Advice on Eagle Lake in Maple Grove

[tater]

Anyone ever fish Eagle Lke in Maple Grove? Thinking about putting a shack out there. Looks like good fishing for Northern Pike and Blue Gill.

Good luck out there!

[esox addict]

I've had my shack out there the last couple of years and have done decent for walleyes, northerns, and crappies. I have never caught a lot of bluegills, and most of them have not been very big. If you head through the channel and go to pike lake you can usually do good with northerns and crappies. I usually just put down a tip up for northerns and then jig for crappies. Last year the crappies were hitting great for the first week or two of ice so now would probably be the best time to get out there. If you want northerns just set up a tip up on the weedline and you should get a few flags. As far as spots go, the hole in the south end is good for crappies, and any weedline should hold some northerns. I wish I could be out there right now, but I'm going to school in wisconsin right now so I won't be able to get out there until christmas. I'll probably put my shack out there this year too. Maybe I'll see you out there.

[fishtank]

Esox - great info. There is one small hole on the north end of the lake - have you ever fished that? I am assuming the way the lake is structured, there is only a few decent spots for crappies, but it sounds like pike action may be good all around the lake along weedlines.

Are people still able to get on the south end of the lake near the park? Or, do you need to go to the north end public access?

How deep is Pike Lake? Hopefully we will see you out there.

Tater - We should try to get out before the shack goes up. I'd like to see at least 4" of ice before I have the guts to walk on. The way the other lakes are forming - it doesn't sound like much clear ice is out there.

[tater]

Thanks for the advice Esox!

I am from WI. Where are you going to school? You probably already know all the good ice fishing spots but maybe I can turn you on to a few news ones for 2nd semester.

[tater]

Tank,

I hear you. Maybe this sunday? I would think we could walk on fairly soon with the weather we are having this week.

[moby1]

had a few seconds and a borrowed auger on the way home tonight. I walked a little ways outside the channell at the launch and drilled a couple of holes b4 I had to head home. I'd say there is 3.25-3.75". I didnt have time or clothes to go much farther. I never do very good out there but go out quite a bit since its soooo close to home. TONS O PERCH. Plan on more flag fishing this year.

[Seeker of Clayface]

We did ok 3 or 4 years ago for early ice walleye. Seems the 4-6 PM window was best. Mainly jigged and dead sticked along the north shore weed line. The last two winters have stunk, however, because of the huge population of dinky perch. That's my theory anyway.

[esox addict]

Tater,

I'm going to school at UW Stevens Point. I do most of my fishing on the WI river. We did pretty good on walleyes and muskies this fall. Hopefully ice fishing is good on the back waters this winter. Where do you do most of your fihing in wisconsin?

[RandyR]

My son is also a Pointer, he runs on the cross country team.

As far as Eagle Lake is concerned, I think a person can do much better without having to drive far. I used to fish Eagle and Pike alot in the 70's and Pike was a pretty decent bluegill lake at that time. The crappies were always small and there were some nice bass and pike, but those lakes have declined, and I began to fish elsewhere.

If time or distance is a factor, or you are just curious try Pike on the north side of the sunken island, work deeper until you contact fish. The deepest hole in Pike is about 28 feet as I recall, and it is found on the east end of the sunken island, but we never caught anything there. Other than that hole, I don't remember finding anything over 15 feet deep. I used to put a house on Pike but as development in the area increased the vandalism became unbearable.

[Mr. Bear]

Hey, I grew up in Wisconsin Rapids, just a hop and a skip from Point. Have you tried Petenwell Flowage through the ice for some of those monster crappies? If not, you HAVE to give it a shot. I wonder how much longer it will last.

[moby1]

petenwell flowage eh? I have a cousing about to graduate from Stevens point this year if memory serves correctly. I may have to get the scoop on that one. Im always looking for nice crappies

[esoxfisher]

If you all want Crappies, Sunnies, and Northerns, I would head to Medicine lake instead. Way more Northerns and Crappies there and a lot of different spots to try. The humps in the middle of the lake can be really good, but one usually needs a GPS to find them. It is usually best to avoid the community spots on weekends though. It seems the fish vacate those areas in a hurry.

One area lake that gets totally overlooked and is way underfished is Fish Lake in Maple Grove. The Crappies are a bit small, but the numbers of Sunnies is pretty good and the Northern population is excellent. Northerns average 3 to 6 lbs and are much, much easier to catch than on Eagle. They are all over the lake and tip-ups can produce a lot of Northerns at times. But unlike Eagle Lake, there are few Walleyes in Fish. The DNR has been attempting to stock Walleyes in Fish Lake, but it seems the high rough fish population has negated that effort. It seems the Muskies in Eagle Lake have cleaned out the rough fish enough for the Walleyes to have a chance to grow up. Maybe the DNR should stock Muskies in Fish so the Walleyes will have a chance. But then you're listening to a guy who loves Walleyes and could care less about rough fish like bullheads - the Muskies favorite food.

