Surrounded by many of the area’s more famous fishing waters, Vilas County’s Little Spider Lake is often an over-looked resource that offers the potential for some excellent fishing action.

At 235 acres and with a maximum depth of 23 feet, Little Spider’s mixed structure bag of weeds and wood demand a bit of work out anglers while offering a sheltered getaway on windy days.

Little Spider boasts abundant weed growth that includes pickerelweed, lily pads, cabbage and coontail varieties, but drowned wood, laydowns, crib remnants and other shoreline structure provide additional habitat. A seepage lake with no inlet or outlet, Little Spider is moderately fertile with a clear color of medium transparency. The lake bottom consists of 50 percent gravel, 30 percent sand, 15 percent muck and five percent rock.

Muskie, walleye, northern pike, largemouth and small mouth bass are ranked “present” with panfish earning a “common” designation. Yellow perch, bluegill, rock bass, crappie and pumpkinseed make up the bulk of the panfish population, which typically displays slow growth rates. Bullhead and suckers are also present.

Walleye and muskie populations are both sustained through alternate year stocking programs, 11,000 and 400 fingerlings, respectively, but some natural walleye reproduction appears to be occurring. Largemouth, small mouth and northern pike are all self sustaining viable populations.

Although Little Spider’s well defined weedlines provide the main attraction, the lakes remaining drowned wood, laydowns and crib structure should not be overlooked. Bright colors, from jig selection to muskie lures are a good bet, along with slip bobbering tactics in the weed cover for walleyes.

In general, weed fishing skills are a critical key to success on Little Spider