Forest Lake

Forest Lake is a lake in Vilas County and its basic numbers come out to about 468 acres and a maximum depth of 60 feet, so you can get the scale of the place before you ever make a cast.

What this lake is like

I would rather learn one piece of this water than rush through ten with my first few stops centered on one shallow area, one stretch of cover, and one deeper break before I started running around looking for something better.

What swims here

Species already recorded for Forest Lake include Black Crappie, Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Pumpkinseed, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, and Yellow Perch; which gives me a good reason to start with weeds, wood, rock, or docks for bass and points, breaks, and wind-pushed edges for walleye, and keep the rest of the day loose.

A simple way to approach it

For an uncomplicated day on Forest Lake, I would pick a small part of the lake and try to understand it before worrying about everything else, and I would still look at the current Wisconsin regulations before fishing.