papajoe, A buddy texted me a pic from Delavan on Saturday. My guess between 6-7lbs. Texas rigs and shakey heads in 8-12fow in the weeds. They landed 30 bass. Can't make it during the week but, I'll probably be there on Sunday. 

good to see IL is still fishing. 

not sure that I have more than a handful of times so far this summer.  Looking to ending august on a bang though.

My favorite stretch is from the pagoda south to the bay. Docks and shallow weeds early and tops of the weeds out to the deep edge. Thanks for the heads up guys. Looks like it's going to be me and hopefully a few decent bass and a pike or two.

Illinois Northern angler here! Mostly Lake and McHenry County! Fall is coming by looking forward to some king salmon over at the Harbor!

Check the fishing reports forum for a Delavan report

My son and his buddies had  phenomenal day on Bangs today. 30+ bass in the 2-4lb range and some pike. Here's a couple pics. I can't seem to get the rest uploaded to photobucket. 

Slowest day on Delavan I've had in a while. I thought it was going to be a good day. I caught a pike before my son even got in the water. He caught the big one of the day shortly thereafter. We caught 10 bass and a few pike in 5hrs. Disappointing to say the least.

Me and a friend will be making a trip to Illinois to do some fishing on lake kinkaid the second week of September. Anyone have any advice or pointers. This will be our first time fishing in Illinois or even seeing the lake so any help will be appreciated..

The tournaments are getting a bit ridiculous down here- Sunday out at Clinton had more folks beating the bank than I have ever seen out there in my life and looking at the tourney results it did not look like a great time to boot. 

For you IL tx'ers...at what point does the size of the tourney and prize money override the competitions ability to actually bring 5 fish in. 

The fishing got bad when 50 boats are sitting on top of the fish pitching to laydowns in 2 FOW. 

ended up stopping fishing for bass and went to walleye as there was boats just everywhere.  Thank god I had not put in any entry fee as I would have got board and left and I actually did catch a few that would have been in the well.

Anyhow, some lakes can handle it and it never bothered me- but here in IL it just seems are lakes are too small to handle the increasing numbers of tx's and folks participating. 

The tournaments are getting a bit ridiculous down here- Sunday out at Clinton had more folks beating the bank than I have ever seen out there in my life and looking at the tourney results it did not look like a great time to boot. 

For you IL tx'ers...at what point does the size of the tourney and prize money override the competitions ability to actually bring 5 fish in. 

The fishing got bad when 50 boats are sitting on top of the fish pitching to laydowns in 2 FOW. 

ended up stopping fishing for bass and went to walleye as there was boats just everywhere.  Thank god I had not put in any entry fee as I would have got board and left and I actually did catch a few that would have been in the well.

Anyhow, some lakes can handle it and it never bothered me- but here in IL it just seems are lakes are too small to handle the increasing numbers of tx's and folks participating. 

Maybe that's a good sign of the economy. Here's my take. I've turned into a fair weather tournament angler. What I mean by that is I pick and choose now, based on past experience, where and when I fish tourneys, completely based on payout and my intuition about being in the money . This year I took the year off for health reasons, but my son is still competing in the trail we have fished together since 2005. I'm not about the competition and 100% in it for the money. He's in it for the competition. A few years back we qualified for the tournament of champions which was held on Guntersville. We competed against 195 teams from east of the Mississippi. We competed for 3 boats and cash and ended up right in the middle of the 196 boat field. I realized then, I really don't have the desire for the competition. I'm at the point that If my winnings pay for my expenses, I'm ahead of the game. My "trail" is down from 50 boats to 37 boats this season. Some of the guys who are not competing this year, are doing so because of financial reasons. They are competing in less expensive clubs for smaller payouts and no chance of "moving up". The Fox Chain has bass tourneys just about every weekend, sometimes multiple, and 2 Wednesday night tourneys throughout the season. There are also walleye and musky tourneys going on. IMO it's overfished and under managed. I would imagine all of IL waters are under managed and catching big fish is more about luck and statistics then a common occurrence. I can travel 45 minutes north of the Chain and fish Geneva or Delavan and catch more fish and larger fish on smaller water. Does that make any sense?

