Central Illinois lake scouting

[Illinoisgiller]

I took my bicycle to Washington IL. yesterday for some tuning,and had from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm to do some lake scouting in the area.We first checked out Eureka Lake. It is in a park in town and looks promising for a later trip w/float tube. We didn't get any takers w/ our small jigs and wax worms. We moved on to Evergreen Lake. This one looked like it could be good in the many coves for tubing also. The cold hard wind kept us from the best looking spots. We then moved on to Lake Bloomington. Same cold wind problems there of course, but annother promising lake on the list.
After a lunch at a lakeside diner we picked up the bike and headed home. On the way we spotted a small park lake at Brimfield Il.. Although still windy, we managed to get to the lee side and had plenty of light hits and finally caught one smallish bluegill.
Yea,I know, Lost of driving and lots of typing for one lousy bluegill, but was a relaxing day and plan to return for another go at those lakes when the bite turnes on . Mike

[Timotha7]

Always good to scout water this time of year

There are some great little county lakes around Iowa, and very often
they are not well known and the pressure is very light

Got one west of here that is a real gem
:-)

[capt.kirk]

Giller,That scouting is not a waste of time,it will pay you back in the end,
what you did is called maxium utilazation of avaibale time,Good thinking
got bike fixed and found new fishing places,made for a good day IMO
Kirk

[T Bartels]

Glad to hear ya got out there and did some scouting!! There are plenty of lakes around here to take advantage of, and it WILL pay off in the end!! As a matter of fact that's how I found one of my favorite fishing spots on the river, just walking up the railroad tracks trying some different places!~!~ Finally found it!!!:D GOOD LUCK!!-Taylor

[gofish]

ive fished evergreen ,best of both worlds one ends deep water with a few sharp drops/flats,other ends shallow an full of timber...caught lots of crappie an a few sauger there giller

[Illinoisgiller]

On my scouting trip, I was told that the crappie are just starting to hit on the rock edge at the dam.:cool: Wind was just too cold and strong for the wife (and I lol ) so we just checked the lake out instead. Mike

[wewamohawk]

hi giller good job better luck next time msurice

[Timotha7]

They are starting to turn on around the edges of the bridge pylons and
in the back flow channels at the spill way too

Supposed to get rain next few days, should make for some good fishing

[gofish]

crappies are movin up at lake vermillion here too.....but my boats broke! wwaaaaa! lol its only gonna git better. giller theres a launch fee at evergreen an 10 hp limit too.nice lil spot though aint it?

[Big Sam]

Howdy. Miller Park Lake in Bloomington and Lake Storey in Galesburg are slow because of the spawn. Hampton Dam near the Quad Cities is getting a lot of action, but most fish are under 15 pounds. Sam.

[bankpoleken]

We have been catching a ton of crappie, but keepers are hard to come by. Went out last Friday and took five keepers. The male in the picture went 12 inches and the female went. 11.

[Timotha7]

Great looking fish Ken

Thanks for sharing the pics !

It is starting to pick up around here from all "reports" I have still not got out
much
Need to make that change!

[bankpoleken]

Crappie USA held a tournament on Lake Shelbyville last Saturday. The winning team had 6.01 lbs (seven fish) and the big crappie went 1.33 lbs. My wife and I fished Shelbyville yesterday with about the same results as when I was out last Friday. We caught a lot of crappie between 9.5 to just under 10 inches and we ended up with 6 keepers. The two largest in the pic went 11 and 12 inches. The spawn is coming to a close, but I seldom fish shallow water anyway. I prefer depths between 9 and 15 feet year around.

[bankpoleken]

In my opinion, the best crappie fishing on Lake Shelbyville takes place in the winter, just weeks before ice up and a few weeks after ice out. Here is a pic of a two man limit my friend and I took back in December.

[Timotha7]

That is what it is all about! Cold water caught slabs are some of the finest
eating there is

That is a great stringer of fish

Tim

[gofish]

bankpoleken any reports on whites an walleye yet ?

[bankpoleken]

gofish - Check out Welch's report on his website regarding white bass and waleye.
http://www.lakeshelbyvilleguide.com/fishing.htm

[gofish]

thanks,ill do it