Trailer ramp · Lake Superior · Wisconsin

Thompsons West End Park Boat Launch

Name: Thompsons West End Park Boat Launch
Address: Washburn, WI, US
Telephone: (715) 373-6160

A public trailer ramp on Lake Superior in Washburn, Bayfield County, Wisconsin. Managed by City of Washburn.

Directions Call (715) 373-6160 All Superior launches

The launch

What the agency lists

Launch type: Trailer ramp — concrete panels ramp
Water: Lake Superior
Accessible features: Listed by the agency
Fee: Not published in the source — ask the manager
Managed by: City of Washburn
Owner: City
Location: Washburn, Bayfield County, Wisconsin
Coordinates: 46.6662° N, 90.9030° W

Before you launch

Lake Superior is big water

Pick the launch for the harbor you can get back into, not for the fish. Long stretches of Superior shore have no shelter, the water stays cold enough all season to make a capsize a survival problem, and fog and wind come up fast. File a float plan and watch the nearshore forecast for the whole day, not the morning.

Water temperature. The open lake sits in the high 30s to mid 40s most of the year. Cold-water immersion takes usable strength from your hands and arms in minutes — long before hypothermia is the issue.
Distance from help. On the north shore of the Keweenaw or east of Grand Marais you can be 30-plus miles from a Coast Guard station and out of cell coverage. A handheld VHF is not optional gear on this lake.
Sea state that builds faster than the forecast. A northeast blow across 200 miles of open water stacks steep, short-period waves in under two hours. The run home is always into it.

Read how to read a Great Lakes marine forecast and trailering and launching on big water. Pack the big-water safety kit.

From this launch

What to fish on Lake Superior

Our Superior fishing guides name spots at or near Washburn:

Brown Trout · April through early June, with a fall window in October and November near river mouths

Brown Trout Fishing on Lake Superior

Chequamegon Bay, Ashland and Washburn: The warmest, shallowest water on Lake Superior and the most reliable brown trout area on the lake. Fishable from a small boat and from shore, and it warms weeks before anything else.

Lake Whitefish · January through March on the ice; late October and November on the shallow spawning reefs

Lake Whitefish Fishing on Lake Superior

Chequamegon Bay, Ashland and Washburn: Shallower and more protected than most of Superior. Reliable ice and whitefish over the deeper bay basin, with lake trout and splake on the same trip.

Northern Pike · Late May through June, September and October, and February on ice

Northern Pike Fishing on Lake Superior

Chequamegon Bay, Ashland and Washburn: The shallow protected bay behind the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. Warmer than anywhere on the lake, weedy, and the best pike water on Superior in both open water and winter.

Smallmouth Bass · Late May through June for shallow pre-spawn and spawning fish; September and October for the biggest fish of the year

Lake Superior Smallmouth Bass: Chequamegon Bay & the St. Louis River

Washburn and the west shore of the bay: Rockier and deeper, with fewer spring fish than the east side. It's still worth fishing in late summer and fall, when bass move out to rock and the outside edges. You can launch at the Washburn Marina and West End Park.

Walleye · May and June in the St. Louis River; July and August trolling the south shore; March on the Chequamegon Bay ice

Lake Superior Walleye Fishing: St. Louis River & Chequamegon Bay

Chequamegon Bay, Ashland and Washburn: 34,000 acres of shallow, productive bay behind the Apostle Islands. A spring shore bite along the Ashland side and off the Washburn coal dock, summer trolling, and a dependable ice fishery off Ashland.

Yellow Perch · January through March on the ice; June for open water

Yellow Perch on Lake Superior: Chequamegon Bay and the St. Louis River

Washburn: Across the bay on the west shore. The DNR calendar lists the water off the Washburn marina as January perch water and shows perch and walleye improving there in March.

Chinook Salmon Coho Salmon Lake Trout Muskellunge Steelhead

Superior by season

SpringShallow water is the only warm water there is SummerThe thermocline sets up and the lake gets vertical FallLake trout come up on the reefs to spawn WinterIce where the bays let it form, and nowhere else

Next ramp over

Nearest Superior launches

Washburn Marina0.7 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Alan Tomczak Park Public Boat Landing4.7 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Kreher Park Boat Landing4.9 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Hot Pond Overlook Boat Ramp5.5 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Short Bridge Access5.7 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Long Bridge Access5.8 mi · trailer ramp · WI

Straight-line distance, not a boating route.

Landmarks from the water

Lighthouses nearby

For the crew ashore

Beaches nearby

Wikdal Memorial Boat Launch Beach0.0 mi
Thompson West End Park Beach0.1 mi
Washburn Walking Trail Beach / Bab Beach0.4 mi

On shore nearby

Worth the stop

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore23 mi · park

Source

Launch facts are from the Wisconsin DNR, Public Boat Access Sites, retrieved 2026-10-05. Ramps close for repairs, fees change and water levels move; confirm with City of Washburn before you tow. Fishing rules are set by theWisconsin DNR.

Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain). Not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.

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