Good luck all wherever you fish.

[big musk411]

I grew up near the lakes and basically learned to fish out there. For panfish I would reccomend the either the bar near the inlet from pike lake or pike lake itself. People usually do ok for sunnies in the shallow weeds early, you need to find the weeds that are still green. Pike lake is also good, I like to stay away from the crowds. I have done well of a small point on the east end down from the channel 8-12ft. I have seen lots of crappies, sunnies and bass with the aqua-vu over there. One day I got into a school of bass. From my experience the crappie population is kind of fished out and many of the fish run very small. Eagle lake has always had a high population of small perch, this can make angling for pike and eyes difficult, but they grow faster. Caught a couple good walleyes last summer, but never ice fished for them before. Ealgle is a fun lake to bring out the aqua-vu, I have seen just about everything. The pike, muskies and walleyes will swim up to the camera to look it. You will see a million perch and then they will vanish when something big comes through. There is usally alot of houses on the south end in the deep hole, I have never done well in that area. Good luck. Matt

[tater]

Thanks so much for the info and comments guys.

Is Fish Lake really that good? Maybe I should reconsider?

Esox, I went to school in Point myself. I used to fish the back waters out by Rusty's Back Water saloon. Pretty good crappie and pike fishing out there. Also, Lake Emily about 10 or 15 miles east of Point on hwy 10 has some good pike fishing. The Petenwell is supposed to be awesome for walleye and crappie. If you know someone who fishes out there definitely take them up on it.

Next spring make sure to hit the tomorrow river for browns and ditch 5 for brook trout.

Thanks again guys!

[tater]

Esoxfisher,

one more thing. Do they have roads on fish lake in the winter? Do people park their cars in the park or by that restaurant. Just wanted to see how you get a permanent out on the ice there?

Thanks again!

[Tonka Boy]

Tater,

Just a little FYI, but Fish lake does have a spring on the north end by Weaver Lake road. Every few years a vehicle goes through in that area. Fishing-wise the lake isn't bad though. It's not what it used to be for size, but the big slimers tend to pop up from time to time.

[moby1]

Good point to bring up tonka boy.

My experience on fish lake is fair # for nort but I havent caught any bigguns. Fewer on eagle but bigger. Last year I found a couple of big schools of crappies on fish but when I hooked into them they were literally about 3" long. There was one 15 or a little bigger caught by a couple of kids that TimL saw. I think at one time there were some eyes stocked in there but I have never tried for them or caught any. Never tried pike lake in winter. I hear it can be ok but Im too lazy to walk that far and too leary to drive through the channell but I know some do drive through. Basically all three are fairly small lakes that get pounded year round so I would not have very high expectations. Its still getting out fishing and the possibility of landing some decent fish are in all of them.

[moby1]

tonka boy myself and tisch008 went out last night. Tisch had to leave b4 we wet a line. It was a little nerve racking going out where no one had been and there were no tracks. Just went out of the landing and fished for a coupl of hours. We were all running behind schedule and I dropped the ball and forgot to get bait so we just jigged with spoons and raps. No fish were had but all the equipment worked well. Only about 3.5" of ice. No other shaks out except us with the ranger xl twin. NOW I AM INTO THE SWING OF THE ICE SEASON!!!! IT'S ON!!!!!!!!

[tisch008]

Quote:

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tonka boy myself and tisch008 went out last night. Tisch had to leave b4 we wet a line. It was a little nerve racking going out where no one had been and there were no tracks. Just went out of the landing and fished for a coupl of hours. We were all running behind schedule and I dropped the ball and forgot to get bait so we just jigged with spoons and raps. No fish were had but all the equipment worked well. Only about 3.5" of ice. No other shaks out except us with the ranger xl twin. NOW I AM INTO THE SWING OF THE ICE SEASON!!!! IT'S ON!!!!!!!!

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...I'd say 3.5 inches is a little generous but then again 2.5 inches might look like 3.5 inches to you!!!!!

Tonka boy, good to meet you. Next time maybe I'll actually fish!

[moby1]

Just a little background.....Tisch wont drive on the ice until there is about 30". hahaha Just have to give tisch a hard time since we are coworkers.

[tisch008]

Guilty as charged!

Since I got a new truck, I may just walk the entire season fo the next couple of years!!!!!

[moby1]

After much debat, Mr special and I decided to hit it this morning. Caught a few smaller crappies but they were on the move and had to continually hole hop to try and stay on them. We drilled about 60 holes out there. Mr Specials bud got one decent nort (about 5-6lbs) on tipup. The ice still seems thin and seemed to be a little over 3" TOPS. I might throw the life jacket in for tomorrow Under the snow the ice was wet. Still a little freaky going out there but we weren' the only ones. By the time we left at 9:30 there were 6 or 7 others out there.