Where are all the Illinois Guys ?

[slonezp]

The are good but you can only eat the backstraps. the stomach meat is bad. When you clean them, after you skin them, there is a line of red meat that runs the length of the side. Remove  everything below the red meat. They taste as good as any other fish.

 

[Skunked again]

Thank you for the information. I will keep some the next time. 

[beardown34]

looks like a couple warm days coming up this week, but i was wondering -- let's say there aren't really many warm days strung together from here until winter. are there seasons where it just goes from hot hot summer to cold cold fall, with no real moderate time in between, and that season the bass just don't feed and fatten up very well?

[Firefish Alumacraft]

Heading for a camping trip at Clinton this weekend, bringing the boat..... see what i catch.

[slonezp]

On ‎10‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 9:25 PM, beardown34 said:

looks like a couple warm days coming up this week, but i was wondering -- let's say there aren't really many warm days strung together from here until winter. are there seasons where it just goes from hot hot summer to cold cold fall, with no real moderate time in between, and that season the bass just don't feed and fatten up very well?

I think the moon plays into it as well as the water temps. Fish still got to eat. Water temps are still in the 50's and the fish are actively feeding, just harder to find. Weeds are dying off or dead, docks are being pulled in, and the fish are going to be relating more to structure than cover. If you can't find any green weeds, I'd concentrate on fishing well defined drops. I think the depth is going to relate to the individual body of water but a quick drop from 2 to 5 feet relatively speaking, should be as productive as a quick drop from 12 to 16 feet or 20 to 26 feet.  Looks like this

[Skunked again]

Good Information! Now well see if i can remember it!!

The clarity of those pics is amazing.

[slonezp]

Problem I've had recently is not locating the fish, but getting them to bite. The deep fish have been relating to schools of bait. I haven't been able to entice them whether they are on the bottom or suspended. Going to try a different lake this Sunday.

[picassotrigger]

What's going on fellas? New member here from Downers Grove.

[Skunked again]

Welcome from Highland! 

[slonezp]

welcome

[Bassman37]

Welcome from Aurora ! 

[MarkH024]

Welcome. Sugar Grove here

[Skunked again]

Went for a couple of hours this morning. The good news is I tried a couple of spinnerbait s that I made. They ran true.

Didn't have any Ned rigs. So I improvised, ¼oz crappie jig head, cut down used worm. something to be jealous of, and strive for!

 

[slonezp]

Picked up a new ride today

[Skunked again]

You'll be able to kill em on the smaller lakes now! Gonna get spare transducers to mount the 1198/1199 on it? 

[slonezp]

Hit Bangs today. Water at 57*.Was supposed to bass fish with my son but his girlfriend won that battle so I went panfishing with my dad. Magic depth was 23-26ft. We just cruised around looking for fish on the electronics. Also pulled up some short bass from those depths

Something I found interesting is food choice. Found either crappie or bluegill fry spit up in the livewell and I was wondering what they are doing in those depths of water. Bangs is a decent fishery but it lacks forage. Summertime bass are skinny. They have been skinny for as long as I can remember.

  

[Junk Fisherman]

Hit Newton Lake on Thursday.  Temps in the low to mid 60s on the cold water side.  Caught 30-40 fish with the biggest being 17".  Caught a bunch of 14"-16" fish.  The better fish came on windy points and when I caught some feeding on shad.  Caught a lot on finesse plastics.  Blue bird sky day and was rather surprised at my results.

 

 

 

 

[AMC7]

I am in Joliet. I am new to fishing this season and am eager to learn as much as possible. Very smart people here!

[MarkH024]

2 minutes ago, AMC7 said:

I am in Joliet. I am new to fishing this season and am eager to learn as much as possible. Very smart people here!

Welcome. You've got all winter to read up. I suggest looking through all the pinned forums in the tackle, rod/reel sections.  Learn your knots, as this is a good time to practice tying.  Undoubtedly you will get great answers here.  Welcome to the addiction.

[AMC7]

I recently took a new job in Warrenville, IL. Wow, so much water around my office building. I am within a 2-3 minute drive of some great bodies of water. I recently grabbed a new personal best last week. I am really excited about the fishing opportunities I will have once the longer nights come around again. I have a 50 minute commute (and cold weather) otherwise I would be coming up here on the weekends with some friends.

[MarkH024]

I work on the edge of Naperville/Warrenville. Nice fish there!  I don't really take the opportunity to fish around work as I should but I also barely ever take lunches..

[slonezp]

You fishing Blackwell?

[beardown34]

my super ESP powers say .. Lund Lake?

[stk]

I'm not going to blow up his spot but I'd say there is quite a bit of water nearby.  I hope you catch some donkeys out of there because no one fishes it at all.  With that said, I'd fish at lunch more but I really hate fishing for just an hour....

[AMC7]

17 hours ago, slonezp said:

You fishing Blackwell?

I went and scoped it out one evening. The lake seemed really good but since I only do shore fishing I would be limited to the two fishing docks. I would go back and try though. Those two ponds that are there seem enticing.

 

2 hours ago, stk said:

I'm not going to blow up his spot but I'd say there is quite a bit of water nearby.  I hope you catch some donkeys out of there because no one fishes it at all.  With that said, I'd fish at lunch more but I really hate fishing for just an hour....

There are so many neighborhood ponds throughout this area. Not sure if any of these hold any value, only one way to find out I guess.