2020 Spring Presentations in Northern Illinois

[AJ Hauser]

Hey folks!

I'm getting ready to start getting out in a few weeks when the ice is off of the large pond by where I live. It's got a real mucky bottom, reasonably clear water (although I would bet it currently looks like pea soup) and I'm thinking about starting with swimming a grub. I've never really done this and it sounds like a bread n' butter type technique that's been around for ages. 

 

What are your thoughts on that and what else are some of you going to throw in your local areas? 

 

Thanks!

[cadman]

I live in northern IL, and I always start with a jig and a twin tail grub or a jig and a craw. That's pretty much what I throw all year and it works really well for me.

[AJ Hauser]

Awesome - thank you. What kind of bottom are you fishing those on / around? 

 

Are you dragging them or pitching?

[cadman]

Mostly soft muck bottom. I cast out, let it hit bottom, pop, let it fall, stop. In early Spring, I will fish really slow. You have to fish a jig slow especially after ice out. The fish are really sluggish. There are many times, I will cast out let it fall, let it sit there for count of 15 seconds, reel 2-3 cranks, wait and let it sit and see if you get a pick up. This is very tedious, however it works for me. If you cannot fish slow, then a jig is not for you.

[AJ Hauser]

3 hours ago, cadman said:

Mostly soft muck bottom. I cast out, let it hit bottom, pop, let it fall, stop. In early Spring, I will fish really slow. You have to fish a jig slow especially after ice out. The fish are really sluggish. There are many times, I will cast out let it fall, let it sit there for count of 15 seconds, reel 2-3 cranks, wait and let it sit and see if you get a pick up. This is very tedious, however it works for me. If you cannot fish slow, then a jig is not for you.

I appreciate it - thank you - I'll have to try this out. I gave up on the jig because I kept getting hung up in the muck at the bottom, but maybe I'm just using one that is too heavy? How light are you going for your location?

 

Thanks again!

 

 

 

[cadman]

I don't fish a jig any heavier than 1/4 oz and that is in 10 F.O.W. I mostly fish with 3/16 and 1/8 oz. Add a trailer and you are about 3/8 of an ounce. Never had issues getting jigs stuck in muck or weeds. Casting even with a 1/8 oz jig + a trailer is no problem. I do not like heavy jigs, I can't feel the fish pick-up the bait. The max jig I will go is 3/8 oz and that is in 20 feet of water. This is very rare for me as I normally don't fish that deep. Also I will use a 3/8 oz jig if I want to punch thru a lot of vegetation, and get my jig down fast but again this is rare for me.  I mainly fish weed edges  and thru sparse weeds. I find, that the fish like the slower fall of the jig. But that is what works for me.

[Tackleholic]

I'm a veteran of northern Illinois.  Swim your grub off the bottom with a 1/8 -1/4 red jighead.  For spinnerbaits use a firetiger skirt with a single gold Colorado blade.  For cranks be sure to throw shades of red and bright orange.  The ponds are usually shallow, so throw squarebills and wake baits.  I have relocated, but speak from many years of experience.   

[slonezp]

So let's be realistic here. I fish the Fox Chain in Northern IL every week from ice out to ice up. It's known for being 3ft deep with 4 ft of muck. If you're beating the shoreline, a jig is fine. This time of year, slow moving baits tight to structure/cover is going to be key. By tight, I mean TIGHT. If your pond has a rocky/riprap shoreline, I'd be slowly dragging baits parallel to the shoreline 3-5ft off the bank. Dragging, not hopping. If you're not a premadonna  opposed to using live bait, a minnow might be the way to go.

 

I'll tell you a secret...Bass eat panfish. If you can figure out the panfish, you can figure out the bass. We fishermen think we can outsmart the bass. We fishermen need to figure out the bait. THAT is the key to being successful.

[AJ Hauser]

On 2/29/2020 at 6:56 PM, Tackleholic said:

I'm a veteran of northern Illinois.  Swim your grub off the bottom with a 1/8 -1/4 red jighead.  For spinnerbaits use a firetiger skirt with a single gold Colorado blade.  For cranks be sure to throw shades of red and bright orange.  The ponds are usually shallow, so throw squarebills and wake baits.  I have relocated, but speak from many years of experience.   

