Fishing Little Shag Lake

Little Shag Lake offers a superior bluegill fishery scoring 6.75 on the Schneider Index with fish up to 10 inches and 46% over 6 inches. Rainbow trout provide excellent angling diversity, growing 1.2 inches above state average and reaching legal size at ages 2-3, with some fish hitting 15-18 inches. Yellow perch are low in numbers but quality fish, with 85% over 7 inches and averaging 8.5 inches. Bass fishing is challenging due to persistent slow growth - largemouth bass grow 2.2 inches below average and smallmouth bass 3.5 inches below average, with only 3% of largemouth reaching the 14-inch limit and zero smallmouth reaching 10 inches. This growth problem has existed for over 35 years and stems from habitat degradation when shoreline development removed critical deadwood structure. The lake's two-story fishery thrives in 35 feet of clear water with good dissolved oxygen throughout the water column. Sand bottom with scattered gravel and rock provides structure, while steep drop-offs limit the littoral zone. Very little aquatic vegetation exists beyond some pondweed, naiad, and muskgrass. The bluegill population shows intense competition among smaller fish ages 1-4, but older fish ages 5-8 grow at or above state average as natural and angling mortality thin the ranks. White suckers, once problematic enough to require manual removal in 1978 and 1986, are now rare with only one fish captured in the 2007 survey. DNR stocks rainbow trout annually at 35 fish per acre and discontinued brown trout stocking to reduce competition for the forage base.