Snail or Turtle Lakes

[Maximum12]

Anyone been on these two lakes? Looking to go out tomorrow evening to look for some bass, maybe a few northern. Been on Turtle a few years ago & landed a few nice bass, never been on Snail. Any reports, recent or ancient, would be appreciated!

[howwedoin]

I'd have to pick Turtle. I'm no expert but Snail was way too small of a lake. I think Turtle has a lot more to offer. There are some really shallow spots by the reeds (South end) and shallow rocks by the bouys (straight out from the launch).

Is the fish consumption warning still on Turtle? I think there was one last year.

[Maximum12]

Have you had any luck with the bass deeper on Turtle? We caught most of ours on topwater, with only one decent northern coming out of the depths on jigs.

[howwedoin]

last time I was there was a week before opener. I prefer Turtle because it's not as small as Snail and the water clairity is a plus for me. I also liked the 10 and 10.5" crappies I caught ice fishing. It's what kept me coming back. Wish I could give you a better answer. But it's better than letting your topic go.

[jfriedrichs1]

I read an article about a year or 2 ago about how big the bass were in Snail. They said to fish by the highway bridge.

[nitroant]

If you go on Turtle, prepare for the non-stop waves of speed boats and jet skis. The boat landing fills up pretty quick too, so I would go early if possible. We were out there about three weeks ago and pulled spoons around the edge. We had a few strikes, but nothing into the boat.

[Maximum12]

Thanks all. We're going to head out in an hour or two & see what can be seen. I don't recall the traffic being bad the two times I was out there a couple years ago, but...we'll see! Hopefully we'll avoid most of the madness due to it being a mid-week afternoon.

Will report back on how we do.

[Zaraspooks]

Fished bass last Tuesday morning 7/5. Got to the access at 5:45AM and was the first boat out. By the time I got off at 9:00AM there were 12 vehicle/trailers in the lot. I was suprised due to the fact it was a week day morning. Ended up catching 13 bass with the largest going just short of 4lbs. Started deep and only caught little ones. Moved to the docks and the size really improved. Remember, all bass are catch and release on Turtle.

[Maximum12]

We were out last night from about 5PM - 8PM, almost the same report minus the pig (although we saw a big girl cruising the shallows). 14 bass, a few small, mostly respectable. We found fish all over, holding tight to the docks, on the transition lines, out in the weeds in 5-10 feet of water. Good fun!

[senkoskipper]

I dont know, im not impressed with this turtle lake. Its a pretty weak bass lake for being catch and release. There are better lakes out there. But of course you wont hear anything about those lakes on here.

[Zaraspooks]

Hit Turtle Sunday morning with a couple of buddies from Baltimore that have never fished bass before. Fished 6:30-10AM. Caught 29 bass and one small walleye. Biggest bass was 19". Started deep but the action was slow. Moved to the docks and fished Senkos. The walleye was also caught on a Senko under a dock (or as the guy's from Baltimore say, a pier)

[Ray Esboldt]

Skipping under piers...I dig it.

Turtle is a great bass lake, but most of the metro lakes are. Does anyone remember when it did not have an official public access? Wow, was that lake awesome back then.

[Zaraspooks]

I remember putting in my boat near the old pump house and then having to wade it out to deep enough water to start-up the big motor(25hp). I also remember finding the sunken rock island the hard way and tearing the skag off the motor. It wasn't marked with bouy's in those days. And of course the fishing. Fantastic.