Hope you guys had a good season. It's pretty much over for my fishing here for the year with all the state places being shut down for waterfowl season. 

Winter time blues... Anyone been out on the frozen tundra yet? Going to go hit the ice tomorrow just to be out now that it's back in the 20's here.

On 1/31/2026 at 3:32 PM, Tom H. said:

Winter time blues... Anyone been out on the frozen tundra yet? Going to go hit the ice tomorrow just to be out now that it's back in the 20's here.

Any luck?

Won’t be getting out on the ice, outside of sturgeon spearing this year, unfortunately

We caught 10 keeper gills is all. Was nice to get out for a bit.

I'm hoping the weather over the next 7 days opens up some water, specifically 31st harbor. Other than visually checking, anyone know of ways to find that out?

scott

Anyone been out yet? I walked a lake bank Saturday and caught a whooping 10 incher. Waiting on the weather to break so I can get out and get my boat set back up.

I’ve been out twice in the last week at my favorite retention pond and the water is just downright COLD. I will say the banks are filled with young bluegill but I’ll be darned if I can find where the bass are hiding. I am planning on trying again tomorrow for a bit after work as it’s supposed to be in the mid 70’s and I’ll report back regardless of what happens by the weekend.

Got a few dinks from shore with a drop shot at a local pond. Gonna get out again tomorrow and test out a jerk bait and a glide to see if I can get anything bigger to bite

On 3/24/2026 at 5:48 PM, Tom H. said:

Anyone been out yet? I walked a lake bank Saturday and caught a whooping 10 incher. Waiting on the weather to break so I can get out and get my boat set back up.

I finally got all of my boat projects done and put all my gear back in it. On Sunday I went to a private club I belong to mostly to make sure the boat and trailer were ready to go. Only fished for 2hrs and caught six small bass. Only 2 or 3 were keepers. These lakes are very clear and the water temps were 51.5 main body to 54 in the shallows. I had movers on deck in the hopes they were chasing bait, but I caught one bass on a crank and the other five on finesse. We need some steady weather here in central IL. The last rain was a very cold inch of rain. That doesn't help at all.

How is the fishing going in the middle of Illinois, do you ask? On Wednesday we had near-record high temps. On Thursday we set a record with a high of 84 degrees. That afternoon the wind started blowing so hard we had two dust storms that caused traffic problems. The temps dropped all the way to 28 degrees by Friday morning. Overnight was 1.2 inches of cold rain, sleet, and 1in hail with winds that toppled trees. This morning it's 34 degrees and the lakes are cold chocolate soup garnished with leaves and sticks. So....pretty good.

It was a balmy 25 degrees here this morning when I got up. I think we ended up with a little over an inch of rain Thur-Fri.. Got my boat rigged back up Thur before the rain. May run out this afternoon when it warms up. Kinda feel sorry for the guys I talked to last night that are fishing a kayak tourney today. I'd hate to take a dip with it being this chilly.

@BigAngus752 The weather a couple hours North of you isn’t any better so I feel your pain.

1 hour ago, Eric 26 said:

@BigAngus752 The weather a couple hours North of you isn’t any better so I feel your pain.

Projected temp here Monday is a high of 79 degrees so I will definitely be giving it a try! It is 36 degrees as I write this.

Anybody on here ever fish the Cal Sag Channel?

We got moved for IHSA Bass Fishing event and I only shore fished it a few times when I was a kid near Worth... Looking for ANY (mostly including safety/shoreline) information- feel free to PM me. I do not know the current restrictions on where we start or end so any and ALL information is appreciated.

TIA!

Got out Sunday, Caught a little 2 1/2 lber. and some dinks, can't upload the pic cause file is to big and I don't know how to fix it. Also caught a bunch of crappies. Water temp was between 49 and 52.

Been out 7 times since around mid March. I live near the Illinois/Wisconsin border. Our local lake has been murky for 2 years for some reason and I have been skunked 4 times. Went up to a 110 acre lake in Elkhorn, WI and caught 25 Bass. Most were small, but at the end, I got a 5.15lb Momma to take a wacky worm. The lily pads are just now surfacing and I can't wait to throw frogs.

Well, my local lake still looks like chocolate milk, but I knew the fish had to eat! Yesterday I went out in a cloudy, light drizzle and absolutely slammed them with a rattle trap. 20+ largemouth and a few big white bass. Middle of the lake in about 5-7ft of water. One white bass barfed about 20 minnows into my boat so they are gorging.

Good on ya! I'm going to try and go slam so crappies tomorrow, probably, maybe, possibly, more than likey, chuck for a few green fish to.

Anyone in or around the Joliet area that has recommendations for a shore fishing trip for my nephews and I? The subdivision we live in used to have good fishing but they don't maintain the fish population so now it is almost barren. We've tried Lake Chaminwood and Whalon lake but did not catch or even see fish.