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We are going to Rend lake for the first time in late march where is a good place to stay for six guys with three boats and any tips on where to start fishing bought a hot spots lake map so we can figure out where we are. Looks like a lot of areas are trolling motor only due to hazards are boat lanes marked any tips helpful.
I only been there once. I can tell you the resort is pricey and not set up for boats, I didn't like it at all. The Gun Creek area is a good place to start. Mean Green will help you more, he fishes it almost everyday
I like the cabins at the resort and the restaurant is pretty good eating
A good place to stay for six guys with three boats. (http://www.guncreeksportsmensclub.com/rnr.html) A good place to stay for six guys with three boats
Where ever you stay make sure there is a fish cleaning area because there isn't any provided by the state around the lake.
There is a new motel called Lake cove resort. It has fenced in boat parking and charging stations. I have never stayed there but it seemed pretty nice. When i talked to the owner last fall he said he was planning on adding a fish cleaning station soon.
Boat lanes are not marked, you do not need to be in the stumps anyway. There are no fish cleaning stations on the lake, bring a piece of plywood
Jim, what are you doing up at 3:50 am! gripping about the cleaning stations again
Out of all the places I stayed at on rend I prefer the cabin in the woods full kitchens grills and theres even a spot to clean fish on like the resort I had to clean a 2 person limit in the room
Rend lake cabin in the woods is a good choice if you're looking to stay together. Seasons is also a good choice but you won't be able to stay in the same room. I don't know anything about Lake Cove Resort I haven't been in there yet but it does look to be a nice place. As some others have said you don't need to go into the stuff to catch fish there's plenty of fish to be caught in the open areas at the lake. Have any questions feel free to give me a call or shoot me a private message on here
Thanks all for the info will check out these places on web and will check back when we decide exact date to come down. Nothing but cold ice and snow here in Minooka Il
Like they said boat lanes are not marked and there's no reason to go up into the stumps if your not familiar with the lake. It will likely be very muddy up at the north end anyway.... Look up the GPS coordinates on the Rend Lake Webpage. They have all the state brush piles marked. South Marcum is by the dam should be decent that time of year. South Sandusky too. People always fish around the bridges on the highway crossing the lake, but the bigger fish generally will be caught off the brush piles. Gun creek brush piles are good too out in front of the campgounds. They are all GPS spots so they get hit hard sometimes, but I've had good luck on them in the past at times.
Basically stay mostly south of the road that divides the lake for best results on a first trip. If you are going to be here long you may want to slide down to Lake of Egypt. It's a power plant lake and should be really good at this time of year (I think). They are some nice fish at Lake of Egypt. Usually takes 12 lb+ stringers of 7 fish to win tournaments and there are a lot of 13"+ fish and fish in the 2lb range in that lake. Hard to catch that quality at Rend. But harder to catch the fish at Egypt as they have no GPS coordinates. You just have to use side imaging and find something on your own if you don't know the lake. They may be spawning there at that time of year and in the weeds. Egypt has 30 fish per man limits no size limit. Rend has the 10 over 10" and 25 fish limit. If you get on the fish at Egypt you can catch your 30 over 10" with many 12-14". But sometimes it's a tough lake for a first time. But so is rend honestly. Egypt is clear, Rend is muddy. Egypt will be full of boats probably. Something to think about anyway. Rend is kind of a big mud puddle. Egypt is down farther in the hills a bit and 40+ foot deep in places, But has a lot of houses around it too. But it's a really nice lake and not far from Rend if you don't do well at Rend it's about an hour south. Crappie USA is holding a mega tournament there middle of march so I guess it's getting some popularity as it's a nationwide tournament trail. I've heard some say shhh. that's a secret lake, but I guess the secrets out if Crappie USA Mega tournament is coming in a couple weeks.