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Rating depth structure for largemouth bass.
Shared by DepthScout anglers. Exact spots stay private, always.
20-acre lake in Price County, Wisconsin. The lake tops out around 5 ft. Contours on this water are modeled from its actual shoreline and max depth. Good for finding likely water, never for navigation. Here's the year, species by species, as the scoring engine sees it.
Nichols Lake maps at 20 acres behind 0.9 miles of shoreline. With a 1.5 development index there's bank structure worth casting at, in moderation. Nothing on this chart breaks 15 ft, which makes the whole surface littoral: weeds, bait and ambush cover everywhere. Call it 0.4 mi long. Price County claims this one. Its nearest charted neighbour, Gates Lake, is 1 mi to the northeast.
Start shallow in spring: yellow perch sit in 1 to 5 ft that time of year. They don't go far with the seasons — 2 to 5 ft covers summer, 2 to 5 ft covers winter. The spot to know is Shallow bay flat, a weed flat in about 3 ft of water that rates prime for yellow perch in spring. Warm-month bites cluster around early morning. Throw a drop-shot micro plastics or a small spoon tipped with worm until the fish tell you otherwise.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 1 to 5 ft | midday & dawn | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Small jig + curly tail, Perch-pattern micro crank |
| Summer | 2 to 5 ft | dawn | Deep basin (4 ft) | Drop-shot micro plastics, Small spoon tipped with worm |
| Fall | 2 to 5 ft | midday | Deep basin (4 ft) | Jigging spoon (small), Perch rig / spreader |
| Winter | 2 to 5 ft | midday & dawn | Deep basin (4 ft) | Tungsten jig + spikes, Rattle spoon (small) |
When the water first warms, largemouth bass slide up into 1 to 5 ft. There's no big seasonal slide here — summer means 2 to 5 ft, winter 2 to 5 ft. If you only fish one area, make it Shallow bay flat: a weed flat around 3 ft that scores prime in spring. In summer the feeding windows fall in early morning and the evening. Keep a texas-rigged 10" worm or a deep-diving crankbait rigged through the warm months.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 1 to 5 ft | dawn & dusk | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Spinnerbait, Chatterbait |
| Summer | 2 to 5 ft | dawn & dusk | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Texas-rigged 10" worm, Deep-diving crankbait |
| Fall | 1 to 5 ft | midday & dawn | Main-lake point (5 ft) | Squarebill crankbait (shad), Spinnerbait |
| Winter | 2 to 5 ft | midday | Break off the point (2 ft) | Blade bait, Jigging spoon |
Come spring, look for crappie tight to the bank in 1 to 5 ft. Through summer count on 2 to 5 ft; the winter hold is 2 to 5 ft. Start at Deep basin. It's a deep basin holding about 4 ft of water and rates prime come winter. Prime time lands in early morning and the evening. A jig trolled/spider-rigged or a small crankbait (trolled) is the honest summer answer here.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 1 to 5 ft | midday & dawn | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | 1/16 oz jig + tube, Curly-tail grub |
| Summer | 2 to 5 ft | dawn & dusk | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Jig trolled/spider-rigged, Small crankbait (trolled) |
| Fall | 2 to 5 ft | dawn | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Jig + minnow combo, Small swimbait (1.5-2") |
| Winter | 2 to 5 ft | midday | Deep basin (4 ft) | Tungsten jig + soft plastic, Tiny jigging spoon |
When the water first warms, bluegill slide up into 1 to 5 ft. There's no big seasonal slide here — summer means 1 to 5 ft, winter 2 to 5 ft. Start at Shallow bay flat. It's a weed flat holding about 3 ft of water and rates prime come spring. The feeding windows run early morning and the evening. Keep a small sponge spider (fly) or a micro tube jig rigged through the warm months.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 1 to 5 ft | midday & dusk | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | 1/32 oz jig + micro plastic, Tiny popper (evenings) |
| Summer | 1 to 5 ft | dawn & dusk | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Small sponge spider (fly), Micro tube jig |
| Fall | 2 to 5 ft | midday | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Micro jig + waxworm, Small spoon tipped |
| Winter | 2 to 5 ft | midday | Deep basin (4 ft) | Tungsten ice jig + plastic, Tiny spoon |
The spring pattern is a shallow one: pumpkinseed in 1 to 5 ft. The depth story barely changes: 1 to 5 ft through summer, 2 to 5 ft in winter. The spot to know is Shallow bay flat, a weed flat in about 3 ft of water that rates prime for pumpkinseed in spring. Plan around the evening and early morning in the warm months. Summer baits: a micro tube or a sponge spider (fly) gets it done.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 1 to 5 ft | midday & dusk | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Micro jig under a float, Tiny beetle-spin |
| Summer | 1 to 5 ft | dusk & dawn | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Micro tube, Sponge spider (fly) |
| Fall | 1 to 5 ft | dusk & dawn | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Micro jig + waxworm, Small spoon tipped |
| Winter | 2 to 5 ft | dawn | Shallow bay flat (3 ft) | Tungsten ice jig + plastic, Tiny spoon |
4 pieces of structure are mapped here — Main-lake point, around 5 ft, is the deepest of them.
Season dates, license requirements, and size and bag limits for Wisconsin waters are set by the Wisconsin DNR — and special regulations can apply to Nichols Lake specifically, so confirm the current rules before you fish.
Check the official Wisconsin fishing regulations →
Nichols Lake is about 5 ft (2 m) deep at its deepest point. The contours here are modeled from the water's real shape and maximum depth, so treat them as a rough guide.
Anglers target yellow perch, largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, pumpkinseed on Nichols Lake. These come from the Wisconsin DNR's per-lake fish listing; where the DNR lists a group (panfish, catfish, trout) the specific species are resolved from Wisconsin's fish distribution by the lake's location, depth and habitat.
Shallow bay flat is the top-rated area: a weed flat in about 3 ft of water that rates prime for yellow perch in spring. Every other rated spot, per species and season, is on the map above.
For yellow perch, the summer bite is best in early morning. Each species page section below lists the seasonal windows, and the map shows a live NOW badge when you're inside one.
Fishing on Nichols Lake is regulated by the Wisconsin DNR. Check the official Wisconsin regulations for current license requirements, season dates, and size and bag limits — special regulations can apply to this specific water.
Gates Lake 1 mi · Aabajijiwang Flowage 1 mi · Beaver Lake 3 mi · Sailor Lake 3 mi · Spur Lake 3 mi · Sailor Creek Flowage 3 mi · Schmuland Flowage 4 mi · Sweeney Lake 4 mi · Coolidge Lake 4 mi · Planet Lake 5 mi · Solberg Lake 5 mi · Bear Lake 5 mi
See how Nichols Lake stacks up: best largemouth bass lakes in Wisconsin · best crappie lakes in Wisconsin · best bluegill lakes in Wisconsin · best yellow perch lakes in Wisconsin
More water nearby: Price County fishing maps (118 charts). Browse all Wisconsin fishing maps or see every water on DepthScout. How we build these maps. Fish here with a sonar unit that logs? Send us your depth data and we'll improve this chart, credited to you. For fishing guidance only, never navigation.