Turtle Lake

[luv2fish]

I am heading up Saturday with my family and a few others to Arcadia Lodge on turtle lake. This will be my families first trip up, and to say the least we are excited. My kids are 11, 9 and 5. Any tips for the lake this time of year? We are not picky about what we catch, the kids just like to have the pole bend. But it would be nice to find some panfish every now and then for a meal.

Also we don't own a boat, so we are renting a pontoon. That obviously will limit what we can do.

Thanks!

Luv2fish

[dave12341234]

For panfish this time of year, look for sunken islands, and points with a good amount of submerged vegetation. The lake is very clear, I usually go out from shore til I find the bunch of submerged weeds 12-15 ft. The deeper your bait, the bigger the panfish. I just caught a limit of nice ones last weekend and looking forward to doing the same this weekend, they are fun but there's also tons of rock bass. I prefer leeches over worms. Your more than likely to run into some smallies as well. On a calm day, you'll see them surfacing everywhere mid-afternoon.

[luv2fish]

Thanks for the reply and great to hear that advice! I had talked to some serious fisherman that I work with and they had suggested Leeches under bobbers for the kids too. I got all the light poles setup with slip bobbers and ready to go this weekend. I hope 1 of them hooks up with a smallie.... I cannot wait to see their face.

Luv2fish

[OnAFly]

Definitely good advice for that lake. It's extremely clear and can be difficult to fish. We've done well on deep weed flats with minnows for crappies. DNR says there's a good amount of nice walleyes in there, but I have yet to catch one.

[highlife4me]

All of the walleyes I have caught on Turtle came after dark. Not evening but dark. The smallies will keep you entertained during the day though. They use to have a guide stop in on Sunday afternoons I think. If they still do it is worth the time to visit with them. I am sure you and the kids will enjoy Arcadia Lodge, lots of activities for the kids.

[luv2fish]

OnAFly.... We would LOVE to get the kids into some crappies. So when you say deep weed bed, you mean in the 15ft range?

Thanks!

[dave12341234]

A couple weekends ago, me and 2 friends of mine were trolling crawler rigs pretty much all day with no luck. I thought to switch to a deep running crank. Well I did and as soon as we came up on that point (12 ft), BAM, smacked it so hard I thought it was a pike. Caught and released a 29 inch eye. Not even an hour later my cousin, in a different boat, caught a 28 in. So there in their, it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time with the right lure .

Gosh, I'd love to find some crappies though, I've always had trouble this time of year as far as they go.

[luv2fish]

I do think I read that they have a guide come out, I will spend some time with him. I am hoping minnows and/or leeches under a bobber will get the kids into a few fish. I am not sure this trip has any walleye fishing in it. We rented a pontoon for the week. So there will be a bunch of anchoring up to bobber fish and dad doing some casting....

Thanks for all the tips! I will report back....

Luv2fish

[smurfy]

SO...........how the bugs up there lately????do I need to bering heavy artillery when I come up or they starting to tame down a bit????

[straydog]

SO...........how the bugs up there lately????do I need to bering heavy artillery when I come up or they starting to tame down a bit????

They have tamed down a bit but there still pretty dam bad.

[smurfy]

thanks straydog. lookin to head that way finally the weekend of the 17th.

[Big Jeff]

Any one been out in turtle latly? Heading up wed. Hoping to fish Thursday morning. Looking for a place to start for eyes. Are they on the weed lines or is the long winter still screwing them up? Never fished the lake so anything helps.

[OnAFly]

Have you caught them on Turtle before? If so, when and how?

Only times I've heard of people catching them was early season fishing smallmouths. That lake is tough due to the super clear water and thick carpet of weeds on the bottom down to about 20ft.

[derbier122x]

Big turtle had a lot of pike basically jumping into the boat from 14-18 fow on saturday. In all we kept 15 handles for the frying pan, and released 8 in the 30-34" range from Thursday evening through Sunday morning. Quite a few 14-16" bass also.

[derbier122x]

My daughter's first bass. Didnt put it on the ruler, but this bucket was about 11-12 inches.