Catfish Fishing Guide: 42 Lakes by Water Quality

Catfish fits the catfish niche: tolerant of warm, turbid water, often present in productive (eutrophic) lakes. 42 lakes in our dataset have a record. Catfish is narrowly distributed — only 42 lakes in Wisconsin have a documented record. The constraint is usually habitat: cold water, specific depth profile, or river connection.

Catfish-bearing lakes are often productive systems — the kind where the fish do well even when clarity does not. Cross-reference the Catfish lake list below against each lake's clarity, phosphorus and algae readings: lakes with low nutrient readings and Catfish documented are the best places to start for recreational targeting.

Catfish Seasonal Forecast & Techniques

Part of the LakeQuality Fishing Forecast. Spawn trigger: Warm-water bottom feeders; spawn in cavities and cover in early summer. Forage: Cut bait, insects, crayfish, and scavenged matter — they feed by scent. For a forecast tuned to a specific lake's measured clarity and depth, open that lake's forecast.

Season	Where they hold	Structure & cover	Technique
Spring	shallow-to-mid 4–15 ft	warming flats, inflows, channel edges	cut bait and nightcrawlers on the bottom
Summer	holes & channels 8–25 ft	deep holes, cover, current — feed hard in warm water	cut/prepared bait on the bottom, best after dark
Fall	mid 8–20 ft	holes and channel edges	cut bait
Winter / Ice	deep 15–35 ft	deep wintering holes	slow, fresh cut bait

Clear-water tactics:fresh cut bait on the bottom, after darkStained-water tactics:scent-heavy prepared/cut bait — clarity barely matters to a scent feeder

Total Lakes

Wisconsin lakes →

43 ft

Avg. Depth

Best Catfish Lakes by Water Quality

Top 50 lakes with catfish, ranked on nutrient and algae readings.

Rank	Lake	County	State	Depth	Species
1	Green Lake	Green Lake	WI	236 ft	7
2	Lake St Croix	St. Croix	WI	60 ft	7
3	Silver Lake	Kenosha	WI	44 ft	7
4	Little Hills Lake	Waushara	WI	20 ft	5
5	White Lake	Waupaca	WI	10 ft	5
6	Lake Waubesa	Dane	WI	38 ft	7
7	Tichigan Lake	Racine	WI	63 ft	7
8	Wind Lake	Racine	WI	47 ft	6
9	Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake	Sawyer	WI	92 ft	8
10	Amacoy Lake	Rusk	WI	20 ft	7
11	Yellow Lake	Burnett	WI	31 ft	8
12	Kendal Lake	Iowa	WI	17 ft	5
13	Lake	Columbia	WI	24 ft	7
14	Lake Puckaway	Green Lake	WI	5 ft	6
15	Petenwell Flowage Lake	Juneau	WI	44 ft	8
16	Lake Kegonsa	Dane	WI	32 ft	7
17	Honey Lake	Walworth	WI	6 ft	5
18	Lake Koshkonong	Jefferson	WI	7 ft	7
19	Mason Lake	Adams	WI	9 ft	5
20	Buffalo Lake	Marquette	WI	8 ft	5
21	Clam Lake	Burnett	WI	11 ft	7
22	Lake Wissota	Chippewa	WI	64.4 ft	8
23	Lake Mendota	Dane	WI	83 ft	8
24	Chilton Millpond	Calumet	WI	7 ft	5
25	Little Lake Butte des Morts	Winnebago	WI	18 ft	7
26	Garner Lake	Richland	WI	8 ft	4
27	Silver Creek Estuary Lake	Green Lake	WI	236 ft	7
28	Lake Winneconne	Winnebago	WI	9 ft	8
29	Lake Butte des Morts	Winnebago	WI	9 ft	8
30	Bughs Lake	Waushara	WI	18 ft	4
31	Dairyland Reservoir	Rusk	WI	70 ft	8
32	Lake Poygan	Winnebago	WI	11 ft	8
33	Danbury Flowage Lake	Burnett	WI	10 ft	8
34	Clam River Flowage Lake	Burnett	WI	29 ft	7
35	Moon Bay Lake	Chippewa	WI	64.4 ft	8
36	Lake Delton	Sauk	WI	16 ft	5
37	Lake Shangri-la	Kenosha	WI	24 ft	4
38	Voltz Lake	Kenosha	WI	24 ft	4
39	Upper Backwater Lake	Jackson	WI	19 ft	6
40	Upper Clam Lake	Burnett	WI	11 ft	7
41	Little Yellow Lake	Burnett	WI	21 ft	8
42	City Millpond	Green Lake	WI	236 ft	7

Frequently Asked Questions

How many lakes have catfish?

Catfish are documented in 42 lakes: 42 in Wisconsin.

What are the best lakes for catfish?

The best catfish lakes by water quality are Green Lake, Lake St Croix, Silver Lake, Little Hills Lake, White Lake. These lakes carry the lowest nutrient and algae readings among all lakes where catfish have been documented by state DNR surveys.

What other fish are found with catfish?

Catfish are most commonly found alongside largemouth bass, northern pike, panfish, walleye, smallmouth bass. These species share similar habitat preferences in the region's lakes.

Other Fish Species in Catfish Lakes

Largemouth Bass Lakes

Found together in 42 lakes · 2,489 total

Northern Pike Lakes

Found together in 42 lakes · 2,386 total

Panfish Lakes

Found together in 41 lakes · 1,090 total

Walleye Lakes

Found together in 35 lakes · 1,884 total

Smallmouth Bass Lakes

Found together in 29 lakes · 871 total

Musky Lakes

Found together in 21 lakes · 385 total

Fish species from state agency survey, stocking, and public fishing-access records; water-quality readings from the EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys. Species profiles are general reference; always check current state regulations before fishing.