Good for you - we're actually looking to relocate to Arkansas... how's the fishing there? I see a lot of info on smallies and spots but not a ton of largemouth info - probably looking in the wrong places. What do you think now that you've moved? Also, thanks so much for the tips - I will be applying them - hopefully very soon. 

On 2/29/2020 at 7:18 PM, slonezp said:

So let's be realistic here. I fish the Fox Chain in Northern IL every week from ice out to ice up. It's known for being 3ft deep with 4 ft of muck. If you're beating the shoreline, a jig is fine. This time of year, slow moving baits tight to structure/cover is going to be key. By tight, I mean TIGHT. If your pond has a rocky/riprap shoreline, I'd be slowly dragging baits parallel to the shoreline 3-5ft off the bank. Dragging, not hopping. If you're not a premadonna  opposed to using live bait, a minnow might be the way to go.

 

I'll tell you a secret...Bass eat panfish. If you can figure out the panfish, you can figure out the bass. We fishermen think we can outsmart the bass. We fishermen need to figure out the bait. THAT is the key to being successful.

I have never fished the Fox Chain although I've heard so much about it... would love to try that this year but not sure where to start. For cover, there really isn't any that is visible. There are some overhanging trees and large bushes, there are some irregularities and such - I'll need to explore more. There is another lake by me with rip-rap, may have to go and try that a bit as well. 

 

Your point on "find the food" is perfectly said, I agree and need to focus in a bit more on what's for dinner. 

 

** Sidenote: in this forum is there a better way to reply directly to someone on a thread instead of quoting them if I still want them to see the notification that I responded? I just want to make sure I'm not ticking people off or creating unnecessary clutter for everyone. Thanks. 

 

 

[J Francho]

Use the @, and type their handle.  

[AJ Hauser]

Gotcha - thank you, @J Francho - that's perfect. 

[bigguy24]

I love using jerkbaits in early Spring for what it's worth. 

[AJ Hauser]

23 hours ago, bigguy24 said:

I love using jerkbaits in early Spring for what it's worth. 

Ok so let's talk about that for a minute because I was literally thinking about this last night. I was going to go out and swim a grub simply because it's something I want to get better at... but... that might be to fast a presentation as the water is still COLD. So @bigguy24, as someone who has never fished a jerkbait before... how do I start?

 

I'm thinking spinning rod, 6'10", 8lb test fluoro? 8lb instead of 6lb test because there is a lot of muck and I'm fishing largemouth, and I need to get them up on the bank and don't want my line to snap while I'm kneeling down and digging them out of the shoreline debris. 

 

Whaddya think?

[bigguy24]

I got into jerkbaits in a more serious way last year. I tend to fish neighborhood ponds/lakes and smaller rivers/streams. One day I saw a guy just yanking smallies out just below a dam and he was using a small jerkbait, that's what really got me interested. From what I've experienced and read, they do quite well in early spring and late fall because the fish are slower/less active and the jerking motion triggers a reaction but also allows them time to catch up in between jerks. Longer pauses for slower (colder) fish.

 

One of my go to jerkbaits is the husky jerk 08 in baby bass color. Costs about $6 bucks. I throw that on a spinning rod w/ 10# mono. I generally prefer baitcasters but the 08 is just 1/4 oz and so it's right at that threshold of being too light to effectively throw on a baitcaster IMO. Being a smaller jerkbait, I think you're more likely to catch more fish as it doesn't scare the smaller guys off. Then again, I've seen tiny smallies eat baits twice their size so there's that. I think you're described setup will be good for jerkbaits. I only fish from the bank and will get them as close as I can to the bank before bending down to pick them up. 

 

More recently, I've been fishing a Vision 110 Jr which has been great. It's a 3/8oz and also has an internal moving weight to help with castability, so you can cast it a country mile with a baitcaster. 

 

As far as technique, I randomly switch between 1, 2, or 3 jerks and then pausing for anywhere from 1-5 seconds. Some people will pause for 30 secs or more. A key tip is to only turn your reel to bring in slack, not to actually advance the lure. So it's really the twitching/jerking that move the lure and then you're just reeling up slack, always keeping sure to have a bit of slack when you jerk. Otherwise you're jerking and immediately reeling the lure which takes aware from the jerking motion of the lure. Hope this helps!

[AJ Hauser]

DUDE - @bigguy24 - thank you so much for taking the time to share that with me! Happy Sunday by the way, finally able to get back into the forums and respond. Also, I see you're in my state - I am familiar with the DuPage river (never fished it) but you hitting up neighborhood ponds too? Anything worthwhile? 

