# Englewood Metro Park



## bellyboater (Jun 26, 2004)

Was wondering if anybody had done much fishing at these lakes and ponds. Looks like there is quite a few spots to try looking at the 5 rivers metro park map. Any imformation would be appreciated.


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## foofoo (May 9, 2005)

I have fished in most of these lakes at least once. Assuming you're not talking about the lake at the park area by the dam at route 40, there are two other areas also considered part of the Englewood Metroparks lakes. My friend has named these the Martindale Lakes and the Union Lakes. The Martindale Lakes have a parking area on Martindale Road right next to the Stillwater River. The Union lakes are just a bit north, on Old Springfield Road.

The Union lakes are across the road from an active quarry with a private employees-only lake (sorry). The park on the public (south) side has four small lakes, with one that you can't fish in because it's a preserve. There's plenty of parking and an area where people can put small boats in, and at least one port-a-john (that's important to some people). There's enough shore to spread out the typical weekend crowd. The lake I usually fish in there is the large one to the east, but I've also fished the other two. I have caught lots of small largemouths and small catfish (yellowbelly) , and a couple bass of possible keeper size. The crappie fishing appears to be decent. The bluegill fishing is great in numbers but not size. Also, I know there are some big bass in there - I once saw just the head of a dead one on the shore and I could have put my fist in its mouth! As for conditions, the water is a bit up right now and I say there's about a foot of visibility. The shrubs surrounding the lakes were mowed down not too long ago, so there are lots of snags in the shallows now (but fewer when casting). Overall, the fishing is typically decent, with some good days and some skunkings. 

The Martindale Lakes are much more rustic, and expect to hike further. The lakes will "hook up" when water levels are high (like now). When I was there on Saturday everybody was catching what they were after, as long as they weren't after big ones. Crappie fishing appears to be good. Personally, between Saturday and Sunday I caught 6 small yellowbellies, 4 small bass and severall bluegill, all off of nightcrawlers. The bass will take crawlers off the bottom and the catfish will take from a bobber and the bottom. The large lake (the one along the river) was where the crappie guys were, and the catfish guys were mostly in the smaller lakes. I got most of the cats in the small lake to the south, where I was the only guy fishing for half of Sunday.

Probably more info than you wanted, but I can share a few more details if you want.


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## bellyboater (Jun 26, 2004)

foofoo thanks for the imformative post. I have a couple more questions. The site says there is 24 hour parking for the martindale ponds so I am assuming you can night fish there.Once it gets hot I like to get after those bass at night. Have you ever tried night fishing there and how good is the access around ponds for bank fishing.


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## foofoo (May 9, 2005)

I believe that's true about night fishing - I seem to recall there being a sign too. Anyway, my friend fishes there at night sometimes and occasionally runs into others there at night, so there shouldn't be any problem. The parking area is always open (no gates), and is far enough away from civilization that getting broken into shouldn't be an issue. The paths are pretty easy to follow, so there's no worry about walking off a cliff into the lake. There are two paths to the lakes, starting from each end of the lot.
As for the fishing, my friend goes after the bass at night too. I guess he does ok. There are a lot of catfish sites on the banks (open areas with pole-props and catfishing garbage and even old campfires), so it must be good for catfishing.
As for bank fishing, that's what almost everybody out there does (the only boats I've ever seen are the tiny plastic ones that carry two guys and a trolling motor - there's really no way to get a big boat in there). The amount of fishable bank depends on water levels, but there are gaps in the trees here and there. The big lake is totally accessible on the west side, but the river side has a high drop off and very little access. The pond near the road has a lot of trees around it but there are a few spots. The pond to the south (alongside the big lake) is about 3/4 accessible. There are a lot of overhanging shrubs/trees on the side of this one, and a few spots where you can get in there and cast parallel to the bank for bass (a good spot from what I'm told, though I didn't get any hits Sunday). Probably a bit thick to cast in at night, but then it's up to you.
Good luck!


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## foofoo (May 9, 2005)

One more thing - there's a nice little bait shop nearby - it's on Route 48 a bit south of Martindale Road. Look for the fish sign. I don't know what their hours are, but they do have a pretty good tackle selection for a little place, and the prices aren't bad.


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## MarrakeshExpress (May 9, 2005)

A buddy of mine wants to go check out those "Union Lakes" tomorow, I was wondering though, how is the fishing in the river itself along either the "Martindale" or "Union" lakes?


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## cj7 (Apr 5, 2005)

marrak,

I fished the river from Old springfield road to just south of martindale last week and it was a great couple of hours. I think 5-6 rock bass and even 3 crappie! Nothing very big though. There is a natural access point onthe south side of the road just to the west of the bridge on old springfield. There is one shallow spot, but we were able to get through it with the flat bottom! Good luck.


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## foofoo (May 9, 2005)

Last week I tried the river alongside the Martindale lakes for a little bit. This was within sight of the bridge. No luck. Looks like a great place to try fly fishing though. I did see a huge carp there under the bridge once - I actually exclaimed "Holy Carp!"

Last summer I was trying to get to the big lake from the river side. Along the way I stopped in the river a couple of times. There are some places where the river gets pretty narrow. There are a lot of good cover spots for bass. The downside is that the water was mostly shallow and probably didn't hold many big fish. Also, it's hard to get down to the water in most spots. Anyway, I caught a few smallish LMs by hitting the pools caused by downed trees. If you like to wade and fish in spots where nobody else dares go, then this is the place for you.


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