Lake Onalaska

Any news from Lake Onalaska? I would love to get my two boys out while the weather is nice. Would like to se them on a few fish to keep them interested.

I seen several ice houses out there today, just wondering if the fish were biting. Also, how much damage was done today with the warm weather. Any news would be great.

Thanks in advance!

JP-I haven’t heard any reports yet this year and I haven’t been on the North end at all. Where all the ice houses are is the main dredge channel. You should be able to get some fish from there, can’t guarantee size though Try and find the edge of the channel and I think you will do better. The main channel is pretty sandy and structure free. I have seen some real nice perch come from there last year as well as sunnies. Hope this helps you a little.

Fished Lake Onalaska most of the morning and into the early afternoon about a 150 yards out to the left of the landing. There were fish all over my Aqua View and they were in a biting mood but were mainly on the smaller size. Caught perch, crappie and piles of little ‘gills. It kept my me busy baitng and it kept my son busy catching fish, which was our main mission. There is about 2-3 inches of slush on top with about 6 inches of ice. I can’t believe I am saying this but we could use a few days of cold weather to stiffen things up.

I finally made it out in front of Schaeffer’s today The ice on the lake is the best in the area from what I have seen. There is a little slush in some areas but a lot of areas are nice and firm. Also the thickness is 6-8″ in the areas I fished.
Now down to the fishing part. I fished in the dredge channel in 8 fow. I stayed about 100 yards away from the shanty town that is starting to head out toward the tracks. I started bt running around with the vex and a rod checking open holes. I must have went to around 15 holes with only a few lookers, but no takers. I finally settled on an area that I had good luck in in the past. I drilled one hole and set up the Trap Pro. It didn’t take long to ice a nice gill I caught quite a few keeper sized gills and surprisingly only a few dinks. Around 3:00 the crappie started to show. All my fish came off two jigs, a purple ratso and a white glow shrimpo. Also I tipped the jigs with Chena bait. I couldn’t get them to take a waxie on anything.

Way to get after em Wats

Well done Wats, should have went with you, instead of doing all the work around the house. The boy’s and I worked on a couple of straps, thought you guys may want to take a few to PDC next week.

I would still like to get out with you on the lake to learn a little more, keep me in mind.

What the heck is “Chena bait”? Never heard of it before.

Chena bait is hard to find but really good at times. It is basically fat from something, can’t remember exactly. It comes in a little round canister. The bait itself comes in a thin roll and you cut little pieces of it off the roll. When you put it in the water it lets off a smell that fish love. The action of it is awesome as well, it flutters with the jig. Most small bait shops have it in this area. The best way I can compare it is it looks just like the skin off the breast of a chicken. It is made in Wisconsin. If you can find it, try it

Thanks AM. I will look for it at Bob’s on Fr Isl- it’s just a couple of blocks from me. Been doing great with waxies and a super small vertical jig, but always looking for something new.

Treed- You should be able to get it at Bob’s. Bret Clark bought some there today

Got out for a bit this morning w/Dodge….Things were horribly slow. Not 1 flag went up, and we only caught about 6 fish total. All were small except this 10″ TOAD. He’s as thick as football . This picture does not do him justice. All we could do is keep staring at him and laughing.

I was also out on the lake today in front of Scaeffers. The main reason I went out was to test out my new LX-3 Anyway, I was fishing in 7 fow and had fish moving the entire time I was there. I drilled 4 holes, but never made it past the first one The fish definitely preferred plastic over steel today for me. I was using a Custom Jigs and Spins glo head with several different bodies. The best was a pink body that had a flat tail, can’t remember the proper name for them They were very aggressive today and I didn’t even have to tip the jig with bait. I didn’t get out until 11:00 or so. When I left they were still going pretty strong. Most fish were in the 7″ range with a few bigger and a few smaller All gills and crappie today. Ice seemed a lot firmer today with no slush where I was

nice wats
Nice gill too slop…we caught some fish at goose today, but not a lot of action til about dusk when the crappies moved in most were small, but kept us busy and entertained. I caught one really nice 12″ crappie that barely came through the little hole i was fishing. Fish were taking an orange purist over anything else

I fished for four hours this afternoon not expecting much but ended up catching over fifty ‘gills and keeping about a dozen for the freezer. Fishing started slow but the last two hours of the day brought more and bigger fish. Fished the same hole all day using a purple little cecil tipped with a waxie. A slow rise and an equally slow drop presentation had the ‘gills hitting my jig hard about a foot off the bottom. About four plus inches of ice but it was in good shape.

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Got out for a bit this morning w/Dodge….Things were horribly slow. Not 1 flag went up, and we only caught about 6 fish total. All were small except this 10″ TOAD. He’s as thick as football . This picture does not do him justice. All we could do is keep staring at him and laughing.

