Abundant.

Northern pike

Esox lucius

The most reliable predator in the lake. The DNR measured 552 of them in one spring and the longest was 32.2 inches.

What the DNR measured

Fish measured, 2023: 552
Length range: 9.3 – 32.2 inches
Average length: 19.3 inches
Netting catch rate: 2.9 per net night, 66th percentile statewide
Size structure (PSD): 31, which is the 34th percentile statewide
Growth: A 26-inch female is about 5.4 years old. Moderate.
PIT-tagged in 2023: 433 fish

What that means on the water

Moderate density, low to moderate size. Most fish run 15 to 26 inches. The DNR names habitat as the likely limit and recommends protecting and expanding emergent vegetation along the littoral zone.

Where to find it

Fish the deep weed edges and the flats just outside them. The bigger fish hold deeper through the warm months.
Fish the emergent vegetation and reed beds in spring, at 34 to 40 degrees, when pike spawn.
Work the cabbage patches on the main lake basin.
Fish the channel and the outlet all season.

How to catch it

Red-and-white spoons. The old ones still work here.
Tandem-blade spinnerbaits along the weed edge.
Crankbaits over the flats.
Tip-ups with big shiners on the weed edge in winter.

Spots on this lake for northern pike

8 of the 10 named areas hold northern pike. 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.
Cecil Point drop-off	Travel Wisconsin names the steep break north of Cecil Point as the summer walleye spot. Work the sharp inside turns and the points along it rather than the straight sections.
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.
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: May 2 to March 7. Good all year, best right after ice-out and again on first ice.
Limit: No minimum length, 5 per day.
Wisconsin state record: 38 lbs 0 oz, 45.5 in
Where the record came from: Lake Puckaway, Green Lake County, 1952-08-06
Registers as a trophy at: 40 inches, DNR live-release standard