Memorial Weekend Time Frame

[Down to Earth]

Looking into coming up during the Memorial Weekend. Given that time of year, which would you prefer to be on the chain, Osakis or Amelia/Villard? Typical year, what kind will be the "hot bite"?

Thanks.

[hhguide]

What are you looking to go for?

[therookie]

there are few guys like drake who seem to be "down to earth" but for the most part people in the know seem to be a little reluctant to share with us

outsiders. i have found a honeyhole on osakis,so i am partial. have fished maple with multi species success at that time of year. victoria has a decent

oppportunity to land quality but not as much quantity.mill lake and its offshoot{cant remember name} are starting to give larger panfish up. those are the only 3 lakes i fished at that time of the year. good luck

[Down to Earth]

 Originally Posted By: hhguide

What are you looking to go for?

I'd be pretty happy with pannies and bass. Pretty much anything that will help keep the kids interest.

[nate larson]

Lake Minnewaska would be a good option for panfish and bass. It is about 15-20 minutes south of Alexandria.

[hhguide]

To tell you the sunnies are usually biting on some of the bar on osakis but they can be alittle packed at times and usually that weekend it is. If your looking for some bass and sunnies mixed it that will keep the kids busy try looking at Geneva or victoria often you troll a crawler or leech around you can get bass and sunnies at will and the occasional Walleye as a bonus. Also a lake to maybe look at is ida its off the chain (not connected to) and is often less busy during that weekend and produces some nice fish. Also what "Nate Larson" said about minnewaska you troll a shiner or fathead in the shallows you and land some very nice size Small Mouths and then switch to crawlers for some sunnies. put your email on here and I can give you a few more tips also.

[alex1]

D.T.E., depending on what size boat you have there is quit a few lakes that are hot for pannies and bass that time of year. I prefer to go to the "Brophy Chain ". this is accessible by launching at alke brophy and going under the old R.R. tressil. from there you enter West Union, Taylor, and Stoney. The only problem is like I mentioned earlier is the size of boat you have, and the water levels. High water you have to take boat seats down if you can, boats with windshields might be scrapeing. Low water and you have to watch for rocks and nicking up your prop and lower unit. I've got a 16.5 crestliner fishhawk w/40 horse and usually have no problem.

If you do go this route you jsut have to take it slow and watch the current as it will throw you around a bit in the culverts going between the lakes. Using your hands on the sides to keep the boat from hitting the sides of the culverts will suffice though. The other nice thing about these lakes over the holidays is there is much less boat traffic on them than the Chain, Ida, or Miltona.

Hope this helps you out, and good fishing

[fishyguy]

DTE,

I have been on the chain several times on Memorial weekend and have had more luck there than I have had on Osakis. That said, we have only hit Osakis once on memorial weekend and most of our experience there is around Labor Day.

On the chain, we usually panfished on Geneva and had a lot of luck with nice sunnies and crappies. For the walleye we had a fair bit of luck on Le Homme Dieu with the biggest coming in at 26" but they can be found on Geneva. We don't fish for bass but we have stumbled across our share of them. The lakes aren't overly crowded but the underpass to get from Geneva to Le Homme Dieu can get a little backed up in the peak of the day.

I like the chain better than Osakis as Osakis can get a little more crowded at times and a little rough if the wind is right and strong enough.

[Wayne Ek]

DTE

If your going to stay on the water and don't want to jump from lake to lake AND the big consideration is for the kids to catch some panfish, then the "Chain" would be my recommendation. My but that was a long sentence.

[Fish-n-Freak]

Hey Andy!

I moved up here almost two years ago. Loving Life!!!!

We have been fishing the chain, mostly LeHommeDieu because we are living about 1/2 mile from the boat launch.

The chain would be great for you and the family. Great fishing for Gills and Bass, plus good Pike and plenty of Walleye. The only negative for the chain, would be boat traffic over the holiday weekend. But that would only be an issue if you are trying to go between lakes and using the channels. If you are out fishing, you can get away from the boat traffic and catch fish. All of the lakes will be busy over that weekend.

Other good options would be Brophy, Lobster (has Muskies!), Mary, Maple (south of town by Reno), Cowdry, Latoka and Smith. All of these lakes are smaller and/or have smaller bays where you can get out of the wind if it starts to blow. Not sure if they all have resorts or not.

If you do make it up, let me know and I can give you a report of whats biting where before you come up. And if time allows, I could take you out for some Muskie fishing!

Steve Sedesky

[Down to Earth]

Thanks for all the feedback. Right now I'm leaning towards the chain with the State Park being the best option. I can't find any private campgrounds on the chain. Do you guys know of any? If that's the case I may be relagated to shore fishing, but I would think I should be able to find some shoreline spots. The only other down fall is trying to get around past the cities on that Friday. Can't imagine what a holiday weekend would be like.

[Fish-n-Freak]

Are you looking for tent or trailer camping?

I will do some checking to see if any of the resorts have areas setup for camping. The state park would be a nice place and from there you would have a few places for shore fishing not that far away. Plus you might be able to get boat rental from some place for a day or two.

Steve

[therookie]

not to rehash what lake all over, but i know canary beach resort on villard has tent camping, boat rental and good dock fishing( for kids anyway). someone else might

know if you can get to amelia from there. have heard decent things about that lake.

[Down to Earth]

Shady Rest on Amelia also has camping.I would be for a pop up camper. Maybe I'll check into the options on Villard and Amelia.

[heat checker]

Pannies, bass, and plenty of snotrockets. That describes Villard to a "T". Canary beach has boat rental,(14Ft or pontoon). If you decide to stay there, look me up, site #3, I'll take you and the kids out fishing if you don't have too big of a gaggle of them.

[monticello coach]

Steve AKA Fish-n-Freak i bought a cabin/home on victria 2 yrs ago and have not had much luck getting any sunnies of any size. Can you give any pointers? I'm usually with my son who's 12 i usually use leeches and crawlers. We have gone over to Geneva and had some luck by the church camp, but hey still seem to be more smaller ones than keepers. Any help would be appreciated

Matt

[hhguide]

Look for the Cabbage! There in there looking for bugs and other things to feed on! You might get a few crappies mixed in too. Also dont be affraid to use some waxwarms!

[so haaad]

I would agree with Agape. The chain is a good choice for keeping the kids entertained. The Le Homme Dieu and Darling weeds can both give up decent panfish numbers. And the chain is also very close to town, so you can keep the kids entertained with gocarts and minigolf at Casey's.

[Fish-n-Freak]

Coach,

Like Drake mentioned, we do our fishing in, over and/or on the edge of the cabbage. We are constantly releasing 8"+ Gills and keeping meals of fish between 7 and 8 inches. Plus we catch a bunch of RockBass and LargeMouths too, so it keeps the kids busy. Always fun to see the look on their faces as the rod bends way more than usual as they set the hook. There are days where we will hit a bunch of smaller fish, but on most days we are not doing that much sorting. We also catch a number of Crappies suspending off the edges in the summer. Most of our fishing is done in about 12 feet of water, but some days we are in 4 feet fishing the reeds.

Send me an email if you want more info, or want to get out fishing together.

Steve