Thread: mark twain or rend

First thing tho - you might wanna consider adding some punctuation to your posts. It might make sense to you, but reading a continuous run-on like that is pretty tough. (now I'm sure I'll get crap from somebody out there about acting like an English teacher). :D

Anyway - what are you wanting to know exactly? If one lake is 'better' than the other? Do you mean right now? Sometime later or just what? They are both great lakes, have great crappie populations and either one should be fine. Just depends on what you wanna do and how you wanna fish I guess.

I try to get to Twain a couple/three times a year - it's about as far for me as Rend and I like them both for different reasons.

Last year we spent three days at MT and the water came up 14 feet in those three days. Needless to say - it was a worthless trip. It was tough even catching fish and we pulled the plug early. There were guys at the resorts playing frisbee rather than putting their boats on the water.

But it's generally a pretty reliable lake. To me, it seems to turn on later than the Southern IL lakes so it can stay pretty good thru May and sometimes into June. Just check the MO forum for reports and compare that to Rend for the latest info. Others here know Rend better than me I'm sure, so I'll let those that fish it regularly comment.

I'd have to say though - that MT has had a fairly unimpressive last couple of years compared to what it has done in the year's prior to that. I'm still going up there and have a trip planned at the end of April (hopefully it won't rain again like it did during that stretch)

If I were going soon - I'm sure I'd pick Rend right now over Twain - but that's not to say you can't catch them at either lake. If there's specific areas or questions - I'll try to help...

Good luck..

--rat

If you are in the Alton area, try and get in touch with Larry Reid. He practically lives up there at Twain during the spring, and I think he does some guiding as well. Not plugging him for a guide service, just saying that he could be a reliable source of info. I ran into him about a month ago at the post office, and he was telling me that last year from about mid April until the first of June they slayed the fish up there, and nice ones too. Said that you could practically catch them on a bare hook. He may have a tendency to embellish a tad, but what fisherman doesn't! :D Then, it was just like someone flipped a switch, and it didn't matter how you fished, they had lock jaw. I did see pictures that he was carrying around with him, and there were some very impressive stringers.

Originally Posted by ILRiverRat

First thing tho - you might wanna consider adding some punctuation to your posts. It might make sense to you, but reading a continuous run-on like that is pretty tough. (now I'm sure I'll get crap from somebody out there about acting like an English teacher). :D

Anyway - what are you wanting to know exactly? If one lake is 'better' than the other? Do you mean right now? Sometime later or just what? They are both great lakes, have great crappie populations and either one should be fine. Just depends on what you wanna do and how you wanna fish I guess.

I try to get to Twain a couple/three times a year - it's about as far for me as Rend and I like them both for different reasons.

Last year we spent three days at MT and the water came up 14 feet in those three days. Needless to say - it was a worthless trip. It was tough even catching fish and we pulled the plug early. There were guys at the resorts playing frisbee rather than putting their boats on the water.

But it's generally a pretty reliable lake. To me, it seems to turn on later than the Southern IL lakes so it can stay pretty good thru May and sometimes into June. Just check the MO forum for reports and compare that to Rend for the latest info. Others here know Rend better than me I'm sure, so I'll let those that fish it regularly comment.

I'd have to say though - that MT has had a fairly unimpressive last couple of years compared to what it has done in the year's prior to that. I'm still going up there and have a trip planned at the end of April (hopefully it won't rain again like it did during that stretch)

If I were going soon - I'm sure I'd pick Rend right now over Twain - but that's not to say you can't catch them at either lake. If there's specific areas or questions - I'll try to help...

Good luck..

--rat

not very good at typing just try to get it done as easy as possible. But the english teacher you are you shoould be able to read anything lol!!!!!! just kidding.what i really wanted to know is if any body has been cathing any fish up at mark twain.i really like that lake and it has been a long time since i have been there but it has a bad rep for skunking people and it is along drive to get skunked.but if rend is the better place to go were would i have the best chance at catching some fish.see i have one day to fish with my grandpa and i want my best chance at it bieng a good one so like i said any info would help.were,how deep,what coler you know that sort of thing thanks. jiggin jay!!!!

call the people at south fork resort before you go and they will tell you everything you need to know..if i was goin tomorrow i would fish sandy creek, both indians, and the north fork..warmest water=earliest bite