Centerville or Peltier lake

[MikeG3Boat]

Any one been out on either one of these lakes? Thinking of taking my boys out for some action.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[crappie todd]

I was out a week ago. I was excited when the 1st hole had fish come off the bottom. messing around, changing shapes and colors, finally had a fish.Then one right after the other. they were....perch. some were 9 inches. No crappies and no gills.

I noticed how clear the water is this year.

I saw centerville was the outdoor news lake of the week. Lots of decent walleyes is says.

[Zelmsdawg]

You might get more help on these lakes in the Forest lake page.

[fivebelow]

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[OnAFly]

I posted on this yesterday, but it looks to have been deleted. The just of it is that both lakes get pounded due to proximity to the the greater metro. Neither are what they have been in the past. Both are basic metro lakes at this point.

Secondly, every year someone else names Centerville lake as the new hot lake, which is laughable. Are there walleyes in it, yes. There are a few, but the lake lacks real structure to key in on and from my experience walleyes caught were caught mistakenly. I've never heard of anyone going there specifically for eyes and actually catching them.

[mallardnwalleye]

Shallow lakes get misleadingly high survey net numbers because the nets take up a large percentage of the water column and the fish roam more due to lack of structure.

Centerville used to be a hot crappie lake. As all good things don't last-it no longer is from what I have heard. I believe there was some winterkill last year.

good luck!

[crappie todd]

centerville is a good lake to take the grandkids to. Granted the crappies and gills are on the small side, they bite well during the day and supply the kids some pole bending action. They dont care if they arent big so long as grandpa is good with a fillet knife. They dont complaine at the dinner table with the potato chip size fillets. Pretty tasty they tell yah. Once in while, a 9 inch slab comes up the hole..... picture taking time. To big to keep.

The kids learn catch and release, filleting class 101. How to get all the meat off small fish. Good lessons for future fisher grand kids.

[Grizzly_lokolman]

Lots of nice Walleyes???... Did the city of Centerville slip Outdoor News some cash under the table? LOL

Centerville is a good lake to take the kids. You'll get a ton of action on small sunnies and croppies.

I prefer Peltier and fish it often. The perch tend to be bigger (though that's not saying much) and a few more Northerns. You can catch some decent croppies if you weed through enough

[crappie todd]

The walleye info comes from the 2013 lake assessment just recently posted on their lake finder web site.DNR thought the lake froze out last winter but the netting showed it not to be the case. Thats where they note the walleye population was down but the size of the fish were nice. The crappie population was high and the size was small. The gills were the same, small.

I drove by today and Peltier had one small house while centerville had scatterd houses. it appeared some one plowed two roads.

[fivebelow]

any cars on either of those lakes yet?

looking to get out maybe friday or sat. wondering if i can drive a small suv out.

[OnAFly]

I drilled about 8 inches on Peltier. No roads really, some tracks. But, after yesterday everything would be blown over with snow. I'm not sure how a small SUV handles 4-6in deep snow, so I can't say if it's drive-able.

Peltier is a bit odd this year. Usually I can drill about 5 holes on that lake and find crappies. I've caught all of 1 crappie this year after searching a few spots. There are lots of 6-8in perch scattered everywhere though. That should be good for the pike population.

Anyone hear anything on Centerville? Seems to be lots of people out there. Maybe they all read the Outdoor News

[walleye vision]

Do you have to go through the park entrance to access centerville? I don't really want to pay the fee if I don't have to .

[JBMasterAngler]

Water works access on the north side of the lake, right off 14, it's right before you get to the peltier access.

[walleye vision]

Much obliged!

[OnAFly]

Lots of people out on C'ville lately. Something going on or is it the the usual, "I don't know, I just saw a lot of people over here so I'm fishing here."

[mrklean]

How is the ice looking on Peltier?

[jay83196]

Thinking of pike fishing which lake would is better? Any location recommendations?

Thanks

[OnAFly]

Both have lots of small pike.

Peltier is was at about 10in last time I was out. That lake has been tough for me this year.

[tca12]

Mrklean, recognized your name from the spearing forum. I speared Peltier earlier in the season but the water clouded up just before Christmas. I tried Centerville on Jan. 2 and it was worse. Both lakes had visibility of 2-3 feet at best. Maybe it has gotten better since then but just wanted to give you a heads up if you were thinking of bringing the darkhouse.

[crappie todd]

I was on centerville today from 3 pm to 5. 16 inches of ice. water clarity was surprisingly good.

crappies in the 18 ft spot I was fishing active from 3 till 5. some were 9 inches. 3 females 2 males. they had full bellies with what one could describe as a spinach type consistency in color and texture. I cleaned 5. they seemed fat and fillet out nice for small fish.