Thread: Gotta ? about rathbun

never fished rathbun (i think thats how to spell it) before, thinking about taking a trip up this spring can anybody give me any advice or tips to fish this lake. where to go ? what to use? be fishin mostly for crappie but I like to throw a spinner or worm for bass too sometimes.

wheres the best place to launch and is there a fee

nm, thought you said a different lake, never hit Rathbun.

I had a friend that used to go up there to walleye fish and did pretty good. That's been a few years ago; never fished the lake myself.

The Corps of engineers have several ramps around the lake.The Corps ramps will cost to launch I think its 3 bucks. Honey creek has the biggest ramp at 6 lanes. Here is the corps website that has some good info about the lake.
Rathbun Lake

Honey Creek is the ramp I use when there.

thanks for the info

Fished this lake many years ago. The area we fished during the spawn was called "south fork" (I think)... There is a small cut in a levy that lets you get back into some shallow flooded timber and a small island. Great spawning area..

Rathbun is also a good trolling lake during prespawn.. look for the 20' flats and troll minnows 10' off the surface.

Hope this helps

Costs $3 to launch from Corps ramps. Launch according the non-wind side as the lake can get rough. Honey Creek is always a safe bet as well as crappie cove further North up the lake. I always go mid-late May to catch the spawn and usually do really well in #'s and size.