Lone Chimney Lake

[itsahog]

So, for the first time ever I want to check out lone chimney lake today. Since it was my first time there I was very careful and did not see all the lake, but I seen a bit of it, definitely an impressive looking Bass Lake. You definitely better be careful, lots of timber. I did fish a little bit, got hit once but did not catch anything. Spent most of my time just idling on the lake checking things out. There were quite a few boats out, Myself and others had to park off-road since the parking lot was full of boat trailers. I’m sure people were catching fish, although I did not see one boat pull in a fish. I talked to one guy that was fishing with who I presume was his son, said he had caught three during the day. I actually went to Lake sooner this morning, was catching saugeye. none that hit 18 inch limit, so I decided to leave and check out lone chimney, glad I did. Probably go back some nice day during the week when the lake is not so busy. The only thing I didn’t like was the 2 miles of gravel roads, my boat was a dust bowl inside and out after I left. That sucked.

[OkieLure]

Is that a no wake lake? Was the water up?

[SoonerFan]

I never fished it but from what I remember from the one drive by I gave it, it would be no wake out of fear. Back then it was so low, deer were seen wading across the main lake. Sounds like it’s back now.
I think it’s not much bigger than 1000 acres.

[itsahog]

Yes, definitely a no wake. You hardly heard a big motor running, and when you did it was idle speed only. My first time on the lake so I have no way of judging water level but it looked perfectly fine to me, boat ramp and boat dock both very usable. I will say if it’s your first time on the lake you should plan on at least a couple of hours just scouting it. I’ll be much more comfortable my next trip out. I did use my spot lock at the boat dock, and I had to be awful careful because of standing timber. I don’t want to make it sound like you can’t fish, but you definitely need to pay attention. If somebody wants to PM their email address I can send you a short video clip, but I don’t think I actually got the boat dock but I did get a little bit of the lake.
I should say that I use the boat ramp on what I would consider the east side closest to the little town of lone chimney, there may be another boat dock by looking at Google maps. The one I used had the dock. The parking area was over full.

[senkoboy]

I should say that I use the boat ramp on what I would consider the east side closest to the little town of lone chimney, there may be another boat dock by looking at Google maps. The one I used had the dock. The parking area was over full.

I think that's the best ramp, closest to the Turnpike anyway. Back in the day, 90's, I knew people who would run on pad a mile + to the upper end of the lake. Better know where the channel is.
Lots of shallow flats, you can to go from 20' of water to 2' of water quickly.
Lots of fishable water, I haven't fished it much is several years. If you go up one of the south creeks far enough I have actually had my boat underneath of the Cimarron Turnpike at mile marker 33.

[OkieBud]

did not it dried up a few years ago??

[SoonerFan]

did not it dried up a few years ago??

Pretty close. I remember reading a story about it in the Daily Disappointment that reported deer wading across it at the main lake part. Here’s an article from the Stillwater paper in 2011. https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lo...9c802fdf8.html
Google it, there’s several pictures of the lake at that time.

[OkieBud]

Thanks for sharing.. I remember fishing it in the middle 80's or so.. A lot of 12" fish and a fun lake to fish...

[itsahog]

That article was from ~10 years ago, hopefully it’s had time to recover I’m not sure when it finally got water back. I did see an article that was only a few years old where the game and fish were releasing Florida strain bass into the lake - Based on the amount of boats in the lake, there must be some fish in it. Hopefully it has recovered.

[SoonerFan]

That article was from ~10 years ago, hopefully it’s had time to recover I’m not sure when it finally got water back. I did see an article that was only a few years old where the game and fish were releasing Florida strain bass into the lake - Based on the amount of boats in the lake, there must be some fish in it. Hopefully it has recovered.

You were there...how did it look? We’ve had some wet years lately, I’m sure it’s recovered well by now. There was a bad drought back in those years. I used to fish Wes Watkins a lot. The last time I fish there the dock was sitting on dry ground. Around that same time at Arbuckle, the water got so low that two rocky humps that are usually just under water, were full blown islands with a third one that I didn’t even know about. A few years later, the water got so high that the brick restroom way up in the parking lot was completely under water.

I guess my point is; these lakes can come up as fast as they go down. One thing that I found interesting in the newspaper article was that there are so many farm ponds in the area that collect runoff, it hurts Lone Chimney. LC has to wait for the ponds to fill up and runoff before LC gets any significant water.

[SoonerFan]

[itsahog]

It was my first time there, so I don’t really know how to measure it against prior, but in my opinion the lake looked very good. I have no idea about the fish population or how they may have or may not have recovered, but they’ve had 8 to 10 years so I would think all is fine. Certainly was busy.

[senkoboy]

It was my first time there, so I don’t really know how to measure it against prior, but in my opinion the lake looked very good. I have no idea about the fish population or how they may have or may not have recovered, but they’ve had 8 to 10 years so I would think all is fine. Certainly was busy.

Lake never dried up completely, I have a co-worker who took a two man over and fished it even when it was low.

Here is an article from 1999....
https://www.oklahoman.com/article/26...t-lone-chimney

[Klinger N Ok]

The lake is decent fishing but don't expect much numbers-wise. For whatever reason, it doesn't seem to have a huge forage base. It looks like it should be very fertile, but you just don't see schools of shad everywhere. Back in the 90's it kicked out lots of giant fish and I really figured it would bounce back to that after filling from near empty during the drought, but it isn't near the fishery it was back then. If all it took was looks, then Lone Chimney would be at the top of the list though with all the flooded brush, timber and vegetation. If you haven't fished it before, expect your boat to get filthy from the road and scratches from the cedar and Bois D'arc in the lake.

[SoonerFan]

The lake is decent fishing but don't expect much numbers-wise. For whatever reason, it doesn't seem to have a huge forage base. It looks like it should be very fertile, but you just don't see schools of shad everywhere. Back in the 90's it kicked out lots of giant fish and I really figured it would bounce back to that after filling from near empty during the drought, but it isn't near the fishery it was back then. If all it took was looks, then Lone Chimney would be at the top of the list though with all the flooded brush, timber and vegetation. If you haven't fished it before, expect your boat to get filthy from the road and scratches from the cedar and Bois D'arc in the lake.

Same story at Wes Watkins and to a lesser degree Bell Cow. I think Bell Cow is recovering a little better.

[itsahog]

The lake is decent fishing but don't expect much numbers-wise. For whatever reason, it doesn't seem to have a huge forage base. It looks like it should be very fertile, but you just don't see schools of shad everywhere. Back in the 90's it kicked out lots of giant fish and I really figured it would bounce back to that after filling from near empty during the drought, but it isn't near the fishery it was back then. If all it took was looks, then Lone Chimney would be at the top of the list though with all the flooded brush, timber and vegetation. If you haven't fished it before, expect your boat to get filthy from the road and scratches from the cedar and Bois D'arc in the lake.

I managed not to hit anything in the lake, but my boat was a dust bowl from the road going in and out, the lake is definitely hazardous. My biggest disappointment was how busy it was, too much pressure for me.