Common.

Largemouth bass

Micropterus salmoides

Docks, reeds, weed flats, deep weedlines. A lake built for a Texas rig.

What the DNR measured

Fish measured, 2023 (main lake): 112
Length range: 3.2 – 18.6 inches
Average length: 11.3 inches
Electrofishing catch rate: 14.5 per mile, 50th percentile statewide
Fish 14 inches and over: 3.2 per mile, 53rd percentile
Size structure (PSD): 49, which is the 34th percentile statewide
Shawano Outlet, for comparison: PSD 73, and 5.9 fish per mile over 14 inches. Better than the main lake.

What that means on the water

Average, and slowly sliding. Abundance has fallen from 40.7 per mile in 2006 to 14.5 in 2023, and PSD from 88 to 49. You can catch bass of every size including keepers over 14 inches, but fish over 18 inches are scarce. If you want size, fish the Outlet rather than the main basin.

Where to find it

Skip a natural-colored worm under the boat docks.
Fish the reed beds and lily pads in the shallow bays.
Cecil Bay, which is shallow with heavy vegetation.
Move to the deep weedlines on the main basin in midsummer.
The Shawano Outlet, for the best average size in the system.

How to catch it

Texas-rigged worm in natural colors, under docks and through the thick stuff.
Weedless soft plastics over the pads in summer.
Buzzbaits, prop baits and poppers to cover scattered fish on shallow weed flats.
Topwater at dawn, before the recreational boat traffic starts.

Spots on this lake for largemouth bass

3 of the 10 named areas hold largemouth bass. 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.
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 March 7. Spawn happens at 60 to 70 degrees in the shallow bays.
Limit: 14-inch minimum, 5 per day, combined with smallmouth.
Wisconsin state record: 11 lbs 3 oz
Where the record came from: Lake Ripley, Jefferson County, 1940-10-12
Registers as a trophy at: 22 inches, DNR live-release standard