cadman Posted September 23, 2013 Posted September 23, 2013 I went to Lake Beulah instead of Delavan, yesterday. Started fishing at 6:30 AM and left at noon. Beautiful day on the water, but fishing was really tough. Got a 14" fish first cast on the water. Fished my usual spots nothing . Got my second fish 15-1/2" about 11:00 AM. Then my wife got a 17" at 12:00 when I was putting gear away in the boat. Really slow day . I spoke to a guy out there and he said that, that lake already turned over. I also spoke to several guys fishing a tourney there and they had no fish. Jigs rule and do catch fish. 2 Quote
cadman Posted September 23, 2013 Posted September 23, 2013 Hey guys i'm new to fishing and primarily fish Busse lake but dont see much action any advice of some good fishing areas in north cook / lake county in the fall? Of course i'm not asking you to give me your secret spots but any tips eould be appteciated Crankcaster, I'm originally from Chicago, so I can give you some tips on some of the lakes there because I used to fish all these from shore. Among other lakes are. Arlington Lake (Arlington Heights), Butler Lake, Independence Grove, Lake Corina all in (Libertyville), Big Bear Lake (Vernon Hills), Beleau, Big Bend, Axehead, Skokie Lagoons, Schiller Woods and Beck Lake all in Cook county. These lakes are all shore accessible no motor boats allowed. Some places, you can put in a canoe or kayak. If you need more info PM me. PS: I have no secrets or secret baits, It's all about finding fish,confidence in what you are using, presentation and spending time on the water. Quote
cadman Posted September 24, 2013 Posted September 24, 2013 Heading out to Geneva on Saturday and Browns Lake on Sunday. Will give you guys a report when I come back. Quote
Super User slonezp Posted September 29, 2013 Super User Posted September 29, 2013 Heading out to Geneva on Saturday and Browns Lake on Sunday. Will give you guys a report when I come back. Looking forward to your results. Anybody else got anything planned? I'm doing Sturgeon Bay next weekend for brown bass and kings, and the Wisconsin river the weekend after that for brown bass, walleye, and crappie. Quote
cadman Posted September 29, 2013 Posted September 29, 2013 Didn't make it to Geneva on Saturday, however went to Delavan Sunday instead of Browns. Beautiful day on the water , warm and sunny with a 5-10 mph wind. Caught 3 bass and (1) northern pike. Bass were 14-1/2, 15 and 16-1/2". Northern Pike was 28". Fished from 7:00 AM -12:30 PM. All fish caught on jigs in 7-10 FOW Quote
jross1901 Posted September 30, 2013 Posted September 30, 2013 Went to Clinton tonight only had few hours but managed 6 on buzz baits one of which was a smallie. Anyone else been out? Quote
cadman Posted September 30, 2013 Posted September 30, 2013 Looking forward to your results. Anybody else got anything planned? I'm doing Sturgeon Bay next weekend for brown bass and kings, and the Wisconsin river the weekend after that for brown bass, walleye, and crappie. Definitely post results. Where in Sturgeon bay are you fishing? Also where on the Wisc. River. Upper or Lower Dells. Used to fish the WI river every February when they broke up the ice and would close the season there in late September. Launched out of River's Edge. Ever since I bought a glass boat. I haven't been there. The docks and river are very rough on a glass boat. Definitely got to have an aluminum boat out on the Lower Dells. Always fished the "Cable" and by the dam. excellent walleye and sauger fishing. Quote
Super User slonezp Posted September 30, 2013 Super User Posted September 30, 2013 Cadman, Depends on the wind. I'm heading up Thursday evening and right now the weather report doesn't look too good. Sister Bay has a pretty good night time smallie bite and I'd like to hook into some kings as well. During the day, I'm probably going to be fishing the reefs outside of the ship canal. My son mentioned Washington Island, I'm not going to pay $40 for the ferry, so if I go, the forecast needs to be perfect. They don't call that section of water "Death's Door" for nothing. As far as the Dells, I'm going to probably give the lower Dells a shot. I'm familiar with the Upper Dells, but have never fished the lower. A guy on another site told me I'm good navigating from the rapids down to 1 1/2 miles south of Rivers Edge. I'm a little nervous about tearing up the boat and I'm debating buying an aluminum prop to throw on, instead of the SS, for the weekend. I have the Navionics card which has the HD mapping for that section of river. Quote
Super User MarkH024 Posted September 30, 2013 Super User Posted September 30, 2013 Slonezp,Just so you know they're doing bridge repair on the bridge over the Wisconsin River just before it splits to the Dells by that newer rest area on 90/39N. It was worse coming back home than going but both directions are bottle necked and will delay you. Hope your fishing is better than mine.... Quote
