Minni Belle Swimming?

[eyepatrol]

My wife and I are taking the kids somewhere to go swimming on Saturday. Does Minni Belle have a little beach right at the launch, or anywhere else on the lake? I can't remember.

Basically we want to take our kids (4 and 2) to a lake with decent water quality/clarity that has a little public swimming area. Are there any other lakes that match this criteria?

Thanks.

[KMR85]

minnie belle has a better clarity than most if not all the lakes in the area. I dont think there is any public swimming area. you may try the landing but i think it has a bunch of small rocks on the bottom around there. You fish around the area often, so you probably know the following: belle lake has piepenburg park which has a swimming beach and trails. belle's water quality definitely isnt like minnie belle, but it isnt gross either. Manuella has the always popular "nipple beach"(this name is fading, but some of the older guys have heard it), water is stained, but again not gross. Alot of booze hounds out there usually. Not making fun of anyone, they just like to party out there sometimes. Ellsworth landing on lake washington might not be bad. Its usually clearer and shallow and the weeds usually start out past the bull rushes. hope this helps.

[eyepatrol]

Thanks KMR. That's about what I recall of Minnie Belle and the other surrounding lakes. We'll see how it goes. Heck, maybe we'll just drive from lake to lake and compare, then select one.

[Nymph]

Minne Belle has the chiggers going right now.

[LMITOUT]

I was wondering about the swimmer's itch on Minnie Belle.....it usually shows up but hadn't heard anything yet. Might not want to take the family there if it's bad! Kinda funny how the lake that has the clearest water is the one with the "itch".

Not much on Washington. Elsworth landing doesn't have a beach, just weeds and grass right by the access.

[eyepatrol]

OOFTA! GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT THAT! I've had those darn things before and they suk!

Maybe we better look at Belle then. Anyone know if Belle is famous for the "lake itch"???

[Coach Dog]

I hope Belle isn't. We plan on taking our infant and seeing how she likes the water this weekend on Belle. It will be her first time. That would not be good if she got that itch. If you have information, please share. I've swam in it before, but it has never bothered me, but my skin is not as delicate as 4 month-old .

[KMR85]

I have never had it from belle and I went out there quite often. That was a few years ago though.

[fishingchris]

i would say manuella has a nice swim beach at it

[harvey lee]

Manuella has a very nice beach and you can also walk out aways. Has to be the best swimming beach in the whole area.

[LMITOUT]

Yes, Manuella does have a decent sized sandy beach, much like Belle. I don't get up that direction often and forgot all about that one.

[eyepatrol]

Thanks guys. We decided to head south to a lake with swim beach (although we swam in a different area of the lake).

[aanderud]

I concur. Manuella has by far the best swimming around. It's very sandy in the swimming area, and it is a very gradual slope. Your 2/4 year olds will have plenty of fun up near shore there. Belle has a sandier "beach" to lay/sit on, but in the water it's usually either rockier or muddier than you'd expect from looking at the sandy beach. I think they truck in the sand and it just washes out into the lake somewhere. At Manuella the places to sit/lay are all grassy, but that's OK, it's mowed often, not long.

The water in manuella is actually quite clear. At opener you could see bottom in 11 FOW or more. Haven't been on the water since then but a week ago I was on shore and it still looked quite clean, not green by any local standards and definitely one of the cleanest around. No swimmer's itch there either. I would give it a shot.

My in-laws live on the lake right next to the public boat landing, and I don't really recall too much partying going on at the beach -- not even as much as Belle, if you ask me. You can always drive up, check it out, and leave if you think it's too rowdy, but I think it's just old-school reputation that has it labelled as a rowdier place.

[aanderud]

Quote:

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Thanks guys. We decided to head south to a lake with swim beach (although we swam in a different area of the lake).

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Which lake did you end up hitting, and how was it? Clear? Sandy? Itchy? Scratchy? Any fish biting? I'm sure you brought a pole and fished off to the side while the kids were swimming, right?

[eyepatrol]

Took the wife and kids to Volney down by Montgomery. It wasn't too bad although there is algae forming in the lake. We didn't hit the beach area as it was getting full, so we headed off to the west side of the lake, threw anchor and did some swimming with the kids. No itching or scratching which was a good thing!

I did do about 1.5hrs of fishing prior to the swimming. Tried depths from 2' out to 24' and was only able to catch small sheephead. Par for the course lately it seems.