Lake Collinwood--Green Goop or Fishable?

[jmg]

Just wondered if anyone has attempted to fish Lake C. lately? My son will be home next wk. for a business conference and planned to stay till Sun. so we thought about fishing and Collinwood came to mind. Did it go downhill into the green goop category yet or is it still somewhat fishable? If Lake C. is a no go, I would appreciate any ideas, since this will probably be our one outing together this season. He was just transferred to N. Carolina and just made it to their new home today.

Hope everyone is handling the hot Holiday ok. Good Luck Fishing!

[mnguy152]

i would guess it is the green toilet bowl by now

[jmg]

Thanks, but that was what I was thinking, too. Sure is a shame that something can't be done to improve the water quality, despite all the agriculture in the area. Oh, let's not forget all the nice green yards, too. Guess we all play a part. Suppose I better hang on to all my good fishing memories from Lake C. as long as I can. Wish I'd taken more pictures back in the "Good Old Days". Sure, there were some Summers back then when it wasn't that great, but I don't think the water was as bad as soon as it is now most years.

[creepworm]

This lake needs zebra mussels in bad way

[harvey lee]

I remember this lake being much better than the pea soup it is now.

I use to open water fish it alot and quit about 5 years ago as the green slime was everywhere on the boat, rod, reel and line.

No thanks for that as there are too many other lakes without this pea soup.

[workin4bait]

I was out on Collinwood Sunday July 15 and could not beleive how clean the water was,maybe thats why the fish catching was so poor.

Workin'

[jmg]

Boy, the Hutch site has really been dead lately. Either everyone is out fishing and really "killin" them OR hardly anyone has been out in the heat and keeping real quiet even if they snagged a couple. We haven't had much chance to go fishing lately, but may go tomorrow. Just wondering if Lake C. was still clearing up or if the green goop dog days had come back. Aug. used to be a fairly good month for bass IF they could be found and that didn't always mean real deep. Just wondering.

Enjoy the brief break from the heat tomorrow.

[LMITOUT]

You'd have better luck shooting cormorants than catching any quality fish in this area. The last two years have been dismal at best and I'm not sure how it's going to turn around any time soon. Most people that I talk to have been leaving the area to find fish. That should tell you something.

On the other hand, if you want to catch 12" walleye, 8" crappie, or 6" perch then you've come to the right place, because when people say they're catching fish that's what they're generally catching.

I don't know if it is the combination of a bad winter in 2010 when we had the most snow in the state and then the mild winter last year, or the increasing and uncontrolled cormorant population in this area, but something has definitely changed and not for the better.

A couple of weeks ago I was in the Collinwood area so I stopped by the dock and although I didn't see any of the goop on the surface the water is still very stained.

[BuckSutherland]

By cormorants you mean wolves of the sky? I wont wait for some biologist to tell me they are impacting the area adversly. I will be using the data I have collected and taking action. More rants= less fish. And last I checked not too many people sitting down to a nice meal of cormorant. If we sit and wait for big brother we are going to need federal sharpshooters who get paid big bucks to urinate away more of our tax dollars. The problem is so easy and plain to see the fact that nothing has happened should scream to people why we need less govt. I could care less if the fricken cormorant and the wolf went extinct.

[jmg]

Lmitout. You were right, as usual. Made it up to Lake. C. today and we were shocked to find no loads of green goop. The water is stained an interesting color, but for this time of year, not bad. Had a whole variety of fish, but nothing worthy to bring home. Had a great time catching that variety pack, which included 1 northern, 1 walleye, 1 carp, 1 bass, 4-5 sunfish and a bunch of hungry "kitties". All of them looked healthy so I hope they will be hungry, as well, when they are older. Beautiful day on the water, probably one of the nicest this year-so far. Didn't even see many of your "favorite" birds.

[LMITOUT]

Good to hear that it is still goop-free and you found some fish. The variety pack seems to be the norm this year. Better than nothing I suppose, but it'd be nice to get into some quality fish and more consistently.

Thanks for the report.

[harvey lee]

If the fish are there now, all we have to do is wait a few years and it should pick up. Every lake goes through a cycle and Collinwood is at that point now.

One always can hit another lake for better fish as this summer for me has been awesome for quanitity and quality. They are in our local lakes, one just has to spend some time to locate the better bite.