Lake Onalaska

Hey Bassin guys–Have a couple of questions for you all. First is there just a map of Lake Onalaska you could buy. I have the Corp map. But looking for a more detailed one. I know many tourneys have big bags that come from there. That leads me to the question next as to what the lake holds for bass. Meaning what kind of structure and what to look for up there. Is there many or any hazards in the lake. Oh..and of course where are all the honey holes…just gps cords…….just kidding….lol.. Thanks in advance for any help on maps….Doug

To sort of answer your first question, I do beleive there are maps of the lake. Where you can find them I don’t recall off hand. You are right, many nice limits of bass have come off the lake. But, also take into consideration the number of bass fisherman that have “died” trying to catch bass that were biting there a few days before. From my experience Lake Onalaska can be your best friend or worst enemy. I would never solely rely on the lake to give you a limit of nice fish.
There are all kinds of structure to fish on that lake depending on the time of year. In the spring there are stump fields and gravel bars and mix in some drop-offs and deep holes. During the course of the summer months weed edges and slop are staples on the lake. Although there are still some stump fields to be fished. By then though, most are weeded in and any of the good stumps are in deeper water and hard to find.
The stumps I mentioned are very hazardous and can wreck a great day on the water. There are some shallow breaks by the Sailboat Club too not to mention some of the sand flats on the north end of the lake where the tributary sloughs run in. I have seen bassboats try to take off not knowing the bar is there only to drag their skag and prop through some unsavory conditions. I would consider finding someone who knows the lake and have them show you around first. Ask them about where to run and where to be careful. As for the honey holes, there is this one weedbed out in front of that one island with the sand and trees on it that is really hot. Oh, don’t forget about that deep hole covered by all that water. Any other help, feel free to PM me. I live on pool 7 and fish the lake alot.

I also live on the lake and fish it four or five days a week when the ice is off. As Blue Fleck stated there are a lot of really nice bass here, but they can be difficult to pattern. I know that you can get topos of the lake from Schafer’s bait shop down on the Prarie. One thing to remember though is that the upper portion of the lake will have different depths due to the yearly floods. I lao agree that you do not want to put all of your eggs into the lake. I have seen some really good sticks blank doing that. If you are locking through to fish it during a tourny, I think you will get away from some of the crowd, but you could loose over an hour of fishing due to barge traffic. Overall, I think can be worth it if you know of enough good spots. I fished a tourney were five fish at 14.6 pounds took it.

Bassman

I know Hot Spots used to make a nice map of pool 7,8, and 9, but discontinued them. I’ve got another pretty good map too, but I’d have to dig through and find out who makes it. Every previous post is right on the money. Fish Onalaska and you might win the tournament, you might blank as well, depending on the conditions. High winds makes it awfully tough fishing out on the lake. Usually spring is the best for big fish: pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. Find good green weeds and you’ll usually find fish, especially early in the year. The south end of the lake gets hammered pretty hard by locals because its close to the ramps and safe to run around in. However, the north end of the lake can be treacherous, so idle as much as possible up there especially when the water’s low. Good Luck!

I think early fall (late September-mid October) is an equally good, perhaps even better time, to find big bass on the lake, at least it has been for me. Green weeds and shad schools seem to be the keys in fall.

Doug, PM me your mailing address. I might have just what your looking for.