I tooled around on Saturday casting a shine glide. The water in my pond was about 9" lower than what I'm used to and it looked like chocolate milk.  Not sniff or whiff at what I was throwing. felt good to shake the rust off though. 

Anybody ever fish Fulton County recreation center outside of Canton il?

8 hours ago, HBtheKID56 said:

Do you fish Prairie Rd Pond?  I've been wondering how the largemouth are over there.

i`ve heard there is some big bass in there ive never fished it. but i am as soon as possible. the DNR shocked it and found 2 over 5 pounds.

8 hours ago, HBtheKID56 said:

Do you fish Prairie Rd Pond?  I've been wondering how the largemouth are over there.

i`ve heard there is some big bass in there ive never fished it. but i am as soon as possible. the DNR shocked it and found 2 over 5 pounds.

18 hours ago, David Dayer said:

I live on lake Zurich(northern Illinois)

Are the rumors true about huge bass in the lake?

naperville area here. what do you guys tend towards during ice out -- smaller or larger bait profiles? 

Welcome Beardown. I work in Naperville

Ice out- Jigs or very slow moving swimbaits.

Pre-Spawn - Spawn - Bluegill baits (Hardgills, Hollowbelly Swimbatis, Swim jigs, Fluke)

On February 24, 2016 at 9:40 AM, smallyslayer said:

i`ve heard there is some big bass in there ive never fished it. but i am as soon as possible. the DNR shocked it and found 2 over 5 pounds.

i`ve heard there is some big bass in there ive never fished it. but i am as soon as possible. the DNR shocked it and found 2 over 5 pounds.

I fished it a couple times towards the end of summer and once in the fall. I was able to get two decent size large mouth but that's about it. I plan to give it a good shot this spring.

On 2/24/2016 at 0:52 AM, HBtheKID56 said:

Any Northern Illinois kayak fisherman out there.  I just recently bought a fishing kayak and would love to partner up.  I've yet to get it out on the water but plan on starting when the lakes thaw.

you can get on the Des Plaines river right now

On February 25, 2016 at 0:34 PM, Joey Bass said:

I fished it a couple times towards the end of summer and once in the fall. I was able to get two decent size large mouth but that's about it. I plan to give it a good shot this spring.

 Went the other day looks like a good pond it was freezing and windy. Going to the fox today before work for about and hour at saw-wee-kee park.

On 2/25/2016 at 7:31 AM, MarkH024 said:

Welcome Beardown. I work in Naperville

Ice out- Jigs or very slow moving swimbaits.

Pre-Spawn - Spawn - Bluegill baits (Hardgills, Hollowbelly Swimbatis, Swim jigs, Fluke)

 

Thanks for the warm greeting!

Do you find that a particular profile size in terms of jig trailer works better at ice out? Bigger vs smaller?

I'd like to try shakey head but the local pond has a ton of muck on the bottom, so maybe drop shot with a 12" leader might be a better idea.

Oh I forgot -- not to stir up trouble or anything, but for the casual bank beaters (not boaters), does everyone buy a fishing license every year? This will be my first full year fishing and I bought one. Just curious if this is more of a situation like when my CPA laughed at me when I actually self reported online tax free purchases in the "use tax" column. 

I use the same trailers year round. Usually a Rage craw or alike. 

Buy a license. They can confiscate your gear if caught fishing without one. For me, that would not be a good day. IL annual license is only $16.

Buy one online. This way you can legally make multiple copies. Keep one in tackle box, car, boat, wallet, etc. 

The one time you don't buy is when you'll be checked!

32 minutes ago, Skunked again said:

Buy one online. This way you can legally make multiple copies. Keep one in tackle box, car, boat, wallet, etc. 

The one time you don't buy is when you'll be checked!

That's what I do too. I have way too much $$$ in my stuff to risk it.

12 hours ago, MarkH024 said:

I use the same trailers year round. Usually a Rage craw or alike. 

Buy a license. They can confiscate your gear if caught fishing without one. For me, that would not be a good day. IL annual license is only $16.

yeah i just printed out a couple copies.

first bass of the year. 3/8oz jig with a pit boss in a subdivision pond. nothing huge, 14" maybe, but it was certainly nice to feel that tap on the line!

 

60 degrees tomorrow guys -- time to bust out the buzzbaits! just kidding ... (right?). i might mess around with a soft plastic swimbait on a freedom live action hybrid jig head though. i've been wanting to see how that looks in water. 

What's up guys?

Does anyone have much luck fishing tubes on the Fox River for Smallies. If so, what colors / size?

I live in St Charles and frequent the Fox.

Thanks in advance. 

With river fish, I've never felt the color of plastics mattered much at all. The Fox is generally so stained that color seldom matters. Use the lightest weight you can. The heavier the weight, the faster you'll get snagged.

Think I've caught more smallies with flukes than anything else on the Fox.

Hi there all, new to this forum and just found this thread.

I live on the Aurora/Naperville border just waiting for the ice off the ponds.

52 minutes ago, Bassman37 said:

Hi there all, new to this forum and just found this thread.

I live on the Aurora/Naperville border just waiting for the ice off the ponds.

You still have ice? All the ice has been gone for 4 or 5 days around that area that I've seen.

1 minute ago, Scott F said:

You still have ice? All the ice has been gone for 4 or 5 days around that area that I've seen.

naperville small ponds thawed out early this week, and then had a tiny bit of ice re-form two nights ago. should be a moot point tomorrow.

13 hours ago, beardown34 said:

naperville small ponds thawed out early this week, and then had a tiny bit of ice re-form two nights ago. should be a moot point tomorrow.

You are absolutely correct as the two small ponds in my subdivision are finally ice free. 60 degrees today should totally defrost the larger ones.

any luck with the warm weather in the western suburbs? i only had 30 minutes this morning and got skunked. the swimbait on the freedom jig head looked pretty cool though. same with a swimbait on a sling blade flutter (underspin). although they would have looked cooler with a largemouth on it!

I struck out this afternoon. Water is still frigid. Not a bump,swirl, or anything. We need a good week of 55-60 to liven things up.

Any of you in the Sugar Grove/Aurora/Yorkville area ever wade Blackberry creek and catch anything? 

woo woo, first time using a suspending jerkbait, Xrap XR 8. my only bite in 30 minutes but i'll take it. i think i need more of a sweeping hookset as opposed to an upward snap. when this one first popped its head out of the water, the Xrap was actually sideways in its mouth, like a stick propping its mouth open. luckily one of the treble hooks ended up snagging its side lip before i could land it. 

 

Thanks for waking them up!