Fishing at Carlyle Lake
Carlyle Lake offers good fishing for crappie, white bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, channel and flathead catfish, freshwater drum and carp. Other species commonly caught are green sunfish, yellow bass, yellow and black bullheads. If you like variety, the tailwater area, directly below the lake’s spillway, is a fisherman’s paradise. Here anglers have caught 32 different species of fishes. The major species caught are crappie, carp, drum, bluegill, buffalo, channel catfish, and white bass. Other species taken with some regularity are walleye, sauger, yellow bass, largemouth bass, carpsucker, paddlefish, bullhead, sucker, gar and bowfin.
Upper Lake Area
Division between upper and lower parts of the lake is formed by the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks which span the water from the towns of Keyesport to Boulder. The upper area (approximately one-third of the lake) offers some of the best crappie, bluegill, largemouth bass, bullhead, and channel catfish angling found in the lake. Two public access areas, Tamalco on the west and Patoka on the east, provide quick and easy entry to the upper lake.
Lower Lake Area
The prime fishing bays of the lower lake include West Branch, Burnside Bay, Allen, Peppenhorst, Bond Branch, and Coles, Gibbes and Brewster Creeks. Access areas to this part of the lake include West Access near Carlyle, South Shore State park, Coles Creek on the east, Eldon Hazlet State Park on the west, and Keyesport Access and Boulder Access.
Spillway
The East and West Spillway Access Areas are directly below the Carlyle Lake dam. Another fisherman access area is east of the Kaskaskia River bridge, north of U.S. 50. This site provides easy access to the Kaskaskia River and the old river bed.
Fishing with Al Crocker
Listen to updated fishing reports on where the fish are biting and what they are biting on.