Super User slonezp Posted September 30, 2013 Super User Posted September 30, 2013 Thanks Mark. I think they're widening the bridge. It's been on and off construction for a couple years. The wind forecast is SSE 25-30mph in Sturgeon Bay for Saturday. No Washington Island for me Quote
cadman Posted September 30, 2013 Posted September 30, 2013 Cadman, Depends on the wind. I'm heading up Thursday evening and right now the weather report doesn't look too good. Sister Bay has a pretty good night time smallie bite and I'd like to hook into some kings as well. During the day, I'm probably going to be fishing the reefs outside of the ship canal. My son mentioned Washington Island, I'm not going to pay $40 for the ferry, so if I go, the forecast needs to be perfect. They don't call that section of water "Death's Door" for nothing. As far as the Dells, I'm going to probably give the lower Dells a shot. I'm familiar with the Upper Dells, but have never fished the lower. A guy on another site told me I'm good navigating from the rapids down to 1 1/2 miles south of Rivers Edge. I'm a little nervous about tearing up the boat and I'm debating buying an aluminum prop to throw on, instead of the SS, for the weekend. I have the Navionics card which has the HD mapping for that section of river. If you are going to stay around the shipping canal, definitely try Sawyer Harbor, at the mouth where it meets the shipping canal. Lots of smallies there caught on crankbaits. I fished there a couple of years ago for 5 years straight and did well there, also don't forget to fish inside Sawyer harbor. If you don't find them inside the harbor, then don't waste a lot of time, cause they aren't there, they will be on the outskirts. I also fished and ventured out of the canal towards snake island. I watch the weather religiously, and as the day went on, the wind started to pick u-p. I had a 17' alum. fish-n-ski, and on the way back to the launch in the shipping canal, I was haulin' **** as I saw the weather get progressively worse. Made it in time, but I was never in 3'0 waves and it scared the crap out of me. As far as the lower dells goes. I never tore up a prop running the river, however if you don't know where you are going, then I guarantee you will tear it up. A lot of shale shelfs, and rocks when you come to the dam.. I always stayed at the River's Edge for the weekend. Most of my boat damage was from the boat banging up against the dock when it was tied up, or guys, not knowing how to maneuver around a river that has current, and they hit you as they try to tie up to the dock. Many times I didn't see this as I kept my boat tied up all night on the river. They rent boats there and a lot of guys are careless. Best to take your boat in and out and launch every day. Saves a lot of aggravation. Going up to the dam from the Rivers Edge, stay in the middle until you start coming up to the dam. If you've never been there take it slow and watch the water levels, look over the side of the boat frequently to see how shallow you are and look at the can buoys in the water they will show you where the low spots are. Again don't go flying around the river, especially going up to the dam. As you approach the dam, watch where everyone else goes, and take it slow. It is beautiful up there this time of year. Now going down river past the Rivers Edge, towards the cable, not much to worry about. Again go slow. I would assume that the dam will not be fully open, so you should have some good fishing, as the current won't be as bad. As far as fishing for walleye, sauger and smallies, I have found the best to use out there is 3/8 oz round ball jigs tipped with a fathead. jigged on the bottom, like they fish the Wolf River. You must keep your jig in contact with the bottom as the river fish hug to the bottom on the lower Dells. Operate your electric trolling motor with your foot, and bounce two rods one in each hand, on the bottom. You will find them in slower moving water. I have also had better luck with pink jigs. Bring a lot of jigs, not bass jigs, as you will lose at least 12-24 per day, if you are not bouncing or dragging jigs you will not find the walleye. White and yellow chartreuse works well some days also. I love that section of river and have always done well there. However now I have a fiberglass boat, and It would kill me to see it get damaged. You can also anchor, up river and cast into the river. That works well sometimes also. I found moving around with a trolling motor works better. If you need more info, you've got my number call me. PS: As far as using your GPS to run the river, use your eyes and judgement. GPS is only good for about 10 feet either way. The River is not that wide, so have guys look over the sides as you drive and go slow. I may be over protective of my boat, but you don't want to hit a shale shelf going too fast. It will shear your whole bottom off. I don't want to scare you but it's better to be safe than sorry. Once you drive up and down a couple of times, You will get used to what spots you can run. Good luck ,good fishing and post your fishing results when you get back. Looking for your fish stories. LOL Quote
