Curly-tail grub

2 inch for panfish, 3 inch for walleye and bass. White, chartreuse, or motor-oil brown in stained water.

A soft plastic body with a flat tail that rolls as it moves. It costs about 20 cents and it goes on a jig head.

On this lake. Shawano Lake runs stained, so the fish find this by the vibration of the tail before they see it. That is why a grub outfishes a plain jig here on a windy day.

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

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

Spot	Why it holds them
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: Open all year.
Limit: Grouped with rock, yellow and white bass: no minimum length, no daily bag limit.
Wisconsin state record: 2 lbs 15 oz
Where the record came from: Shadow Lake, Waupaca County, 1990-06-02
Registers as a trophy at: 12 inches, DNR live-release standard