Abundant.

Bluegill

Lepomis macrochirus

A 7-inch Shawano bluegill has been alive for about seven and a half years. The lake holds a lot of them and grows them slowly.

What the DNR measured

Fish measured, 2023 (main lake, both gears): 771
Length range: 2.5 – 8.9 inches
Electrofishing catch rate: 123.3 per mile, 62nd percentile statewide
Fish 7 inches and over: 8.0 per mile, 56th percentile
Size structure (PSD): 36, which is the 53rd percentile statewide
Growth: A 7-inch male is about 7.4 years old. That is the 12th percentile statewide. Slow.

What that means on the water

Density and size both sit near the statewide middle, and growth sits near the bottom. The report points at angler harvest of the big ones as the likely driver, and says regulation changes could help. Note the contrast inside the system: a Wolf River Pond male reaches 7 inches in 4.9 years, roughly two and a half years faster than the same fish in the main lake.

Where to find it

Fish the weed flats and the inside weed edge in 4 to 10 feet.
Cecil Bay at the east end, shallow and weedy.
Loon Lake, north through the channel.
Wolf River Pond, if you want the biggest ones. It holds the highest density of bluegill over 7 inches in the whole system.

How to catch it

A piece of crawler or a waxworm on a small jig under a float.
Small poppers on a fly rod over the flats in June.
On ice, a small tungsten jig tipped with a waxie.

Spots on this lake for bluegill

5 of the 10 named areas hold bluegill. 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.
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.
Wolf River Pond	The slack water above the Shawano dam. It produced the longest crappie in the 2023 survey at 13.1 inches, and its bluegill reach 7 inches roughly two and a half years faster than the fish in the main lake.
Loon Lake	The connected basin to the north. The DNR netted 459 black crappie here, more than any other water in the system, though the average fish runs small and growth is the slowest of the five waters.
Washington Lake	Small, weedy and connected, northeast of the main lake. Crappie density hits the 84th percentile statewide and perch the 88th, but the panfish size structure is the weakest of the five waters. Treat it as a numbers stop.

All 10 spots and the season-by-season pattern

Records and rules

Season on Shawano Lake: Open all year. The spawn is at 67 to 80 degrees, so late June is the shallow bite.
Limit: Counted as panfish. No minimum length, 10 per day.
Wisconsin state record: 2 lbs 9.8 oz, 12.0 in
Where the record came from: Green Bay, Brown County, 1995-08-02
Registers as a trophy at: 12 inches, DNR live-release standard