I don't know if I answered your question or just babbled. LOL      

those clinton tournaments in the summer have to be terrible for the fish, as the water is sooooooooooooooooooo hot. 

Maybe that's a good sign of the economy. Here's my take. I've turned into a fair weather tournament angler. What I mean by that is I pick and choose now, based on past experience, where and when I fish tourneys, completely based on payout and my intuition about being in the money . This year I took the year off for health reasons, but my son is still competing in the trail we have fished together since 2005. I'm not about the competition and 100% in it for the money. He's in it for the competition. A few years back we qualified for the tournament of champions which was held on Guntersville. We competed against 195 teams from east of the Mississippi. We competed for 3 boats and cash and ended up right in the middle of the 196 boat field. I realized then, I really don't have the desire for the competition. I'm at the point that If my winnings pay for my expenses, I'm ahead of the game. My "trail" is down from 50 boats to 37 boats this season. Some of the guys who are not competing this year, are doing so because of financial reasons. They are competing in less expensive clubs for smaller payouts and no chance of "moving up". The Fox Chain has bass tourneys just about every weekend, sometimes multiple, and 2 Wednesday night tourneys throughout the season. There are also walleye and musky tourneys going on. IMO it's overfished and under managed. I would imagine all of IL waters are under managed and catching big fish is more about luck and statistics then a common occurrence. I can travel 45 minutes north of the Chain and fish Geneva or Delavan and catch more fish and larger fish on smaller water. Does that make any sense?

I don't know if I answered your question or just babbled. LOL      

No...that was more than babble...that was actually just what I was looking for and what my opinion is as well.  I don't fish a circuit but do fish tourneys from time to time and they are fun- but for money or a bigger contest at the end of the day.  I would fish more here in IL, but honestly many of our lakes are fairly boring and uncomplicated and I am much more a multi-species angler and get bored easily some days with just bass. 

I also highly agree- IL waterways overfished undermanaged.  On one hand I guess it is good they are used but what tangible benefit are the tournaments providing in return?  I am sure some would like to provide economic sustenance by use of local commodities however that money IMO is not being used by the state to provide any longevity back into the waters. 

Really more of a rant/babble on my part on all of this and while I should not direct this at tournaments directly I guess I did.  Correlation is not causation, but there does seem to be quite a bit of correlation as the tx scene seems to have gotten larger down here with no kickbacks for the water ways. 

I also agree with jross on Clinton and the water temps- 95 degrees with almost 90 degree water does not brighten the future of bass populations in a 5k acre lake.  I personally see the population waning from my own personal experience. 

Maybe this stems from a disappointing year so far. Camping/fishing season starts pretty soon for me and I am going to have some time away from work a bit, so maybe my attitude will change.

Oh Yeah!!!

Serving appetizers?

Serving appetizers?

I'm trying to figure out how to cut out the cheek meat. LOL

Went out to Delavan on Sunday. Cold, foggy morning. Started at 6:00 a.m. just past Lake Lawn Lodge. Buddy got a 18-1/2 " smallie (wacky worm) about the 3rd cast by a dock. I then got a 24" northern (jig). Then buddy got another northern about 22" (rattle trap). Move to the Hump, I got a 34" northern (top water).  7:00 a.m. moved to the beach, buddy got a 21" walleye on a (rattle trap). Moved down that shoreline for awhile nothing, ran across to the other side fished weed edges nothing, fished next two points nothing. Went to the clock tower it is now about 11:a.m I got a 17-1/2" smallie 2 feet from the shore(wacky worm). 12:00 noon shot across to the pagoda fished that stretch until 2:pm. I picked up 2 largemouth 13-1/2 and a 14" (wacky worm). My buddy got a largemouth about  14-1/2 (wacky worm.) We could not find any big largemouth, and also a very slow day on the water.

