Lakes near Terre Haute

[Smooty]

I moved to Terre Haute a while back and haven't been able to hit any of the local waters up here yet. I'm going to get my chance late March and will be fishing out of a 17 foot fiberglass bass boat. What are some good waters to hit around Terre Haute for bass with a boat that size? I know Raccoon is close to my house but will have a very low water level for winter still. Any places within an hour or so in Indiana or Illinois where I might be able to get some bass to bite would be great. Anyone have any info on Sullivan Lake and Cagles Mill Lake? They are both within an hour of me but don't know much about them. Any advice for late March on any lakes up here? Thanks in advance for the help.

[cbass]

Try Mill Creek in Marshall IL. It was one of my favorites. Get pounded by tourneys, but still produces. You should be able to get there in under 30 minutes.

[tbilli01]

You have a lot of lakes to choose from. Go to Turtle creek right now. You also have Green/Sullivan strip pits close to you.

Lake Sullivan is a good lake. A bunch of saguer and panfish is good. Pretty good bass lake too.

Turtle creek is a good bass lake and it's a warm water discharge lake so if you go to the north end of the lake water temps will be in the 70 degree area. The lake has not been has good as in years past but still has some good fishing in it.

Good luck!

[DSPCHAMY]

Raccon, Waveland opens soon. Glen Flint is not a bad little lake. Turtle Creek is always warm, but in my opinion has gone down hill in recent years.

Here is the Corp website for all the corp managed lakes.
Raccon is only 6 ft below summer pool right now. Cagle Mills will be flooded until mid summer, atleast that is normally the case there.

http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/wc/reports/lkreport.html

IL licenses went up this year from what I heard, so a non resident is pretty $$$ but if you are going to do it you are only a couple hours from Rend lake which is a great place to fish.

Have fun out there on the water.

[Smooty]

Thanks for the replies. I had thought about Turtle Creek a lot recently but my boat has a 90 h.p. and the lake seems kind of big for just a trolling motor. I don't have a 10 h.p. or smaller to mount on yet. From what I understand, it was become kind of a catfish lake anyway.

Is Cagles Mill any good when it's flooded? How navigable and fishable is Raccoon when it's say 5-10 feet low? I definantely want to make it to Rend Lake sometime, probably when it's a little warmer like say April/May. Any other power plant lakes close by, one that doesn't have a h.p. limit on it maybe? I bet temps on the water won't even be 50's by late March if this weather doesn't warm up quick and stay that way.

[idbefishing]

I recommend you to go to Raccoon when the water is low and take a digital camera with you so you can makes note of where to fish when the lake is up.

[Smooty]

I think we're going to be fishing Cataract in a couple weeks. I hear the lake is high right now, how do you think that will effect the fish? Anything I need to know about for this lake? Any productive lures, techniques, patterns for this time of year or when the water is high? Thanks for any info you can provide. Hopefully it will warm back up before the end of the month.