Barber Lake

Sawyer County is home to Barber Lake, a mapped lake with the current lake record giving us about 138 acres and a maximum depth of 21 feet, so you know roughly what you are getting into before loading the boat or walking the bank.

A simple read on the lake

I would let the first few spots tell me what kind of day it is going to be with a little time spent on shoreline cover, weed edges, and the first clean drop away from the bank and once one type of water shows life, I would look for more of the same.

The species on record

For fishing, the current record for Barber Lake shows Black Crappie, Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Pumpkinseed, Walleye, and Yellow Perch; which is enough for me to plan around weeds, wood, rock, or docks for bass and points, breaks, and wind-pushed edges for walleye, and stay flexible if the water tells me something else.

What I would do first

If I were putting together a simple plan for Barber Lake, I would fish a few sensible areas, remember where the life is, and stop forcing a pattern that is not there, and I would pull up the current Wisconsin fishing regulations before leaving home.