WHERE-WHAT-WHEN I FISH IN THE EAGLE RIVER AREA

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Opinions vary as to what the Eagle River area covers. But to give you an idea as to what I consider to be that area, let me go east and west and north to south to further give you insight into the territory to which I refer.

To the east we go well into Forest County, which of course covers a fair chunk of the northern corner of the Chequamegon-Nicolet Forest, formerly Nicolet National Forest. The Nicolet, although it does not have the number of lakes we have to the west and northwest of Eagle River, certainly has some quality lakes. Many of them have little development or private ownership. Some of the well- known lakes in this area I like, would be Butternut, Franklin, Anvil, Kentuck, Seven Mile, and Stevens. A few of these lakes are rather clear water lakes, such as Butternut, Franklin, and Kentuck and cloudy-darker days make the bite a little better. Kentuck and Anvil are well developed, but still provide us with a scenic and decent fishery. There are many other small lakes in this area that I fish on occasion, but access limits the size of boat one can launch. Some of the smaller lakes I have fished are Howell, White Deer, Luna, and Quartz. The Nicolet, dubbed the Jewel of the North by many, has several streams that hold a catchable number of fish. Some I fished with success are the Deerskin, Brule, Pine, Alvin, and Elvoy. If you want to get away from the sounds of city life and hear nothing but whispering pines of the call of a coyote, you can do that in the Nicolet.

To the west we have far too many lakes to name, but some that I have fished and enjoy I will mention. They are Rainbow Flowage, Big and Little St. Germain, Star Lake, Plum, Big Arbor Vitae, Trout,Ballard, Irving and Lake Laura. Some of these lakes are well developed, but lakes such as the Rainbow and Irving have almost no development and give one a real sense of the wilderness.

In the southerly direction, I find some neat lakes, Dam, Sand and Stone on the sugar Camp Chain come to mind quickly. Indian and Thunder Lake as well as the Three Lakes Chain's Long, Planting Ground, Big Fork, Medicine, Big Stone and Big Lake. All of these lakes on the chain are well developed and have a great deal of traffic in mid-summer, but still provide a decent fishing.

Finally to the north, and again we have far too many lakes to name all of them that I fish, but here are some. Of course, the Eagle Chain of Lakes, North and South Twin, Lac Vieux Desert, Long Lake, Big Sand, Pioneer, Upper and Lower Buckatabon, Forest, Big Portage, Black Oak, Big Lake, Palmer and Tenderfoot. Also. There are many smaller lakes that require a smaller boat to access. The streams-rivers to the north would Wisconsin, Pioneer, Tamarack and Deerskin.

What I would fish for would be muskie, walleye, bass, Northern, trout or pan fish, and not in any particular order. Let me attempt to name some of my favorite water for each species. If it were muskie, I would pick North-South Twin, Lac Vieux Desert, Buckatabon, Palmer, Dam and Sand, and the Eagle River Chain. For walleye, I would pick Butternut, Big Portage, Forest, North-South Twin, and Rainbow Flowage. Bass fishing (one of our better fisheries) would put me on Kentuck, Butternut, Big Portage, Black Oak, Forest or Anvil. For Northerns, though we do not have a lot of lakes with big Northerns, except for Butternut Lake, most lakes have a catchable population. Some I would try are the Rainbow Flowage, Thunder, Black Oak, Buckatabon, Lac Vieux Desert, and Forest. My favorite trout streams are the Brule, Elvoy, Deerskin, and Alvin. Pan fish would include Crappie, Bluegill, and Perch. Most lakes have a catchable population. Some I particularly like are Big Arbor Vitae, Indian, North-South Twin, Lac Vieux Desert, Big Sand and the Eagle River chain.

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