Anyone on here fish Carlyle much? How the lake fish? Super shallow? Stumpy? Easy to run? I looked at results from the USA Bassin tournament results and cant really gauge how the fishing is. Interested if decent as its closer then most.
Anyone on here fish Carlyle much? How the lake fish? Super shallow? Stumpy? Easy to run? I looked at results from the USA Bassin tournament results and cant really gauge how the fishing is. Interested if decent as its closer then most.
It is the largest lake in the states and exactly NONE of the major tournament circuits (BFL, Federation, etc) go there regularly. It has just never been a very good Bass lake. It is basically a big, wide open fish bowl with a lot of rip rap and natural bank. In my opinion, there are MUCH better choices.
I am fairly local. We refer to it as the Dead Sea. Rip rap lined shallow lake that is mostly used for sailing boats. It does have a decent white bass population. It is used to regulate the Kaskaskia River level down stream and the spring it fluctuates greatly.
Enjoying life in Southern Illinois
It’s IL largest mud puddle
Heed the above advice!
It gets ROUGH, QUICK ! Many windshields have been busted on this lake.
Yes, its shallow. Look on navionics.
It’s been at least 5 years ago. Illinois bass nation had state tournament there. Guys were calling it the “Dead Sea”. Not my favorite lake in Illinois
I grew up in Troy and was on Carlyle a lot as a kid. All of the above is true.
But, man, if you can get on those White Bass, sure is a lot of fun!
Prob best day of fishing I've ever had was white bass fishing there in the heat of summer. Unreal. Boats all around and we were all catching them left and right. No wind and 100 out.
Man that's a bummer as its only 1:15 away. Growing up we never fished it as kids and I always heard is was terrible for bass but was hopeful that may have changed.
Been going there 50 years. I used to bass fish it in the 70s and 80s when my dad fished a lot of tournaments. Bass was slow then and slow now. Not sure why, plenty of shad. White bass excellent. Catfish not far behind. Crappie coming on strong the last couple years. Wind over 10 mph is a problem for smaller boats. Over 15 a problem for almost all fishing boats.
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