Where are all the Illinois Guys ?

[slonezp]

I got to move near a pond

[MarkH024]

26 minutes ago, slonezp said:

I got to move near a pond

I'll tell you, it really is nice getting the itch out when you can't always get out on the boat. Having a nice pond with thriving fish helps too. Always fun to bend a rod even if the fish aren't giants.

[MarkH024]

Soldiers Field brownie. Drop shotting off the side of the boat waiting for dinner. My kids were on cloud 9.

I also nabbed my PB perch with this whopper. It was 15" long. Biggest I've caught before that was a 9-10. Both fish on SK Dream shot.

 

[slonezp]

I heard the perch are in and now I've seen it. Going to try to get out there Thursday. I'm on vacation this week and looks like Thursday will be the most weather permitting. Delavan tomorrow no plans yet for Wednesday, and possibly a trip to Sturgeon Bay to end the week. 

[RangerCasey]

On 5/11/2016 at 3:21 PM, Rpratt said:

I am on the Illinois side of the river from St Louis. Anyone here fish the River King Strip Mines in New Athens? Also do Alot of fishing at Kinkaid and next week I will be spending 4 days on Kentucky Lake. 

Live oputside of Marissa.  Fished the lakes you mentioned and travel to Kinkaid frequently.

[slonezp]

Delavan report from today. Surface temp was 74*. Not real exciting. Bass bite was less than stellar. got some on senkos and the only picture worthy one was a spawned out female caught on a chatterbait with a Whopper Baits Boxing Craw trailer. Pike were hitting swimjigs short. Didn't connect with any of them but I have a deck full of paddletail trailers that no longer have paddletails  Was using 1/2oz custom from Siebert with Kalins 4.8" Sizemic shad. Lastly I caught an ultralite spinning combo on a PB&J Northstar jig with a Ragecraw trailer. Shakespeare rod and Shimano reel

 

 

[Skunked again]

Good report. Will that rod/reel be a new weightless worm rig ? Lube it up, rig it up! Was given two spinning rod combos awhile back. Not the best, lubed them both, restrung them. Caught fish. They stay in the boat. Can't beat free.

[slonezp]

20 minutes ago, Skunked again said:

Good report. Will that rod/reel be a new weightless worm rig ? Lube it up, rig it up! Was given two spinning rod combos awhile back. Not the best, lubed them both, restrung them. Caught fish. They stay in the boat. Can't beat free.

It's only a 5ft rod. I'll use it for panfish

[Junk Fisherman]

Seems like Delavan has peaked.  You don't see nearly as many eye-popping results as you did 5 years ago.  

[slonezp]

5 minutes ago, Junk Fisherman said:

Seems like Delavan has peaked.  You don't see nearly as many eye-popping results as you did 5 years ago.  

The water has really cleared up the last 3 years and there's not a whole lot of weed growth yet this year. There was probably 15ft of visibility yesterday, and the weeds in 12-15fow were only a foot or so tall. There were still some bass bedding and the spawn is at its end. BUT, I think I would tend to agree with you. I haven't fished anything deeper than about 16ft there but that might need to happen this early in the year. Last year we didn't make our first trip until mid June and we killed them on frogs. I don't remember any open water bites at all 

[cadman]

Fished Brown's on Sunday for 6 hours, got 8 bass all on jigs and a Paca Chunk along with one snakey northern. Minimum size on lake is 16". We did not get a lake legal. All fish were between 14.50" to 15-3/4". Overall not a bad day of fishing.

[cadman]

6 hours ago, Junk Fisherman said:

Seems like Delavan has peaked.  You don't see nearly as many eye-popping results as you did 5 years ago.  

Delavan has a lot of big fish in it. The key is to go fish there at  night. You would be surprised at the multiple numbers of 4'sand 5's. On the flip side Delavan can be hot for several weeks and it also has days where it is like the Dead Sea. But you have to remember that their min is 18" one fish, so there are a lot of smaller fish under 18"

[Junk Fisherman]

2 hours ago, cadman said:

Delavan has a lot of big fish in it. The key is to go fish there at  night. You would be surprised at the multiple numbers of 4'sand 5's. On the flip side Delavan can be hot for several weeks and it also has days where it is like the Dead Sea. But you have to remember that their min is 18" one fish, so there are a lot of smaller fish under 18"

I used to fish Delavan often and I always had good luck there.  I just know that guys that fish it regularly have reported that their catch rates were down last year and I haven't seen the great May reports from Delavan this year like I have in the past.  I'm just speculating from a half dozen or so guys whose reports I am basing it on.  

 

I do have a tournament there later this year so I'll be fishing there a few times this summer.  Hope I can catch a bunch of 18 and 19 inch fish like I have in the past.    

[slonezp]

5 hours ago, cadman said:

Delavan has a lot of big fish in it. The key is to go fish there at  night. You would be surprised at the multiple numbers of 4'sand 5's. On the flip side Delavan can be hot for several weeks and it also has days where it is like the Dead Sea. But you have to remember that their min is 18" one fish, so there are a lot of smaller fish under 18"

Is the ramp open 24hrs?

[cadman]

14 hours ago, Junk Fisherman said:

I used to fish Delavan often and I always had good luck there.  I just know that guys that fish it regularly have reported that their catch rates were down last year and I haven't seen the great May reports from Delavan this year like I have in the past.  I'm just speculating from a half dozen or so guys whose reports I am basing it on.  

