Might not be the place to ask, but, wanting to take a fishing trip to a lake with Smallmouth as the quarry. Used to go the the Lake of the Woods in the Miles Bay/Grassy Narrows area but haven’t been able to get up there for a couple years now.
Anyone suggest any other fine Smally waters within a 14 hr or so drive from SE Iowa? Haven’t committed yet to the lodge up on L.O.W. and was thinking it might be nice to try someplace new.
Chequamegon Bay in Northern WI or Mille Lacs, MN…………I think those are within your drive limits. Two excellent smallie fisheries. I don’t know how far Erie is or if you have the means to handle a water that big but if you’ve seen any of the pics from the Ohio Lakes forum, you’ll understand why I even bother to present the question.
I second the Mille Lacs Lake suggestion, It is turing into ine heck of a smallmouth fishery 
For the price of the Lake of the Woods trip you could probably fish smallmouth on Mille Lacs one month and then fish smallies with James on pool four of the Mississippi River on another month. Get two trips for the price of one. 
Thanks, Bill
Thanks kindly for the suggestions. Think we will hit either Chequamegon Bay or Mille Lacs. From looking at web sites for both those areas it is Lots cheaper than L.O.W., and, both would be less driving time ta’boot.
Would Ashland be as good as anyplace to stay on the bay? Any one side of Mille Lacs better than the others for Smallmouth?
Be taking my Alumacraft Yukon.. fairly stable boat but only have a 35hp on it so traveling long distances can be a pain.
Thanks again for the advice.
NKT,
I cannot speak for Chequamegan Bay smallies, but Mille Lacs would get my nod for the best smallies fishery in the state in my opinion. Average size exceeds 18″ most days with a very true shot at fish in the 21-22″ each day. My biggest smallie to date comes from Mille Lacs from a few years back that hit the tape at 22-3/4″ long and a whopping 2 oz shy of 7 lbs.
Some of my favorite times on Mille Lacs for smallies are a good bite are July-September with still some good fishing on either sideof these months, but these have been my most stable times for chasing these beautiful bronzebacks.
Good Luck on your quest for some fast arm yankin action!
Some of the best smallie fishing I have ever found is on pools 5,5a,6 and lower pool 4. These pools are stacked with some great structure. It is not uncommon to produce a 4+ smallie on almost every trip out. These pools offer lots of wingdams and other rock structures. You gotta love it. Throwing crankbaits, super doo’s or fluke have been the best. I will have new report up soon with some more monster smallies. Just ask little Flick. 
Waters Meet MI, in the U.P. 5 hours from Winona MN. It is the Sylvania Wilderness area. Motors are allowed on one lake, the rest is paddle only. It took me two days to hit all of the portages without fishing. Fishing, I spent weeks there. Any of the lakes are great for Smallies. It is 100% catch and release. You can imagine the size and health of these fish. In addition, you would only be a couple of hours (tops)from Ashland and the Chem……….. Bay that was mentioned earlier. It would be worth checking out.
With all these great replies……Maybe I should be the one to take a smallie field trip and visit each and everyone of these excellent fisheries. I have a feeling that I may never come back home if I did that. Good info!
NKT, you could not go wrong with any of these suggestions!
Unless you want the “northwoods” experience…I would check out Green Lake in Spicer, MN. It has turned into a premier smallmouth lake in Minnesota. Unsure of acreage (12 miles around it by road). It offers a little bit of every kind of structure. Reaches depths of 130 feet, with rocky bars right next to that. Large stretches of shallow, rocky shorelines.
there are many great smallie fisheries… Ive hit most of them on that list.. except for green lake…. just as an add in for something to consider… the upper mississippi.. and the stretch I in particular focus on is the stretch from clearwater to monticello is absolutly LOADED with quality fish…. tons of smallies….. and the slot has been in place for years up there and there are LOTS of fish 18″ or larger…. its very secluded too…. just a first class experience thats different than any of the others listed… the river runs fairly shallow up there… lots of BOULDERS…. your NOT going to toss in a big walleye boat.. were talking jon boats, even canoes….. right now I dont HAVE a boat I would take in there… I value my prop a bit too much….
but what a great place if you got yourself a sweet little river boat
No offense intended to anyone making the suggestion but NKT was looking for a lake. Going forward, maybe one of us river guys could trip swap with him so he could get the experience of river smallies and expand the knowledge horizon?
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NKT, you could not go wrong with any of these suggestions!
10-4, Couldn’t agree more. This is why I love this site. I fish the river all year but try to make one trip to a lake each summer. We don’t have Smallmouth down here so I always end up targeting them – love those fish.
Pretty sure we’ve (my Dad and I) settled on Mille Lacs. Now all we’ve got to do is pick a place to stay on the lake. Been searching around trying to find out if any particular area is any better than the rest for smallies but haven’t found any hints. Any suggestions there? North, South, East, or West side resorts put me any closer to prime small mouth areas?
Thanks kindly
NKT,
My vote would also have to go for Mille Lacs. Your about
7 1/2 hours away from the lake from where your at. If your interested in a guide I’d check out Mcquoids on the S.E. side of the lake. I’ve never taken a guided trip from them, but I’ve heard lots of testimony and seen numerous pictures of some really huge smallies. Just a thought, maybe some of the locals from that area could comment on a guide service for you. Its a huge lake, and if your only going up for a few days, a guide might be a good idea even if its only for a half day.
SEDNERB
If you want to get a smallmouth trip in on an ordinary weekend, you might give some of the NE Iowa rivers a shot. I’m guessing it’d be about a three hour drive for you, could stay at Backbone or one of the nicer parks for next to nothing, and there’s some pretty good smallie fishing to be had if you like to wade during the hot months. PM me if you want to know more.
For a big trip to a ‘fish every cast’ lake, you’re going to have to drive a little farther. I’ve heard that Okiboji is an awesome for smallmouths.
Sturgeon Bay, while a big body of water, is a top choice. Plus you could go after some Salmonoids/Trout over a weekend, too.
I’ve fished it more around Central City, Quasky, and Independence, and Littleton. Lots of smallish bass around Quasky and Littleton dams, I’ve had brief ‘fish every cast’ episodes in both places, but all 12″ or smaller. CC and Quasky have both generated 18+ fish in the past around the dams, and some big fish in the slower parts of the river in between Troy and CC in the wood during mid-late summer.
I tend to do just as well or better on smallies in the Maquoketa, but oddly not in the catch & release area. One day I caught four smb’s bigger than 18″ at the Manchester dam, with fish coming above, below, and right in the pools of the dam.
As far as Northerns go, a lot of people fish for them around Troy, but I’ve never really targeted them that for down the river. A couple years ago the DNR fishing report claimed lots of walleyes were caught in that section as well, but I didn’t investigate too heavily. The last I heard, the Wapsi was the only internal Iowa river that had a self-sustaining population of pike.
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