This past weekend I was able to spend a wonderful 3 days camping with my wife Becky, neighbor Bill and his son Austin. We spend a lot of time with them and they are like extended family. We couldn’t have chosen a better weekend for camping. A few light showers Friday day night with some distant thunder and lightning was all we had. We stayed at Lake Carlos State Park on the north end of the chain. Their campsites are awesome. The lower sites are right on the lake with a nice access and huge sand shore to beach your boat. We stayed in the upper part that is much more wooded with separate sites. We saw deer on the many walking paths and enjoyed the evening campfires. Clean bathrooms and showers make it comfortable for all.
On to the fishing. I haven’t spent a lot of days on the chain, but I have fished a couple tournaments there so we had a few spots to hit. Most all of our fish came on the numerous outside weedlines that are in the lake. The chain is known to give up numbers of bass, but few over 3lbs, and we found this to be true. I worked the boat in 12-16′ and we would cast crankbaits over the top and along the edges of the weedlines. We had almost nonstop action. Not only did we catch largemouth, but we also caught numbers of rock bass, northern pike, walleyes, perch and sunfish. Our biggest bass consistantly came in the areas we caught our walleyes. The biggest walleye came in at 24".
We did try some jig worms and caught a few fish, but not as many as with the crankbaits. The best cranks for us were bluegill colored Frenzys or DT’s. We also caught fish on Outkast swim jigs over the tops of the weed flats and on top water lures late in the day. The fish weren’t huge, but it was sure a ton of fun.
There is always something going on in the Alexandria area as well for the non-fisher people. We went to Arrowwood resort for an antique boat show. We also stopped by a local winery for a sampling. The winery also has a craft fair on the weekends with more than 100 exhibitors. There is a Silverado bass tournament this weekend up there. Good luck to all the fisherman!
Mike,
Very nice fun filled week, and IT really is a great area..
I’ve been to the Lake Carlos Winery on west side of lake.
great report..
Jack.
Thanks for the report and pics Mike. Sounds like a very fun weekend.
Thanks, Bill
When I last fished the Alex area I noticed the bass to be in deeper water than normal. Did you find this true also?
Thanks for the Report Mike. I always enjoy fishing on le homme dieu, beautiful area.
I was out there pre-fishing for the tournament last weekend, and of course, we hit some northern in the 8 lb range, and a 27″ walleye, as well as some crappies that went over a pound. At least I found one good fish out there, that was 18.5″. Most of the other bass came from the Le Homme Dieu cookie cutter, but I did end the day with 3 bass that measured over 15″. Just need to improve on that a wee bit for this weekend.
Great Report Mike.
I vacation in that area the first week of june every year, and fish it a fair amount through the summer. We stay at Viking Trail on Darling and usually target northerns during the day and walleyes in the morning and evening, and also go for bass late in the afternoon/evening for a little more family orientated recreation.
We go early to avoid the crowds, and of course for the usually more productive fishing offered in the early summer.
Was the chain quite crowded? This time of year it doesn’t seem worth it to try to fish up there except really early or late in the day.
It just doesn’t seem as productive or nearly enjoyable when constantly bombarded by recreational boaters, jet skis, and skiers.
Hey Mike nice Report.
Geez I used to fish Lake Miltona all the time.
Brings back some memories. But that is dating myself that was back in the 70’s.
Sounds like you had a great time
Don,
The fish were about the same depth as previous years. It didn’t look like the weedlines had changed much. A couple subtle points were still where I had ’em gpsed.
Fear,
The chain was not crowded at all. I think I only saw 1 water skier all weekend. It was very enjoyable. We caught our fish all day long and noticed a better crank bite mid day.