I stumbled into a fun lake called Lake George this morning. A few decent panfish and one big Largemouth. I like the size of this lake a lot, and the DNR info is sketchy. Anyone know anything about it? Where to fish? What to use? Appreciate it!

"Fun Lake" are the key words, popular with rec boaters, I fished it many years ago, the carp in that lake rooting up the shallows were seriously big.

I live on the lake and it is definetely a rec lake. I only go out on the lake monday-thursday. It gets packed and loud. Its kind of normal metro lake with tons of small panfish and some decent bass.

Hmmm... I'm mostly interested in fishing weekdays before 10a. It was really quiet while I was there today, but it's good to know when NOT to go back. Any thoughts on places in the lake that might produce? I caught a nice fat 14" largemouth on a leech today, and that was really fun! You're right that there isn't a lot of big sunnies in the area. Any other recommended lakes nearby?

I used to fish it from time to time, not to much anymore. I have a fundamental problem paying to access a lake. As far as the fishing goes there is a nice submerged point in the lake that turns out fish from time to time.....

Depends what your looking for and when. Bass, this time of year? topwater baits as the Bass pound the frogs on the shorelines. Crappies, they left the break from 8-11 ft and have gone deeper. They are small on this lake. Pike- weedlines.
Sunnies everywhere.
Not a walleye lake.
I live 10 mins away and fish this when I don't have time to go somewhere else. I do better on the eastern half lately.
Good luck and watch out for the traffic.

Thanks so much! That's very helpful!

Its a nice ice fishing lake. In winter you can get into some nice slab size crappies and decent size sunfish. However, like everyone else says the amount of boat and jet skiers in summer and snowmobilers in winter make it problamatical at best. Too close to the cities and too close to people is my assessment.

However, I do admit it is a nice little lake. According to the info I was able to find it has Bullheads, Crappies, Sunfish, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, and Perch in it. The most abundant species being bluegills.

I have fished the lake on and off for years but now only do so in winter. It used to be a nice simple little lake and I have lots of pleasant memories or it as a kid but there are better lakes to fish that don't get the numbers of people tearing around making life miserable for the guy who just wants to go out and listen to the quiet for a few hours.

A good lake gone bad from misuse. The DNR needs to manage it better. They won't of course, but the need to. Now if it were some Millionaires hideaway where the property owners were big money contributors to the governors party we would see the water patrol on the lake 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. But sadly, it is not!

Mattash,

Burn a rattle trap over the weeds and catch all the northerns you want. Red is a good color but chrome could be good on sunny days. My best northern on that lake was 31" on a black buzz bait however.

Bass can be in alot of places, top to bottom. I would suggest navigating the weedline with your electronics (I don't know how you are rigged though) until you find those transitions between hard and soft bottom or contour changes. Do this with a crank bait. You can also find out the changes in weed type doing this since you will get hung up.

H20fwlr's info might be more fun though.

My experience: Cabbage = northerns; Coontail = bass.

You're getting a good start. I'll let you enjoy the satisfaction of figuring out the rest.

Wow! That's all great info! I'm mostly a 4:30-9a M-F angler, so I get the quiet I want on most lakes! My dad was in town and we hit George the other day, and the largemouth bite on fake worms was pretty awesome. Also, random story to tell:

We were sort of trolling the west side of the lake when I saw a dad and what had to be his 7 year old son. Dad gets on a 3-4 lb largemouth and hands his rod to the kid! Then, after his son boats the big one, they take a pic and throw it back! I was so impressed, and it excited me to have days like that with my son soon enough (he's 3 now)!

Run up to North Center just East of Lindstrom if you want a nice quiet little lake that is nearby and doesn't see a lot of boat traffic. You might also try Centerville and or Peltier. However the best of them all in my opinion for the kind of lake you are talking about would be Linwood. It is close, and has a decent boat landing and has a nice mix of panfish for the kids and the occassional walleye thrown in.

Linwood has the same fish as Lake George and you won't have the crowds. Fish the bars near the dam just to the south of the public access boat ramp in about 15 to 20 feet of water. A leech or crawler towed on a 3 way rig or bottom bouncer is a sure way to put walleyes on the table, especially at night or early morning around dawn.

We used to fish the lake back in the 1970's. I have a vivid memory of a canoe cut in half by a speed boat displayed on shore next to the bar. My recommendation is NOT to buy a case of beer, drink the first 12 and then take a canoe right across the middle of the lake.

Yikes! Were you IN the canoe at the time?