 

I do have a tournament there later this year so I'll be fishing there a few times this summer.  Hope I can catch a bunch of 18 and 19 inch fish like I have in the past.    

No doubt some days are tough. I've never gone there in consecutive days and gotten a lot of fish over 18" per day. Delavan is very similar to Geneva. Geneva can be on fire for a week or two then it seems to die. They are both phenomenal fisheries if you can deal with all the traffic.

[cadman]

12 hours ago, slonezp said:

Is the ramp open 24hrs?

As far as I know, it is open 24 hours a day. If the attendant is not there, there is a cash box in front of the attendant's booth.

[slonezp]

Fox Chain today. Surface temps 74*.This morning couldn't have started any worse on the water but ended up with a great payoff. Got my first bite about an hour into the day. Then proceeded to miss the next 10 bites. Had 2 jumpers throw the swimjig and the others I just couldn't, for whatever reason, connect. Got 10 shorts real quick on senkos and then switched to a frog. d**n fish were just lazily hitting the frog. No blow ups, just breaking the surface trying unsuccessfully to grab at the frog. My son ran into this same frog problem last week pond fishing. Anyway, Decided to moved and fish the northern lakes. Fished hard bottom. Same problem I was having earlier, fish grabbing the baits and not holding on. I picked up a short here and there. Decided to switch things up again and fish docks with a sand bottom. Skipped a t rigged senko under a dock and it was game on. Boated my first legitimate hawg of the year. Spawned out beauty measured 19.5 on the bump board.

[MarkH024]

Good fish Paul.

[Junk Fisherman]

Hit up the Calumet River and Lake Calumet.  Caught my 1st fish in my new boat (15" largemouth) and then a nice 18" smallmouth on Lake Cal.  Forgot to put back my memory card in the camera so I have no pics.

Wonder what I could have done if I was really focused on fishing.  I was just trying to get acclimated to my Xi5 TM and I still don't have a front unit on the boat.  Only fished for about 3 hours and spent the rest of the time breaking in the motor.   Didn't put on enough sunscreen.  

[cadman]

4 hours ago, slonezp said:

Fox Chain today. Surface temps 74*.This morning couldn't have started any worse on the water but ended up with a great payoff. Got my first bite about an hour into the day. Then proceeded to miss the next 10 bites. Had 2 jumpers throw the swimjig and the others I just couldn't, for whatever reason, connect. Got 10 shorts real quick on senkos and then switched to a frog. d**n fish were just lazily hitting the frog. No blow ups, just breaking the surface trying unsuccessfully to grab at the frog. My son ran into this same frog problem last week pond fishing. Anyway, Decided to moved and fish the northern lakes. Fished hard bottom. Same problem I was having earlier, fish grabbing the baits and not holding on. I picked up a short here and there. Decided to switch things up again and fish docks with a sand bottom. Skipped a t rigged senko under a dock and it was game on. Boated my first legitimate hawg of the year. Spawned out beauty measured 19.5 on the bump board.

Nice fish Paul, seems you have the "Chain" figured out.

[cadman]

Anyone know anything about Lake Elizabeth one of the Twin Lakes in WI. I have a tourney there in 4 weeks and I'm looking for some spots and techniques. I am going there this Sunday to fish it so I will post some results.

[Skunked again]

3 hours ago, Junk Fisherman said:

Hit up the Calumet River and Lake Calumet.  Caught my 1st fish in my new boat (15" largemouth) and then a nice 18" smallmouth on Lake Cal.  Forgot to put back my memory card in the camera so I have no pics.

Wonder what I could have done if I was really focused on fishing.  I was just trying to get acclimated to my Xi5 TM and I still don't have a front unit on the boat.  Only fished for about 3 hours and spent the rest of the time breaking in the motor.   Didn't put on enough sunscreen.  

You caught a 15" lm, and a 18" smallie? In 3hrs, and you weren't trying??? I'd save the money on a front unit!!?

[slonezp]

2 hours ago, cadman said:

Nice fish Paul, seems you have the "Chain" figured out.

Every time I think I have it figured out, it throws a curve ball at me  The water clarity is different from year to year and it's different on each lake. Colors that have worked best this year and the tail end of last year, are colors that have worked poorly years prior. And colors/presentations that have been top performers for the last 3 years have fallen short. Finding fish above 4lbs has gotten tougher and if I get 1 or 2 fives a year that's a lot. There are 1 or more bass tournaments every weekend from April to October and 2 weekly evening tourneys as well. All this additional pressure seems to have some affect on things.

I haven't thrown senkos in years out there. No need to, the flipping bite and swimjig/chatterbait bite has been hot for years, until the end of last season. I have no explanation as to why it dropped off. Adapt and overcome 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Got out early today but the bass didnt want any breakfast, zero bass 8-12. They waited til lunch time to start feeding, from 12-3 caught 14 bass

This was the biggest

And a crappie

[slonezp]

Chain yesterday. Went 3 hours with 1 fish, and caught 30 over the following 3hrs with only 2 at 14"+. Chain this morning fished with my son and it was completely the opposite. Think we boated 20 in the first hour and a half, a small front came thru and we may have boated 10 more over the next 3 1/2 hours only 3 were 14"+. Fish are feeding well, they all had big bellies. Senkos, swimjigs, frogs , and buzzbaits. Pulled out at 11 right when the rain hit. Thank God for accuweather radar.