Echo Lake Review

Echo Lake is part of the Sugar Camp Chain near Eagle River, Wisconsin.  Other lakes in the chain included Chain, Stone, Sand and Dam lakes.  Echo Lake is the smallest of these lakes at just over 107 acres and is joined by channels with Chain Lake and Stone Lake.  The channel coming from Chain is very shallow and extreme caution is required especially with larger motors.  This lake features no public launch, however you can launch in Chain, Stone or Dam and motor into Echo Lake. 

The lake is often overlooked due to the heavy weed growth, shallow depth (18 feet max depth) and size.  Rest assured, this is an excellent lake for multispecies fishing.

The north shore features heavy weeds near the channel which plays host to many northern pike; some into the mid 30 inch range.  Spring features an excellent pan fish bite in the pockets near the shoreline with large crappies and bluegills cruising in these areas.  Find the muck to sand transition zones to locate these fish.  As the weeds thin, toward the NW corner of the lake, there is a Musky hangout.  These fish will cruise the flats looking for an easy meal, and retreat back to the weeds to digest their catch.

The eastern shore, near the marsh like environment, is also full of thick aquatic weeds.  Once you find the weed edges, look for cabbage beds which tend to hold larger fish.  In the past large walleyes, musky and pike are taken consistently.  We have boated walleyes up to 26” and Musky up to 48” in this area recently.  Rizzo tails are always productive and copper colored blades are essential.  The mouths of both channels should be fished for largemouth bass and/or Musky.  The flow coming out of these “mini rivers” brings food into and out of the lake, making excellent ambush points.

The south shore also features excellent perch and bluegill action.  Work the lilly pad pockets for the best action.  Outside of the weed lines, pike roam freely.  Rattletraps tend to annoy these fish and make great bait.  Occasionally largemouth bass are caught in this region.  There are also several cribs in this part of the lake (in deeper water), and always must be explored.   We have raised large Musky in this area in the past on top water lures and bucktails.   

An often overlooked lake, Echo is the perfect north woods multispecies lake.