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Alrighttttt!!! The Slopman on the ice. You and Cade should get together for a day on the ice. You guys would have a blast catching gills together.
Thanks, Bill

Belgian-Thanks for the update on the fishing and the ice conditions I have not been to to any ice lately and was wondering how it was holding up. Did you go out of Schaeffers area? The little cecils have been very consistent this year for their catching abilities

We were out again Sunday morning with results about the same as Saturday. We were to the right of the boat ramp. The Vex showed a lot of fish and we caught quite a few but not the size we caught Sat. It seemed like when the sun was out the bite was better and slowed when it got cloudy.

Driving by the lake this morning I see it has already started to open up Off to the right of Schaeffers both of the channels feeding into the lake were wide open. There were only 4 portable shacks and no perms out in front of Schaeffers. I also didn’t see anyone anywhere else on the lake. I didn’t get as far as Fisherman’s Road area, so there could be people down there still. All I can say is be safe out there because this ice is not building too quickly. In fact we are losing way more than gaining even with the night time lows

You should have saw were people where at lastnight. Why out towards the middle I had to do a double take. Take it easy out there guys they are just fish

Hit Onalaska last night for crappies. Caught 3, only one was keeper size. We marked alot of fish, just couldn’t get the dudes to hit. Also had a couple flags that were dropped. Is it just me or, is the lake a tough bite again this year? I know it was tough last year for me. We had a couple good nights but never had any consistency.

Good luck fishing people

How acres is Onalaska and how deep is the majority of it? Are the ramps good and on what side of the lake are they on? Gee, I ask alot of questions. Thanks guys.
Thanks, Bill

Bill, for the most park, Lake onalaska is pretty shallow. Lots of flats and stump fields of 2-4 feet deep. I don’t know the lake well, but there are some dredge channels out there that are a little deeper, 8-15 feet i guess and that is where most guys like to fish. It’s a good place to fish, but most of the time when i’m there, it sucks.

Also, there are 5 or 6 good ramps that i know of. The lake isn’t Really huge, but its pretty good sized. not sure how many acres. Lake Onalaska was formed after they put the lock and dam systems in way back when. It used to be pool 7 but the dam formed lake Onalaska. The Black River also runs through, and There is a spillway on the southeast end of the lake. lots of people fish the spillway in the summer. I hope this helps.

Thanks. I hear its a really good panfish lake. And now I hear its a good place to take out my lower unit if a person doesn’t know it very well. Sounds like a very good place to fish though from what I hear people saying about it.
Thanks, Bill

I think a lot of people think the lake is so shallow and dangerous, it isn’t that way at all. On the main body of the lake, where most of the panfishing is done, you will not dmage your motor. Sure the lake is shallow, but, there is a difinitive area that boaters use to navigate through the lake. When you find a place you want to fish, slow down and you can drive right to the area. We were fishing the other day in 22′ of water. The dredge channels are between 8-20 feet of water. Most of the panfishing is done on the weed beds, edges of weeds, and in the channels. In the spring and fall there is still unbelievable gill and crappie fishing. Summertime poses a challenge, but they are still in there. Please do not be afraid of Lake Onalaska.

Thanks guys. Are there areas that are marked as channels or shallow areas so a person knows where the stumps are for example? I’m hearing about this lake in two ways. One is its shallow and has alot of stumps and people asking if they can run from one end to the other end ok. I’m also hearing that its big with alot of deeper areas but has stumps etc to the edges of the lake so its ok to run your boat on. Makes the the safety concerns putting up possible red flags with the two different stories. Sounds like one hec of a panfish lake which would be fun to fish.

This post puts me at number 10,000 and I have to say its been ALOT of fun along with some work to put forth that many posts. Anytime you are talkin fishin the work part becomes fun too. We have a GREAT bunch of people here, both staff and members, who make up this big fishing family and its GREAT to have the opportunity to be with ALL of yous on this site. And now its on to the next 10,000 posts.

THANKS, Bill

Congrats on the 10,000th post
Now on to the lake. I have never hit a stump on the main lake. If you venture out to the river, yes, you will hit a stump. But, most guys don’t go there. If the bass boats can run the lake at WOT with their boats and not hit anything that is a good sign I used to spend a lot of time on this lake, but now I am focusing on the river more. Come on down here this spring and summer and see just how many boats are on the lake on any given weekend. Then spend some time at the ramp talking to people and they will tell you the lake is just as safe as any other lake. The main dredge channels are so visible, you cannot miss them. There you can run WOT, once you get off that, you will want to reduce speed. The reason for that is the weeds can get pretty heavy. No need to run WOT through the weeds and plug up your motor.

Thanks Mike.
Thanks, Bill

Mike is right about the weeds. That lake fills up with weeds bad the summer. As for the ramps most of them suck. Schafers landing is gravel and not the best of shape. The 2 on French island are concrete but very steep. If you have a bigger boat it can be a bear to load your boat. Just my 2 cents, I wish they would have built alittle better landings when they put them in.

My son and I fished Sunday afternoon taking home a nice mess of bluegills and perch. We were using Little Cecils, purple and green tipped with a waxie. Fished in about 8-9 feet of water. This has been our best year fishing Lake Onalaska. There seems to be a nice amount of bigger ‘gills but they have been on a tight bite. You have to work’em a little to get some bites.