Nice Paul. Looks like you had big fish?

11 minutes ago, MarkH024 said:

Nice Paul. Looks like you had big fish?

and it was the first fish of the day. T rigged senkos all morning. I think we got 2 swimjig fish. Topwater bite was dead. My son and I probably caught 30 between 6:00-11:00 all but 1 was offshore. His buddies fished the shoreline and pitched docks. They only caught the (4) 14" fish pictured

 

Looks like we're not heading to Wisconsin. Supposed to be a washout tomorrow. 80% chance of thunderstorms all day

After seeing your pictures, I really need to teach myself how to fish offshore. 

1 hour ago, Skunked again said:

After seeing your pictures, I really need to teach myself how to fish offshore. 

I love beating the banks, but this time of year I have to keep my options open. We weren't fishing that deep, between 8ft-12ft where the weeds were 6ft high. Just running our baits above the weeds. Had we stayed out longer, I probably would have fished jika rigs and t rigs on the weed edge in 12ft to try and find a bigger bite. I knew we were going to be off the water at 11 and we were having fun with the 14 inchers, so I felt no need to switch it up. 

Fishing for walleye offshore taught me a lot about offshore bass fishing and about reading my graphs

On 7/15/2016 at 7:03 PM, Skunked again said:

Junk fisherman: I'm 30 minutes east of st Louis, heading to Wisconsin would take all day to get their. I would love to go their to fish . Not practical for a day trip.

s.

LOL- gotcha.  When I saw Highland I thought that was a Chicago northern suburb.  Good luck!  

Am I to late?! Winfield area here! DuPage Co.

38 minutes ago, Fishon24 said:

Am I to late?! Winfield area here! DuPage Co.

Welcome

I'm down in Richland county in the south east part of the state. 

Welcome from southwest IL

Thanks

Fished hard for bass yesterday and nothing.

Ended up switching over to crankbaits and caught a bunch of walleye on some humps in the 18-22 range.

Headed down to the Ozarks next week and should be able to catch some good fish down there as they have been pulling a lot of water.

I am in a bit of a dry spell in Illinois for fish of decent size.

On 7/14/2016 at 1:18 PM, Jschen said:

I live in the Aurora/Naperville border and am looking for recommendations for places to fish for a beginner.  I've also tried fishing the fox valley river but no idea what I'm doing when it comes to river fishing.  Thanks!

There is an excellent recent thread here regarding fishing the lake at White Eagle Golf Course. It seems that some good size (4 & 5#) bass reside there but you couldn't prove it by me but the smaller ones are fun as well. Just stay off the smaller ponds inside the course and fish the lake that borders Route 59 near Montgomery Road. I have been there a few times over the past few weeks but the hot weather has slowed it down a bit.

From 8/3/16

Saw this pond looking on google maps Rotory Park in Dekalb so went and tried it out. Started with frog on the slop but after two strikes that missed I switched to ikas and that worked. I caught 3 on the slop. The rest of the lake nothing was biting in the open areas.

first hit about a foot from the edge to open water

 

5 hours ago, Bassman37 said:

There is an excellent recent thread here regarding fishing the lake at White Eagle Golf Course. It seems that some good size (4 & 5#) bass reside there but you couldn't prove it by me but the smaller ones are fun as well. Just stay off the smaller ponds inside the course and fish the lake that borders Route 59 near Montgomery Road. I have been there a few times over the past few weeks but the hot weather has slowed it down a bit.

Been Hot out for sure. White Eagle has been great in the early evening and hr before sundown. Top water frog or spook. And yes, stay on the main Pond! Security wont care unless you are pond hopping in the middle of the golf course.

 

I might as well retire. Last keeper I caught was on Bangs 3 weeks ago. Upper dells last weekend caught a ton of catfish, 1 walleye, and some short smallies. 3 shorts this morning on the Fox River. Think I'm headed to Castle Rock and/or Petenwell this coming weekend.

I was in a bit of a rut and then this happened!  My largest bass from the kayak!

Now, that's a fish

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 7:03 PM, Skunked again said:

Junk fisherman: I'm 30 minutes east of st Louis, heading to Wisconsin would take all day to get their. I would love to go their to fish . Not practical for a day trip.

Nice_bass : what is your style ? 

