Eau Claire area lakes? Where to go??

I have recently moved to the Eau Claire area and am wondering what lakes around here are the best lakes for walleye, bass, and panfish. I moved here from Lake Pepin and have not really fished inland lakes at all. I am very used to fishing the “Big Slough” and not real knowledgable about lake fishing or what lakes are good or even where to begin when I get there. Is there anybody out there who has fished lakes like Altoona, Wissota, Popple, Pike, Eau Claire, or Half Moon that would be willing to lend a fellow fisherman a hand? If so, could you please respond to my post? My wife and son are very excited to fish this year. I would like to make it a memorable one. Thanks so much for your time.

Good afteroon and Welcome to the Area. Where about do you live in the Eau Claire area. Lots of good lakes to try and you’ll have to decide which is your favorite. What size boat do you have? I’ve fished Altoona perch walleye

Wissota walleyes,Popple crappies,bass,gills. Only fished Eau claire once and didn’t do poop.Never fished Half Moon or Pike. Don’t forget Dells Pond right in Eau Claire and is actually the Chippewa River. Nice crappies earlyier this year ice fishing, and I’m sure some toothy critters and walleyes. The Chippewa River itself some of everything Tainter lake,Menomin lake and the Red Ceder River.Let me know what size boat you have and I can fill you in on some spots to check out and which landings to use. How old is you son? Check out the bike trail along the Chippewa River it’s a great trail and does require a pass from the DNR. Where is the Big Slough and did you live in Pepin City? Steve

Hey LM!! Thanks for your response to my post. We just bought a home near Eleva. I have a 16′ flatbottom with a 25 HP. This boat doubles as my duck hunting boat. I did grow up in Pepin. Wonderful to be that close to all of that wildlife access. We always called the Mississippi, “the Big Slough”. Must be a local thing. Anyway, maybe if you are heading to Lake Pepin sometime, let me know and I might be able to send you to a good spot as well. Thanks again for your tips and track record on the local lakes up here. Good Luck this year!!

Eleva ? That’s still not very far from the Mississippi. You shouldn’t have any problems on the lakes you mentioned except for Wissota maybe. It can get quite rough at times and a lot of pleasure boaters on weekends. Still some nice eaters in there as well as some large muskies. The boat ramp on Popple lake is a bit shallow but with your rig you won’t have a problem. Theres a small lake just north orf Popple called Cornell Lake. It has some nice gills plenty of northerns, and I guess even some walleye’s. We usually are after gills when we hit that lake and you should do well there also. Eau Claire lake should be good but I just didn’t catch much there. I’ll have to try it again. Pick up some of the maps of these local lakes and post a message on FTL Wisconsin lakes forum or send me a pm before you head out and I’ll see if I can help you out with spots to try. Steve

Welcome to the Chippewa Valley. I live in EC and fish most of the waters in the area. Dells Pond, Altoona, Eau Claire River, Chippewa River, Red Cedar River, Half Moon, Lake Hallie, and some lake north of Chippewa Falls. I have built a website for fishing in the Chippewa Valley. This is not a spam message, I feel that that my site may help you out. Let me know if I can be any help. Post some threads on the site and I’ll answer any questions.

http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/GLEA8449/.

Dman

Nice site. I especially like the photo section.

I live in Chippewa Falls, and fish most of the lakes on

your list. This is panfish time, or is about to be, so

most of the area lakes are going to be busy with the

bobber crowd. The best gills in the area come from

Marsh-Miller Lake. It gets green fast, but early in

the year, it is a good fishing lake. The problem is

there is not a public landing. Either of the resorts

on the lake charge a small fee for landing. Good crappies

come from a number of area lakes. Lake Wissota,

Old Abe Lake, Popple Lake, and Cornell Lake, are all

good choices. As for Pike Lake, this is a nice little

lake to take the family. The fish run small, but plentiful,

so it is more of a fun fishing lake than a good fish fillet

lake. Pike does have a few good sized pike over 30″, but

it is full of small largemouth, and hand sized bluegills.

Send me an e-mail with some more details, on for what, and

how, you like to fish, and I might have some more ideas.

Big Bass Bane

Hey BBBane, Aren’t eau clairs those fancy pastries?

-grin- Nice to see you dropped in.

jc

Jeremy,

I think that is eclairs, that squirt filling on my

tournament shirt at 4:30am. The last I heard Eau

Claire is french for clear water. Not that

really matters.

Thanks for the welcome.

Big Bass Bane