Long Lake ?

What do you all know about this lake. I am referring to the Long Lake in Chippewa County north of Bloomer. What is the premier fish in that lake. I guess, what kind of walleye fishing is there? I have a rough map and it says that 100′ is the max. depth. Where do the eyes hand on a deep lake like that? Can a guy still pitch light hair jigs to sunken islands and rock points? or is the depth changes too much? I have inlaws in Ladysmith and we just bought a new boat. That would be a nice lake to “check out” on the next family visit. Thanks to all for the input.

Mustbefishing

I have a couple of friends that fish the lake a lot and I guess it has it’s share of eye’s and smallies. I think they mostly fish it during low light or cloudy times as it is very clear. I’ll try and get you some spots where to try next week. I believe that Long connects to maybe Hurd. I’ll have to check it out on a map but I believe if thats the one I’m thinking of thats where you may want to give it a try. Definintly check out the sunkin islands. Steve

In my opinion smallmouth is the “premier fish” in any lake they can be found . But long is a very good smallmouth lake. Its also a pretty good musky lake, there are also good nomubers of walleyes but they tend to be mostly in the 14-17 slot. I don’t think pitching jigs is the way to go for walleyes unless you’re there early enough in the spring, or possibly at night otherwise there won’t be a whole lot of walleyes shallow. However even in the summer the thermocline seems to be around 17-18ft on long, so I assume the majority of the fish will be shallower than that. I pretty much just fish smallmouth there, but I did catch quite a few walleyes shallow last spring the first 2 weeks the season opened while the water temps were still below 50.
If you have a more specific question you can email or pm me and I will try to help out.

By the way, the connected lake leineman was talking about is called Herde.

Without a map in front of me, it’s hard to point out some specifics but I’m on the lake almost every opener because it’s close to the family cabin.

From the Hwy. 40 launch, head south a ways and theres a rock pile with sharp drops on both sides. It comes up to about 3′ so be carefull when getting in that area but it’s a great spot to troll raps when cloudy or tossing cranks down the incline to see where the eye’s are. The darker, the shallower. At night they’ll get right on top of that pile.

Also, there’s an after dark bite if trolling cranks along the shorelines between 8 and 12′. They’re not consistant so you’ll have to fish until you find the magic depth.

Around to the east is a long point/sandbar that can produce fish readily. I’ve never found an big ones but the eye’s have been fairly easy targets off this point.

Also from the “40” launch is a big ol’ feeding flat with cribs in it. Dusk and dark often provides a nice eye bite too. I’ve had more success in the fall with this flat than the spring but I still see plenty of guys working it.

All around the lake there are endless possibilities as there is an abundance of structure and breaks. There are flats, sunken islands, gradual declines, sharp drops…………just tons of things to check on but the MAIN thing to keep in mind is the water clarity. It makes for challenging even your “goto” presentations. You have to be on your best game on Long or you may be in for a “long” day! Few are the “easy” days there.

SuperFluke is right about the bass on this lake…………plenty of 5#+ fish to be found if you target them, but put ’em back! It’s a trophy lake and should be treated as such.

If you’re going to be in Ladysmith, get some time on the Dairyland Flowage. It’s a typical river experience………….fewer anglers and some real BIG surprises in her! There’s good ‘eye action near you on the Chippewa River as well and I’ve read that the Thornapple area is pretty decent too.

From Ladysmith, truthfully…………..there’s an abundance of good fisheries within an hours +/- drive. Get a NW WI map book and check a few out!

You guys forgot to tell him about the huge crappies to be caught in Long too— —————————–Pax

Can’t forget what I’ve never done! Walleye, bass, and muskie………….didn’t know there was anything else!

Thanks guys, I will have to give Long a try this year. I am used to the muddy Mississippi, so the clear lake will definitely give me a challenge.

Hit the lake last night at about 6 p.m. Casted a purple ringworm to the north end shorelines for smallmouths and came up with two fish, one 16 and one 16.5. Also hooked into a 13-inch perch on the same setup. Don’t know how that happened.

Right before dark I rigged up for some night crank trolling, still on the north end. It was slow for a while. Then at about 9:45 p.m. I hooked a 16 inch eye. Shortly after I got another 19.5 inch eye. To top that off, while I was turning on one end of my pass my outside rod about split in half. About five minutes later I had my first ever muskie in the boat. 33 inches, not big by muskie standards but still quite a rush. I can see how guys get hooked on ’em. By 11 the bite seemed to die so I took off. I’ll take nights like those anytime I can get ’em.

Cool report Sammy! Thanks for sharing that with us!