dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 Whats up everyone just made my account and posting for the first time!! First off some info on myself i have only been bass fishing for about 2 years at the most and started off farm pond fishing with a friend! Before that i would maybe bluegill and catfish once a year if that and never really got into it. I got introduced to bass fishing and ive been literally hooked ever since and over the passed year its become even more of an addiction so i finally bought my first boat, a 14 foot jon boat and decided i was gonna start off small lake bass fishing and so far it has gone good! I started off fishing lakes around the champaign area goin to homer lake first before i even had a trolley motor and i literally paddled around the whole afternoon but probably the best day we've had so far weight wise with my buddy catching a 3 pounder and another right over a pound then i caught a solid 2 pounder with a healthy belly and 3 pretty small bass!! So here goes my main topic im getting tired of fishing homer even though its a beautiful lake and i really suggest trying it because ive heard people pulling out 4 and 5 pounders quite a bit! So im looking for new smaller lakes or even some homer lake pointers would be awesome because all i have is a 55lb thrust trolley motor and a battery i got for free which is shot and only last about 3 hours or so but it works until i get a new one! Ive been researching kickapoo and would really like to know more about it because it seems like from what ive read theres decent bass and would also like to know what other possibilities i have within an hour or so from champaign! Ive fished Homer, river bend rock quarry, walnut point, and lake of the woods which lake of the woods idt i ever caught a bass at! So please any suggestions would be really appreciated so thank you for your time!! Quote
Nice_Bass Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 Especially this time of year, westside access on clinton. Seperated off the main lake abd would be a good fit for your boat-no wake area.... Shallow and lacks much of any structure but holds good numbers with a big one every once in a while. I go there about once a year when the wind is blowing too hard but I committed to fishing that day, and comittwd to clinton. Lots of good fish should move in soon and the shad are almost too plentiful. Bwell and possibly a few others may have some other options for you as well. 1 Quote
bwell Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 Homer is one of those lakes where its hit or miss, if you catch it on a good day and you will have fun. The east shoreline that leads into the damns has a very steep drop off that holds fish. Drag a jig or deep diving crank you and you might pull something good out.  River Bend in Mahomet is nice and the fishing is good. From the ramp go straight across and there is a shallow flat that always holds fish. If that isn't working look around for blow ups, the fish there are always schooling and once you find the school throw a senko in there and you will catch bass after bass. The north end is also very good. Windy days make it very tough because its so open, and in a john boat it can get scary, also make sure your trolling motor battery is FULLY charged because you will be on it a lot.  Lake of the woods I wouldn't even bother lol,  Check out those small lakes in Kickapoo like you said, Clear Lake, Hidden Pond, Deep Pond ect...  Also Emiquon near Havana is AMAZING, but you definitely need a new battery and a good anchor if its windy because its a flooded field that is wide open. 1 Quote
dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 Especially this time of year, westside access on clinton. Seperated off the main lake abd would be a good fit for your boat-no wake area.... Shallow and lacks much of any structure but holds good numbers with a big one every once in a while. I go there about once a year when the wind is blowing too hard but I committed to fishing that day, and comittwd to clinton. Lots of good fish should move in soon and the shad are almost too plentiful. Bwell and possibly a few others may have some other options for you as well. Awesome i will have to def check that out!! I was wondering if there would be small spots on these bigger lakes where you can get away with a jon boat l i just want sure so thank you very much i will have to give it a try!! Quote
dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 Homer is one of those lakes where its hit or miss, if you catch it on a good day and you will have fun. The east shoreline that leads into the damns has a very steep drop off that holds fish. Drag a jig or deep diving crank you and you might pull something good out.  River Bend in Mahomet is nice and the fishing is good. From the ramp go straight across and there is a shallow flat that always holds fish. If that isn't working look around for blow ups, the fish there are always schooling and once you find the school throw a senko in there and you will catch bass after bass. The north end is also very good. Windy days make it very tough because its so open, and in a john boat it can get scary, also make sure your trolling motor battery is FULLY charged because you will be on it a lot.  Lake of the woods I wouldn't even bother lol,  Check out those small lakes in Kickapoo like you said, Clear Lake, Hidden Pond, Deep Pond ect...  Also Emiquon near Havana is AMAZING, but you definitely need a new battery and a good anchor if its windy because its a flooded field that is wide open. Ya homer is hit and miss for sure i will have to try a jig and some crank baits i just got a whole bunch of new stuff jigs and cranks to try out!! River bend i feel like there are good bass there i just have only fished there once and caught 3 but one jumped off right by the boat! What do you mean exactly by blow ups? and i will have to try straight out from the launch all i did was fish the shore line next to boat ramp then headed to the back part! Im extremely interested in checking out the kickapoo area and have heard great things about long pond or lake whatever its name is.i will have to look into Emiquon also thanks so much!! Quote
dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 i also have no electronics lol im ruffing it for now just making it work trying to locate with my eyes and what i think is a good spot lol Quote
bwell Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 You will see bass blowing up on shad on the surface of the water, shad will be jumping our of the water trying to get away from the bass. Find the jumping shad and you will find the bass. 1 Quote
dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 You will see bass blowing up on shad on the surface of the water, shad will be jumping our of the water trying to get away from the bass. Find the jumping shad and you will find the bass. Oh okay gotcha i seen a lot of shad when i was there jumping around and also jumping from my bait im pretty sure it was def cool and seems like a good spot to fish! Thank you for the help!! Have you been to anything around the kickapoo area? Quote
Nice_Bass Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 also, go here and look up what you will be fishing prior to and it may help a bit since you are lacking electronics for the time being. http://www.navionics.com/en/webapp 1 Quote
bwell Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 I haven't but a buddy of mine has. The lakes/ponds are really really clear, and hard to catch fish. A better place to go would be Lake Mingo. Quote
dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 also, go here and look up what you will be fishing prior to and it may help a bit since you are lacking electronics for the time being. http://www.navionics.com/en/webapp thats pretty sick thank you for the help thats awesome!! Quote
dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 I haven't but a buddy of mine has. The lakes/ponds are really really clear, and hard to catch fish. A better place to go would be Lake Mingo. gotcha i also read that your part of the champaign bass club i was suppose to go to the meeting for september but i was out of town and never got a call from anyone and dont have the guys number! Ive been wanting to eventually try some tourneys if i can either find someone to go with or a club to get me out on the lake and see how i can do! Quote
bwell Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 Right now the club is hurting, we have more non boaters than boaters and some tourneys people cant fish because there is no seat for them. I'm not sure if they will take in any non boaters or not but I will ask for you.  Its a HUGE difference going from small ponds/lakes to these bigger ones, you really have to open your mind and try new things. Quote
dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 ya thats why i wanna experience and learn from it all i think it would be a pretty cool experience! You guys are coming up on the last tournament arent you? Quote
bwell Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 We fished it last weekend at Shelbyville. Now we are waiting on our classic at Rend Lake. Quote
dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 oh i thought you guys were doing smithland pool! I cant even remember his name he called me when i was out fishing and said he would email me and call me closer to the time of the meeting and never heard back from him and i was super busy with work and out of town when the meeting happened! Quote
bwell Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 Got ya, but you have his number though? I would give him a call and see what he says... Quote
dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 nope i forgot which number was his i messaged the fb page and didnt get nothing back so idk i might just keep doing my small lake fishing and try next year or find someone to get me out on a big lake lol Quote
bwell Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 It takes awhile for whoever made the FB page to allow people to join lol. If you give me a description of the person I could probably tell you who it was. Quote
dougie511 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 i cant even remember it was over the phone and i think his name might have started with a D but cant rememeber for sure a couple members live in my town and one i have known for quite a while! I could always leave a message on the website again i guess but idk if there is much point sense you guys are probably almost done for the year right?!?! Quote
tbone1993 Posted September 18, 2013 Posted September 18, 2013 i go to school here. the ponds are ok nothing special. clinton has beem crappy too. Quote
Nice_Bass Posted September 18, 2013 Posted September 18, 2013 i go to school here. the ponds are ok nothing special. clinton has beem crappy too. Clinton has been on fire!!!! Quote
tbone1993 Posted September 18, 2013 Posted September 18, 2013 Clinton has been on fire!!!! From what I hear its one section of the lake that is doing well. Being that there is a tournament coming up / happened that one spot is beat to crap. It just sounds like it is fishing small. I havent had the best of luck on clinton, where do you fish it. Feel free to pm I want to figure this lake out. Quote
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