kinda new to fishing. been working out of town so I hit a few spots there and back.

on the lake last night just tons of fish hitting the surface(baitfish?) looked like the water was boiling and I couldnt even catch a bluegill. on the way home hit the kankakee river tons of babies near the shore.

I guess my queastion is, is this the time they start hatching?

The boil you describe sounds like shad schools trying to escape predators, either stripers or largemouth.

hmm thanks. there was 6 to 12 at any givin time within 100 feet from shore.  I threw a few scum frogs at them. what shoulf I try next?

id try a "walk the dog" type lure. or a weightless fluke. remember to cast past the target area and reel through it. good luck!

Not that familiar with IL, but shad may not survive that far north. Bass should have spawned around May/June in your area, so the fry could be finger lings about now.

All types of fish can feed near the surface, so until you start catching a few, it's hard to know what is going on. Could be a bug hatch.

Buzz bait is easy to use and should get the attention of bass that maybe in the area feeding near the surface.

WRB

Not that familiar with IL, but shad may not survive that far north. Bass should have spawned around May/June in your area, so the fry could be finger lings about now.

All types of fish can feed near the surface, so until you start catching a few, it's hard to know what is going on. Could be a bug hatch.

Buzz bait is easy to use and should get the attention of bass that maybe in the area feeding near the surface.

WRB

We have our share of shad up here. If you see what appears to be a bunch of small splashes on the surface, in my experience it's usually small dink bass feeding on bugs.

If you still have trouble with "walkin the dog", try a 2-1/2" or 3" popper, or try waking/burning a spinnerbait. 

Buzzbait, chatter, weightless fluke, zara spook, lipless crank. If it's gar that's after them beware they will murder a buzz bait ha ha. Buzz baits are simple and very effective in these conditions in my past experiences. (late eve/early morn)

4 inch Senko.

If you can get a look at what the "bait" is, try to match the color. If still a mystery, just go with a basic color (green pumpkin/june bug/black) for starters.