Where are all the Illinois Guys ?

[cadman]

Went out to Delavan Lake yesterday at 6:00 a.m.. Very tough day. Started out throwing topwater and picked up two pike one was 18" and the other was a little over 24". The second one decided not to co-operate and once I measured him he broke my line and took my topwater bait with him. D**n, there goes a $6 bait in the lake. That was all before 7:00 a.m. We fished for another 3 hours and none of my favorite spots produced. Accept for the last one a guide showed me. It was 10 a.m. when we got there and the first 15 minutes I got a 16-1/2" fat bass. 15 minutes later my wife got a 16-3/4" and another 15 minutes she got a 17-1/2"er. We worked this area for about two hours going back and forth and we picked up 3 more fish but lost them at the boat. Everyone we spoke to didn't do well except for the pike which were dominating the lake. Everyone was catching pike. Like they say the fish are biting somewhere on the lake, you just have to find them. Anyway some pics of Delavan's fat bass.

 

 

 

[slonezp]

Hit Long Lake this morning. Got a dozen bass none bigger than 13". Put the bass gear away and spent a couple hours putting a hurtin' on some bluegills.

[Sword of the Lord]

Is anyone here from Pontiac, IL or the surrounding area, or anyone else who is familiar with the Vermilion River? I keep trying this river in town, all over the place, but it's a huge piece of crap! I can go to just about any pond or lake in a 50 mile radius and have a good day, but rarely do I even get a fish out of this river. One day back in April of 2014 provided my best day ever, though. It was near the Mill Street dam. I caught around 40 of them in a few hours, as well as my PB of 6 pounds. Never again have I had success here. I'm lucky to catch a single bass. Right now I'm sitting at one 12 incher in the last six outings.

 

So, if anyone is familiar and could offer tips or good spots in town, or can simply confirm that it's trash fishing so I can stop wasting my time, that would be much appreciated. The river is so close and sometimes I really don't want to travel to a pond or lake, so it would be nice if this river could actually work.

[Scott F]

Are you floating, wading or bank fishing the river?

[Sword of the Lord]

2 hours ago, Scott F said:

Are you floating, wading or bank fishing the river?

Usually bank, sometimes wading. It's pretty low right now.

[Scott F]

I don't fish the Vermillion myself, but members of my club do and generally report nice catches of smallmouth. My club's forums do not allow guys to post specific locations to keep internet trolls from wiping out good spots so I can't help you there. Fishing from the bank may be your biggest problem. You may just need to cover more water.

[Sword of the Lord]

26 minutes ago, Scott F said:

I don't fish the Vermillion myself, but members of my club do and generally report nice catches of smallmouth. My club's forums do not allow guys to post specific locations to keep internet trolls from wiping out good spots so I can't help you there. Fishing from the bank may be your biggest problem. You may just need to cover more water.

Where I'm at in Pontiac I can just about cast to the other side. It's only this river giving me fits. Interestingly, my best day and any time I do catch here, was and is largemouth. Never see smallies.

[Sword of the Lord]

Another day, another skunk. Tried Senkos, Trick Worms, spinnerbaits and inline spinners, and a Whopper Plopper. Various different colors and techniques. About 5 miles of river fished over the course of the week. Nadda, nothing. I just don't get it. The water is low. Maybe that plays a part, and why I will not use a crankbait because it will be one and done. I'm actually shocked that I only lost one Texas Rig and one inline spinner. I have not struggled anywhere else this summer. My worst day anywhere else was one fish, one time. Next worse is 4 fish. Maybe I've been spoiled. 

[Scott F]

I don't know what kind of water you are finding or fishing. Low water is the easiest time for me to find fish. I look for any place where the current is moving fast. Slow water generally doesn't hold many active fish. The best fish are often found near deeper water where there are riffles. Getting your bait very tight to cover like rocks, the bank or trees is critical. Miss the target by a foot and it means the difference between a catch and a skunk.

[Skunked again]

Went to silver lake yesterday. Two in the boat, missed 4. 10" worm was the ticket. It still amazes me when a 9" bass inhales a 10" worm. Missed being a keeper by a ½". Sexy hairy legs an extra bonus!

[slonezp]

9 hours ago, Scott F said:

I don't know what kind of water you are finding or fishing. Low water is the easiest time for me to find fish. I look for any place where the current is moving fast. Slow water generally doesn't hold many active fish. The best fish are often found near deeper water where there are riffles. Getting your bait very tight to cover like rocks, the bank or trees is critical. Miss the target by a foot and it means the difference between a catch and a skunk.

Some of my best luck for numbers of fish on the Fox has been during low water and summer heat. The fish will stack up in deep holes in shallow areas. Add a little current and BAM!

[Can't Catch Bass]

Hello all.

 

I'm from Brookfield, IL.

 

I started fishing after a long hiatus a year ago and since then I purchased a kayak.

 

I'm looking for people to connect with and find some new fishing spots not much more than 1hr away.

 

Lately I've been hitting lake Shabbona and having moderate success. My other stomping ground is Blackwell.

 

Nice to meet you all and best of luck.

[Scott F]

1 minute ago, James Baur said:

Hello all.

 

I'm from Brookfield, IL.

 

I started fishing after a long hiatus a year ago and since then I purchased a kayak.

 

I'm looking for people to connect with and find some new fishing spots not much more than 1hr away.

 

Lately I've been hitting lake Shabbona and having moderate success. My other stomping ground is Blackwell.

