Where In Wisconsin - I 90/94??

[Brian]

I live an hour east of Indianapolis, and my wife and I are preparing for our annual Leech Lake vacation. Since it's such a long haul, I thought this year, maybe I'd break up the drive home by stopping in Wisonsin, somewhere close to I 90/94, for a day or two. I'd prefer Musky or Walleye, but any good fishing hole will do. Any suggestions?? I would also need a resort/lodging close.

Thanks,
Brian

[Doc _wi]

Madison has some good to excellent fishing and plenty of interesting sights. I'm not sure about resorts, but theres plenty of lodging. The Wisconsin Dells is, well, there's a TON to do and mid week isn't too crowded. BIG water parks and tourist attractions galore. I'm not sure what fishing is like in the summer, but there are plenty of guys who do.

Enjoy your vacation.

Joel "Doc" Kunz

[troutaholic]

LAST EDITED ON Jul-10-01 AT 06:54AM (CST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jul-10-01 AT 06:53*AM (CST)

While this isn't exactly on your route...it isn't too far out of the way.......................

LaCrosse is right on the Mississippi and the river is in great form.

Nice walleyes are being caught up and down the river. The normal-sized fish are in the 16" to 20" range....with +20" not at all uncommon. We caught 4 fish over 22" several nights ago and kept 8 fish between 17 and 20 inches.

If LaCrosse is too far out of the way.....I second the Wisconsin Dells.

[cisco]

Forget the Dells unless you have little kids and the adults don't care about the natural world. It's a good distance farther, but push on thru to the Spooner area north of Eau Claire. Area is filled with super lakes and it's on the way to Leech via Superior/Duluth. That way, too, you miss Twin Cities congestion. (Lots of usual summer construction going on in MN and WI).

The Spooner area is truly Northwoods and offers plenty besides good fishing.

Good luck.

[cisco]

Brian --
By "farther," I was referring to the trip from Indianapolis to Minnesota, not your return trip home. I'd still give the Spooner area serious consideration, however.

[Sunshine]

Troutaholic.......

Any suggestions on where to fish the Miss in LaCrosse? I'm heading up there this weekend and could use a starting point.

Thanks

[KP]

I would try Castle Rock Lake. Even on a weekend it's not too insane and I've always had great luck Walleye and Crappie fishing there. I usually go to the county campground on the southwest side of the lake. There are plenty of cabin resorts too. It will about break your trip in half from Indy. Castle Rock is just north of 90/94 about 10 miles. Fishing Hots Spots has a good map of the lake.

[Bill Coomes]

Brian,

As a fellow Hoosier (and if you are an hour east of Indianapolis you are near my hometown of Richmond), I would recommend the Hayward Lakes area. I'd suggest the Chippewa Flowage or Round Lake with at least dinner one night @ Famous Dave's Rib Shack.

[Jerry Tipping]

I second the Castle Rock Flowage area In Central Wisconsin. It's about a fifteen minuite drive east of the interstate. We have been doing very well on the walleye, crappie and perch. The big pike have started to roam the open water also. On Monday we boated 30 plus walleye, mostly undersize(15") but managed three legal, one a 5#2oz. We had one pike 15# plus, another around 10 #, a dozen crappie 10"-12", a dozen perch 9"-11", 1 catfish, and a bunch of whitebass, all pulling cranks. e-mail me and I will recommend some motels in the area if this appeals to you. It's a great area.
Keep a tight line!!! <*{{{{{><

[Brian]

I'm very close to you, New Castle, and pass thru Richmond quite often on the way to Cincinnati's Bass Pro Shops.

Anyway, thanks for the input, do you have any resort recommendations? Are there any web sites you're aware of for that area?

Thanks!
Brian

[Bob Ritt]

Brian, I'm very partial here as I live on Lake Wisconsin ( Part of the Wisconsin River System..Like Castle Rock)... It's great Walleye fishing and also has a very underfished Musky population.. ( Quite a few caught this spring).. Also has just about any species that you might want to fish for.. About 12,000 acres-- 47 ft. depth.. max.. lot's of river acres also.. Motels close by some small resorts.. Best partis very little presure during the week days.. lot's of free launch areas..
Exit I-90 at exit 115 make left turn at top of ramp and go about 4 1/2 miles to Lake... need any more info E-mail .. I'll try to get you more info on place to stay... rritt@jvlnet.com.... Tight Lines, Bob Ritt

PS. Hello Bill Coomes!!!!! drop an E-Mail; if you read this post... Bob

[troutaholic]

I have not been out for several nights, so this may be old and useless info.

The river has come down very fast, approx. 4 feet in 6 days, but the current is still relatively high.

The fishing has been excellent on backwater cuts - we caught quite a few concentrated groups of walleyes on timber. Most notably, timber that had current nearby BUT NOT on the timber. A downed tree on the inside of a turn was a guaranteed spot last week.

No one has been catching them on the wing dams - yet...I suspect this weekend or next will see some movement to the wing dams.

Jigs and shad raps around timber on the off-river chutes and backwaters is where I would start. Ya don't need too much water either - we caught them in 3 to 20 feet of water.

[troutaholic]

LAST EDITED ON Jul-12-01 AT 04:50AM (CST)[p]I

[Bill Coomes]

Try http://www.haywardlakes.com/