Lake Onalaska Update

Not sure what he’s talkin about??

this was supposed to go on this thread:

Went out after work for an hour or so, It took us like 15 minutes to drill 2 holes , and turns out we parked right on top of some weeds….and could barely fish it. It wasn’t really even a fair effort , and there was no way i was going to try and drill more holes…..I NEED A POWER AUGER!!

I made it on the lake at 4 and fished until 5:15. Found some smaller fish and a few keepers, all gills. The weather was nice and calm for a change. Sounds like more snow coming though. Today’s jig of choice was a purple rat finky in size 10, tipped with waxie. I had an idea where there might be fish, but with all the snow it was hard to find the break in the weedline where it dropped into deeper water. Drilled a line of holes until I found the break. The fish seemed to cruise the weedline. I think I was off on location a little bit, but it was a starting point. Tommorrow I am planning on spending most of the day out there narrowing down the spot so I will be ready for the tourney on Sat . It might be wishful thinking, but it is worth a shot.

22 is before you get to fishermens road its on the lower side of the onalaska spilway

So you’re saying the Road changes name halfway down?? I was always under the impression that “22” was more of a nickname given to an area w/in Fisherman’s Road. I guess it doesn’t matter….

Fisherman’s Road starts at the airport, by the car rental place and the Heileman terminal or whatever.

So, 22 is fisherman’s road below the spillway, and “fisherman’s road” is on the upper Lake Onalaska side?

MossBoss..You are CORRECT that fisherman’s Road starts at the car rental place …So as i’ve said before…”22″ is an area within Fisherman’s Road…thus associating it w/Fisherman’s Road. So if you call it F-Road or 22, your talking about the same location

you’re long time Islander
~Jeremiah

I showed up on the lake and caught the latter part of a good bite. I managed a few Crappies, but it looks like Watson had caught all the big boys by then. Oh yeah….When you have a crappie flop off your line at the top of the hole, don’t try and grab it!!! It gets COLD!!lol
Here’s Watson w/a good mess of gill’s and Crappie

Thanks for posting the pic . I wish I could take the credit for finding the fish, but I can’t. I followed a tip that led me right to them. I started fishing around 11:00, drilled two holes. but only got to fish one . The fish were stacked like cordwood. The water was 3-4 feet deep and clear. The bottom was relatively clean with little weeds. I used two jigs tipped with Chena bait. The jigs were #10 ratso’s in black or red. I was totally amazed at the performance of the Chena bait. I never changed bait from the time I started till the time I finished. The fish just inhaled the stuff. It was kind of tricky catching these fish. I am still amazed at how fast a fish can inhale a jig and spit it out, yet never move the line . Since the water was so clear and shallow, as soon as they picked up the bait, you had to set the hook, otherwise they were gone. Also, most of the better fish came 6-10 inched under the ice. The bigger ones would stare the jig down and then move on. But, if I slowly lifted the jig up, they would follow it and then hit it. The crappie were a little different. They came in like a blaze of glory and attackedthe jig. If they missed it, they never came back for a second shot. All the bad days lately were made up for with one good day of fishing. Slop Bass got there at the tail end of the bite. I tried to keep the fish “warmed up”, so when he got there all he had to do was pull em out and stack em up . Next time buddy, next time . I hope to repeat the process tomorrow, except I think I have enough fish to eat for a week or so. Now, I just need a crappie for the wall .

Well spent most of the day in the same place as yesterday. Today was not near as hot as yesterday, but still good to be fishing. The fish did not really start to show until later in the afternoon. Iced quite a few smaller gills and craps. Did not keep anything today, saving them for the tourney . Tomorrow should be a good time if anybody decides to come to the tourney.

where did u get the chena bait at ?

fish’n kid- I bought it at Schaefers Boat livery and Bait Shop. He has since sold out , and I am not sure when he will get any more in. You could also try some other bait shops, maybe you will get lucky. There was big talk of this bait last year but it sizzled out.

thanks alot i have been wondering what has been working out on the lake lately

Well, to tell you the truth, not much has been working on the lake lately . It has been a tough bite all winter. Some days they attack waxie, next day they won’t touch them. The Chena bait was real productive one day, then real spotty after that. It seems you have to be there at the right time and place to get into any numbers. If you just want to see fish all day, fish in the shallows , there are fish in the lake that make you want to get a net and scoop them out. But they do not want to bite too often.

yeah i know i went out on the lake and saw some huge crappie and sunfish

what does this chena bait look like? did u go fishing today and if so what did you catch and on what?

So you also got to see the potential the lake has. There seems to be quite a few more big fish this year than previous years, they are just real negative. I think there must be plenty for them to eat still. Maybe it will pick up later in the season. Who knows for sure, just have to keep trying and hope for the best. Do you fish the lake much?

yes i usually fish 2 or 3 days a week on the lake

where have you been catching fish in the area?

kid-That is the problem this year. The fish are very hard to find anywhere . The runway lights can produce as well as the cribs below Marge’s. I also know they are catching some on Fisherman’s Road, but I will have to let those that fish there give you some insight. I will probably try to find some this weekend during the mornings. All I can say is to try different areas until you find them. Then when you find them, pray they are in a feeding mood.

thanks alot watson i have been fishing on the praire lately seeing some good fish catching them o a purple purest but some still just look at it and move on

Are you talking about the Black Deer area? I like to fish there, but it gets crowded pretty quick. There are some nice fish in that channel. I have had my best luck on the lake with either a red rat finky or a black ratso in size 10. They were tipped with Chena or waxies.

Went out for a bit after work yesterday….The ice/snow is pretty tore up form the derby this past weekend…I could barely find a spot to get my shanty flat…I did manage to get one nice Gill…but it was overall slow. Had a nice bass come spit on my jig, but he left….

slop bass we plan on coming up this sunday…I imagine will go to the same spot we met you at a couple weeks ago since we had such good luck…..will you be out sunday?

Yes…but i’ll probably be at the dam for a while…..Depending on how good the bite is, I could be all over……

i usally fish below Schaefer’s on the lake

got to “22” before noon today…had our choice of any spot cause we were the only ones there….first hole-first drop-first fish then reality set in…no bites for the next 11/2 hrs …nice day thou…watched a couple eagles,saw some planes take off ect ect…we caught 30-40 non keepers…left at about 3:30 when 2 other fisherman came to cover our post(whew) which we lived closer cause we would have been gone a lot earlier

Fished at Blackdeer for a hour mid morning with very little to report. I was one of two people on the whole stretch. Water was as cloudy as I have ever seen and what a smell when you cut open a hole in the ice-I won’t be back there for a while.

JimBob……we were there until about 10:30 this morning w/nothing to report. Looked for ya to show, but like you, at the time, JohnL and I were the only ones on the water. Water was crystal clear and we caught a few fish, but nothing to brag about. Those fish have to be well fed by something????

has anyone been catching fish on the lake lately

Does anyone know anything about the fishing tournament that is happening on Lake Onalaska this weekend like entrance fees, times, and location. Any info would be of great help.