We stayed in Cabin #4 at the Oak Ridge Resort on La Vieux Desert lake near Phelps for several days recently. I cannot more highly recommend this location to others. Steven and Katherine were very accommodative in meeting us at the dock when we arrived by boat at a pre-arranged time of our choice. They immediately struck us as very friendly and helpful, and within a few minutes we felt like we had known them a long time. Steven showed us our cabin and other facilities on the property, including how to best use the boat lifts, the minnow barrel, a locker for storing our fishing gear (saved time and allowed us to keep our gear out of the cabin), and the fish cleaning station (very nicely equipped to make cleaning your catch very efficiently – more on the “catch” in a moment). Our cabin was very well furnished – modern stove and fridge, dishes, glassware, and virtually every utensil you will need.
If you haven’t done any fishing on La Vieux Desert, you are missing out on one of the best lakes in the Midwest for variety and potential for trophy size catch. We limited out on panfish (crappie, perch, and bluegills) in a couple days. Steven gave us a great tip on where to catch panfish just off the resort’s piers – following his suggestion netted us some great size crappies (threw back anything less than 8 inches). On this visit we did not try for game fish, but in previous visits we’ve had a huge number of large northern strikes and witnessed a generous number of muskies being taken as well.
We had just a terrific time overall – Steven and Katherine clearly care very much that their guests have a fabulous vacation and ours was no different. We are already thinking about possible dates for a return visit next year, expecting that memories on our next visit will be similar to those from this year.