Gilbert Lake

If you are looking at Gilbert Lake, you are looking at a Washington County lake with the latest inventory showing about 44 acres and a maximum depth of 9 feet, so at least you are starting with real numbers instead of guessing from a map.

Size, depth, and the lay of the lake

The first trip does not need a giant tackle plan by spending the early part of the day on shoreline cover, weed edges, and the first clean drop away from the bank because a few careful stops usually teach you more than a pile of random casts.

The fishery on paper

Recorded species at Gilbert Lake include Black Crappie, Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Pumpkinseed, and Yellow Perch; and that gives me a simple starting point with weeds, wood, rock, or docks for bass and weeds and easy cover for panfish, and see what actually shows up before changing directions.

My game plan

If I had a few hours to figure out Gilbert Lake, I would start with a simple plan and only add complexity if the fish make me, and I would make sure the current Wisconsin fishing regulations do not add a special rule for this water.