 

Depending on what ramp I use, the lakes are both about the same distance for me, both about 1.5 -2 hrs away.

I like to throw cranks first and jig/worm second. I have cheap graphs on my boat, so more than likely I'll be pounding the banks.

Thank you all for the replies.

Love Kincaid but, no place to sleep and it's a LONG drive for an out and back.

Neither of the lakes you list but, close.  I spent 4 days on Rend last week, tough doesn't begin to describe......

Looking cabin or hotel near Egypt, think that's the next trip.

Sullivan, moultrie county, very close to lake shelbyville anybody got any tips on bank fishing bass for lake shelbyville? I don't get a lot of offshore time, thanks 

 

Boydn1 : there are cabins you can stay at for Kincaid. Call the marina, that's how you book them. Do not remember what we paid for it. Their not actual cabins, more like trailers. Stayed in one 2 or 3 years ago. Had two bedrooms, two showers and two crappers, kitchen. Electric outlets outside also. Look on Google earth, if I remember right, there south of the marina and public boat ramp. I think there's a hotel/motel in murphysboro, and some eating joints, only about 5 miles south of the lake.

Kincaid lake Cabins are on the north side of lake hill Rd. 

If you want something different and less crowded, go to Washington county lake. South of Nashville il. 

8 hours ago, Skunked again said:

Boydn1 : there are cabins you can stay at for Kincaid. Call the marina, that's how you book them. Do not remember what we paid for it. Their not actual cabins, more like trailers. Stayed in one 2 or 3 years ago. Had two bedrooms, two showers and two crappers, kitchen. Electric outlets outside also. Look on Google earth, if I remember right, there south of the marina and public boat ramp. I think there's a hotel/motel in murphysboro, and some eating joints, only about 5 miles south of the lake.

Thanks I may have to look into the cabins again.  I was down there a couple of years ago and if I remember right the roads around the cabins would be pretty tricky with a trailer (pretty tight with some big holes on the sides).   As far as hotels there used to be a (I think) Red Apple Inn just West of Rt 13, VERY shady place, good thing it's gone, crackheads in the parking lot and all.  I stayed at the Americas Best Value Inn just East of Rt13, not terrible for me but, wouldn't take the wife there. 

I may look into Washington county, I used to bank fish down there when I was active duty.  I just hate to put in and not be able to run the motor, It's a pretty big lake to troll.

Thanks for the input.

since we are talking Illinois. Anyone have any good tips on spots for bass fishing up near volo?. I'm going to be up that way this weekend. Just sat to Sunday. I know Foxlake isn't far. However,I will be boatless. I see there's a few "pay as you fish" parks. My guess is they are over fished. I've already found two ponds near the hotel on google maps.

6 hours ago, Fishon24 said:

since we are talking Illinois. Anyone have any good tips on spots for bass fishing up near volo?. I'm going to be up that way this weekend. Just sat to Sunday. I know Foxlake isn't far. However,I will be boatless. I see there's a few "pay as you fish" parks. My guess is they are over fished. I've already found two ponds near the hotel on google maps.

Are you opposed to renting a boat?

1 minute ago, slonezp said:

Are you opposed to renting a boat?

I would be willing to rent a boat

52 minutes ago, Fishon24 said:

I would be willing to rent a boat

I think your best bet is to spend a day on Bangs Lake which is about 15 minutes south of Volo. Wauconda Boat rents pontoons, and if you are military or ex military, they have a free rental but it needs to be reserved. We killed them a few weeks ago on texas rigged senkos.

The Fox Chain is difficult to find bass during the summertime. Most of the shoreline is choked with weeds. You can rent 14ft Lunds with motors at CJ Smiths on Grass Lake Rd. CJ also allows shore fishing for a fee. There are a few other free shore fishing spots that should hold catfish and carp. A word of warning, The Chain gets crazy with boat traffic after 11:00am. Makes fishing less than enjoyable.

Long Lake is part of the Chain but not accessible by boat from the Chain so it doesn't get crazy. Swanys on Long Lake rents pontoons

I'm heading out right no. If I think of anything else I'll post it later. If you think you are interested in any of the lakes I mentioned, PM me

While you're in Volo, You need to go to the auto museum and stop in for a hotdog at Fratellos