 

Going to Powers Lake on Thursday and to Lake Beulah on Sunday. I will give follow up reports when the days arrive.

 

BTW Browns lake at Fischer is closed from Sept 17th to Mid October for ramp and construction work.

Went out to Delavan on Sunday. Cold, foggy morning. Started at 6:00 a.m. just past Lake Lawn Lodge. Buddy got a 18-1/2 " smallie (wacky worm) about the 3rd cast by a dock. I then got a 24" northern (jig). Then buddy got another northern about 22" (rattle trap). Move to the Hump, I got a 34" northern (top water).  7:00 a.m. moved to the beach, buddy got a 21" walleye on a (rattle trap). Moved down that shoreline for awhile nothing, ran across to the other side fished weed edges nothing, fished next two points nothing. Went to the clock tower it is now about 11:a.m I got a 17-1/2" smallie 2 feet from the shore(wacky worm). 12:00 noon shot across to the pagoda fished that stretch until 2:pm. I picked up 2 largemouth 13-1/2 and a 14" (wacky worm). My buddy got a largemouth about  14-1/2 (wacky worm.) We could not find any big largemouth, and also a very slow day on the water.

 

Going to Powers Lake on Thursday and to Lake Beulah on Sunday. I will give follow up reports when the days arrive.

 

BTW Browns lake at Fischer is closed from Sept 17th to Mid October for ramp and construction work.

 

I went up to Delavan yesterday. Only managed one fish but it was nice. About 3 1/2 pounds right off the corner of a dock on a white chatterbait. Got plenty of follows from largemouth and pike on the chatter bait but never got em to commit. Was burning it over the top of the weed beds. Tried several other baits in several areas but never did find em fired up anywhere. Was shocked how busy this place was for a tuesday. This was my first trip ever to this lake and I will definitely be back.

caught them pretty good on clinton today. had 6 over 3lbs and a huge buffalo that pushed 20lbs. water temp were mid 70s on the cold side

Thursday 9-18-2014 Powers Lake. Got there at 6:00 a.m. Started with top water to the right of the dock along that shoreline. Had one blow up and that was it. Put on a jig about 8:00, and got a snakey northern. By 9: 00 I had two more snakey northerns. Went to the point, small bass hit jig at boat side and missed. About 10:00, got my first bass it was 16", 10:15 another bass 18", 10:30, got the final bass that was 19" weighed in at 3lbs 4 oz. Pic below. Went to the other side nothing. Went to the back bay nothing. Fished the two humps nothing. Went back to the ramp area, my wife and I got a rock bass each. Left lake at 1:00.

 

Going to Beulah on Sunday

 

 

Nice.

Cadman, ever fish Turtle Lake?

Nice.

Cadman, ever fish Turtle Lake?

 

 

I have never heard of it. Need to know more. Where is it located, and boat access?

 

I will try to call you tomorrow, I have a few more questions I would like to ask you.

I have never heard of it. Need to know more. Where is it located, and boat access?

 

I will try to call you tomorrow, I have a few more questions I would like to ask you.

Its a small lake a little north of Delavan. A guy I work with has a summer house on the lake. He is not a fisherman but claims the bass fishing is good. A guy who doesn't fish may not know what "good" is. I though you might have been there since you fish a few of the southern WI lakes 

Hi! I just moved into the NW suburbs of Chicago and was wondering if there were any good bass ponds nearby. I don't own a boat so lakes aren't really an option for me. Thanks!

Hi! I just moved into the NW suburbs of Chicago and was wondering if there were any good bass ponds nearby. I don't own a boat so lakes aren't really an option for me. Thanks!

What area?

Just joined the forums here and I live near the city of Chicago. Travel alot to the northen burbs (mt prospect, elk grove, palatine, arlington heights) to fish. If anyone wants to meet up and fish PM me!!