 

Nice to meet you all and best of luck.

Don't ignore the rivers in Northern Illinois. You've got the Des Plaines, Kankakee, Fox and DuPage rivers all within an hour of you. And all of them have good populations of smallmouth. 

[toni63]

Have a little time off this week, headed up to Newton (again). Had a pretty good time, caught quite a few. These were the best of the ones I got in the boat. The biggest one was really fun, back in a cove and threw the crank bait near a corner. When it hit the water it landed right on top of a school of shad that reacted explosively, which seems to trigger the big girl who then slammed the crank bait before I could turn the handle. Of course, after release I threw back into that corner again and landed the monster bluegill........ Then I took the shot at the ramp of the moon. It was a pretty awesome moonrise.

[slonezp]

Bass were dismal today. Got a 17-1/2" walleye for dinner 

[slonezp]

Fished the Fox Chain yesterday. Hot as hell to say the least...and I don't mean the fishing. Water temps were 10* warmer than they were 2 weeks ago. Lost 2 quality fish and boated about a dozen dinks. Weightless senkos, chigger craws, and Havoc pit boss were the baits of the day.

[toni63]

Newton yesterday afternoon, from about 1 to dusk. Deep cranks back in the coves. Funnily enough I use a huge deep diver in like 6-10 feet of water and drag it along the bottom making sure it smacks everything in sight and it gets a lot of action. And black and blue jig in the laydowns. What is really cool to see is IDNR has been back in the coves cutting all kinds of small trees and dropping them in the water. I didn't take a lot of pictures but this one was worthy. I'm thinking 4 plus, maybe she went over 5. I really need to get a good digital scale so I know for sure cause I really stink at guessing weights. If anything I underestimate just so I am not that fisherman who constantly claims "6 pends at least!" for every fairly above average fish I catch... lol

[Skunked again]

The cheap analog scale from Walmart is actually quite accurate. Nice fish! I might be going to coffeen a few times this week. Might try that technique their.

[Bassman37]

On 9/3/2017 at 10:09 PM, Can't Catch Bass said:

Hello all.

 

I'm from Brookfield, IL.

 

I started fishing after a long hiatus a year ago and since then I purchased a kayak.

 

I'm looking for people to connect with and find some new fishing spots not much more than 1hr away.

 

Lately I've been hitting lake Shabbona and having moderate success. My other stomping ground is Blackwell.

 

Nice to meet you all and best of luck.

Hi there Can't Catch Bass.

 

I as well have been fishing Shabbona and Silver lake at Blackwell and both have not been kind to me this year but this year has not been as good as past years anywhere I have been.

 

 

[CroakHunter]

On 10/1/2017 at 8:33 PM, toni63 said:

Newton yesterday afternoon, from about 1 to dusk. Deep cranks back in the coves. Funnily enough I use a huge deep diver in like 6-10 feet of water and drag it along the bottom making sure it smacks everything in sight and it gets a lot of action. And black and blue jig in the laydowns. What is really cool to see is IDNR has been back in the coves cutting all kinds of small trees and dropping them in the water. I didn't take a lot of pictures but this one was worthy. I'm thinking 4 plus, maybe she went over 5. I really need to get a good digital scale so I know for sure cause I really stink at guessing weights. If anything I underestimate just so I am not that fisherman who constantly claims "6 pends at least!" for every fairly above average fish I catch... lol

I've gotta get out to newton soon! Never been there but I heard it can be good at times

[slonezp]

White bass are stacked thick on the Fox Chain. We found schools on Channel and Catherine that were 10ft thick from top to bottom and probably 40-50ft in length. Crappies are moving into their winter haunts. Water temps still in the high 60's.

These are all whites. Not huge, averaging about 8". It was fish after fish after fish this morning.

 

[Skunked again]

WOW! Proves the old saying, 90%of the fish are in 10% of the water! Where do your crappie normally hang out for the winter?

[slonezp]

11 hours ago, Skunked again said:

WOW! Proves the old saying, 90%of the fish are in 10% of the water! Where do your crappie normally hang out for the winter?

Same place I catch them in the spring. 

Seriously though, the Fox Chain is a great big mud hole. The crappies I target winter where the hard bottom is. Water depths less than 10ft. There not schooling as of yet and we caught one here and one there. Water is still a little warm. As far as the 10%, we found 3 huge schools of 8"-10" whites with some small perch in the mix. I may have graphed 50 acres out of 9000 to find them BUT I have been fishing this water for maybe 15 years and I know it well. I know where the drops are and I graphed schools of what I assume were whites multiple times the last few weeks while I was targeting largemouth. Last Sunday I fished the same river only 100 miles north and the crappies were schooled in 5ft of water on a hard bottom. Fished every dock on a small 3 acre inlet and found crappies on only one of the docks. When I fish for panfish, my attitude is stick and move. If they don't bite right away, they are not there. 

[Skunked again]

Sounds good! I've only recently began paying attention to maps and electronics. Waiting for the right deal to upgrade electronics. Currently using a 2d grayscale. I'm stoked about upgrading! 

Was out the end of last week. Map showed two holes in the middle of the lake. Went there, wasn't holes, humps! Caught my first "offshore" fish.

[papajoe222]

The power plant lakes here in north east IL will be closing to fishing in mid October.  The same goes for some of the smaller public lakes. Other than Shabonna, is there a decent fishery within 75 miles of the Joliet area?  I just can't bring myself to put the boat up for the winter before the lakes start to freeze over.