Super User slonezp Posted September 30, 2013 Super User Posted September 30, 2013 Thanks for the info Quote
jross1901 Posted October 6, 2013 Posted October 6, 2013 got out to clinton again today. got 6 bass and a nice striper. sure was windy tho. anyone else been out? Quote
bwell Posted October 7, 2013 Posted October 7, 2013 I was able to take first at our Ccbm classic at Rend this weekend. First day I brought in only 1 fish that went 3.44, and lost a 5-6 pounder at the boat. Second day I was able get get a limit with the best being 2.95 pounds. I was able to pull it off with 12 and change with second place not far behind with 11 plus. 4 Quote
Super User slonezp Posted October 7, 2013 Super User Posted October 7, 2013 Slonezp, Just so you know they're doing bridge repair on the bridge over the Wisconsin River just before it splits to the Dells by that newer rest area on 90/39N. It was worse coming back home than going but both directions are bottle necked and will delay you. Hope your fishing is better than mine.... You jinxed me. Saturday was a wash out and 30mph winds. Sunday was blowing sw at 15-20. We were able to get out til around 1:00. Had the TM on 10 the entire time just to hold in one spot. Batteries died after 5hrs. Fished Larsons Reef, and Monument Shoal without any signs of life, and then took cover from the wind in Little Sturgeon until the front finally pushed thru. Headed over to Snake Island and another boat arrived at the same time. We were maybe 50 yards from them, and they were sitting on top of the underwater part of the island. These 2 guys must have boated 2 dozen good sized bass in an hour both throwing the A rig. My son got a good pike and that was it. TM batteries died and we headed in. Charged the batteries for a couple hours and fished Sister Bay from 5 til 8 with only a couple brown bass shaking off at the boat. Monday had winds blowing nw at 25 with a small craft advisory, so we headed out. I hope the Dells will pan out better. 2 Quote
cadman Posted October 9, 2013 Posted October 9, 2013 Nice pike slonezp, How big was it? I'm going out to Geneva this Saturday and probably to Powers or Browns on Sunday. Browns was really good this year for me caught a lot of fish over 3 lbs. Will give you a report on our success or failure. Quote
Super User MarkH024 Posted October 9, 2013 Super User Posted October 9, 2013 Cad, let me know how Geneva does. Fishing there pretty soon and could use any insight. Quote
cadman Posted October 9, 2013 Posted October 9, 2013 Cad, let me know how Geneva does. Fishing there pretty soon and could use any insight. Mark, No problem, I'll post results Saturday night. Not many weekends left. They are taking all the docks out. I usually launch at Linn Pier. I believe the public docks are the last to be removed, and that usually happens around November. If this year follows like the years past, it is usually a jig bite this late in the season. Possibly rattle traps, but traps are a hit and miss. Jigs fished slowly will definitely get bit. Hope we have a good day out there and will definitely give you an update. I also plan to take a day off of work and fish Tichigan in the middle of next week. Running out of time this season, and trying to get my fishing fix in before the cold and rain comes. Quote
Super User QUAKEnSHAKE Posted October 11, 2013 Super User Posted October 11, 2013 Today went to a place called Four Lakes just NW of Rockford its a bit pressured but has some decent bass in it my PB is from there. Here what I managed a 19" 3-1/2#, 18" 3# and a nice one that looks to be on a diet The biggest one just out in open water, maximum cast, hit with a thud the other two out of slop seen in backgroud of the skinny one. I tried this small area 4 separate times. 1st when I arrive nothing then hour later tried it got a couple strikes but missed, 3rd time 1 1/2hr later got the 18" one, left for about 20 minutes then hit it again for the 4th time got the skinny one so persistence paid off. 2 Quote
cadman Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 Hey QuakenShake, Nice looking fish. I find persistence does pays off. I have spots on a lake that I know produce fish. I will try them at different times of the day like you did. Many times especially in a tourney you can get a couple eventually. Quote
Nice_Bass Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 Clinton lake- anyone been this week? I understand power has not been generated this week and was not sure what you all have been seeing due to this. Cant decide if I want to fish for bass there, or break out some musky gear somewhere else. decisions, decisions. Quote
jross1901 Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 i did decent sunday and monday last week. im heading out tmrw and sunday if weather cooperates. Quote
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