 

I'm always looking for new small bodies of water. 

 

So to your points: I'm thinking about starting (hopefully in the next few weeks) with a jerkbait, a rattletrap and senko. Same thought: stuff is slower, and the 'trap is something a gut I talk to in GA is obsessed with - he starts fishing it right away and all season, so maybe I'll try it for a bit. Not super optimistic but curious...

I think I'm going to go spinning outfit to start... oh hey, since you're in IL - have you been out yet at all? Looks like we should have a bit of sunshine today! 

Thanks again - talk soon!

 

 

 

[slonezp]

On 3/5/2020 at 11:21 AM, bigguy24 said:

Hey @TheMinimalistFisherman, I got into jerkbaits in a more serious way last year. I tend to fish neighborhood ponds/lakes and smaller rivers/streams. One day I saw a guy just yanking smallies out just below a dam and he was using a small jerkbait, that's what really got me interested. From what I've experienced and read, they do quite well in early spring and late fall because the fish are slower/less active and the jerking motion triggers a reaction but also allows them time to catch up in between jerks. Longer pauses for slower (colder) fish.

 

One of my go to jerkbaits is the husky jerk 08 in baby bass color. Costs about $6 bucks. I throw that on a spinning rod w/ 10# mono. I generally prefer baitcasters but the 08 is just 1/4 oz and so it's right at that threshold of being too light to effectively throw on a baitcaster IMO. Being a smaller jerkbait, I think you're more likely to catch more fish as it doesn't scare the smaller guys off. Then again, I've seen tiny smallies eat baits twice their size so there's that. I think you're described setup will be good for jerkbaits. I only fish from the bank and will get them as close as I can to the bank before bending down to pick them up. 

 

More recently, I've been fishing a Vision 110 Jr which has been great. It's a 3/8oz and also has an internal moving weight to help with castability, so you can cast it a country mile with a baitcaster. 

 

As far as technique, I randomly switch between 1, 2, or 3 jerks and then pausing for anywhere from 1-5 seconds. Some people will pause for 30 secs or more. A key tip is to only turn your reel to bring in slack, not to actually advance the lure. So it's really the twitching/jerking that move the lure and then you're just reeling up slack, always keeping sure to have a bit of slack when you jerk. Otherwise you're jerking and immediately reeling the lure which takes aware from the jerking motion of the lure. Hope this helps!

HuskyJerk in baby bass is deadly year round and not for just bass.

 

Try deadsticking stickbaits

[AJ Hauser]

Hey thanks @slonezp - I appreciate that and I'll definitely try that out. How do you fish jerks in summer - similarly with less of a pause (I mean traditionally, I assume you'll also be mixing up your cadence but in general, what technique do you prefer)? 

 

I have yet to develop the patience to deadstick a stickbait... MUST... SLOW...... DOWN!!! GAHHHH! IT HURTS!

[slonezp]

I fish them with a quicker cadence above and adjacent to deep weeds

[bigguy24]

@TheMinimalistFisherman Always happy to share what I know (or don't know). Took me a couple years of fishing around the area before I even tried fishing the DuPage river...now it's my favorite place. I do fish a bunch of pods around the area. Almost all of them around here have bass in it. Some surprisingly big, some are over fished and harder to catch, some are loaded with tiny guys.

 

Been out a few times so far this year, caught a few good smallies on the DuPage. Haven't tried ponds yet, but I see on Fishbrain that people are now. The fishbrain community in Chicago is pretty good...great way to find new places to try. 

[AJ Hauser]

Awesome @slonezp and @bigguy24 - thanks very much!

[RyneB]

This is my favorite time of year to throw bigger glide baits. KGB ChadShad,Deps 175 and deps 250. I'm hunting for the alphas. 

[AJ Hauser]

On 3/11/2020 at 11:02 PM, RyneB said:

This is my favorite time of year to throw bigger glide baits. KGB ChadShad,Deps 175 and deps 250. I'm hunting for the alphas. 

Nice man - thanks - I'll check into those as well!

[RyneB]

Good luck man. Not exactly the easiest baits to acquire. Fat wallet and time to find them.

[AJ Hauser]

@RyneB well with the country shut down for Coronavirus stuff I have the time... not so sure on the fat wallet though

 

Tight lines my dudes!