Van Vliet Lake

Van Vliet Lake is a Wisconsin lake located in Vilas County with the current lake record giving us about 230 acres and a maximum depth of 20 feet, so you know roughly what you are getting into before loading the boat or walking the bank.

The first things worth knowing

I would start broad, then slow down once something starts making sense with a little time spent on one shallow area, one stretch of cover, and one deeper break and once one type of water shows life, I would look for more of the same.

What the current record shows

The species currently tied to Van Vliet Lake include 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.

How I would fish it

For somebody fishing Van Vliet Lake for the first time, 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.