Snakeden Hollow Ice

[Illinoisgiller]

Went to a Snakeden lake last Thurs. and The good clear ice was only 2". I figured it would be good to go by yesterday. It was only up to 2 1/2". But - This new ice is the clearest,strongest ice I've ever been on.
Hopefully, if the weather people are anywhere near correct, should be on the ice next week .:D Be Safe!!! Mike

[Screen]

Where is Snakeden? - I am from Sterling, not fare from you! Ice up here is not ready yet!

[Illinoisgiller]

Screen- Snakeden Hollow is at Victoria, IL about 50 miles from the Cities here. I take I#74 to RT#34 at Galesburg, turn NE to Wataga, then take RT#167 to Victoria. There is a bait shop in Victoria with a new owner that gives me the impression that he will be there for a while. :) He has made up new maps with discription of what fish are in each lake. :D
Just watched the weather again and I might be dreaming about enough ice next week.:confused: I'll be reporting. Mike

[gofish]

illinois giller at 65 feet max depth be very carefull the ice will possibly change thickness quick. i get out on 2 1/2 inches myself but make sure ive got a rope tied off. if you want good maps go to sportsmansconnection.com they have books of maps with every public accessible water in the state with shocking studies and stocking statistics. sometimes the maps arent the most detailed but theyre handy and not far off.it shows snakeden was stocked with quite a few walleye,muskie and trout in the last few years.

[Illinoisgiller]

gofish. Gulp, 65ft. The map probably shows the main lake as Snakeden Lake. It has been renamed Lake McMaster. That particular lake is now a full 15' low due to a spillway renovation that will raise the lake 5' above previous level when full. I was on one of the other lakes in the system.
The lake I was on is 15 acres and max depth is 15-18' .
I did get a lot foolish though. When I found at the bank it was 2 1/2", I walked down the shore to a small point. I knew the drop off was close to shore there. I unloaded the Shapell w/skies and got on it on my knees. I pulled myself out a ways and drilled again .It was still 2 1/2" over 3' water. I went out 15' from bank and drilled again to find 2" ice over 6' I gave up and got the heck back to shore. I'd bet I was quite a sight pulling myself on the shack with ice spikes.
I'm in the market for an old inflatable boat ( The ones with no air in the bottom) A pole with spike for pushing and a rope anchored for getting back to shore. ha ha
Thank you for the site info. I'll check it out when I have some time. Mike

[capt.kirk]

Sounds like a new game for FEAR FACTOR,put a rope around there
waist and see how many flags they can get before they fall thru the ice:D
KIRK

[gofish]

illinoisgiller i looked into buying an airboat a couple years ago just for ice conditions like that.lol the 3 lakes my maps show together there are snakeden (162 acres) storey(133 acres) and johnson sauk(50 acres)...........good stocking foot neoprene waders saved my butt more than once plus they cut the wind.lol

[Illinoisgiller]

Lake Storey and Johnson are each at least 30 miles from Snakeden in opposit directions.lol Snakeden is a group of strip mine lakes near Victoria. There are also lots of private mine lakes in the area. Mike

[Screen]

I know where Colona is but where is Victoria?

[Illinoisgiller]

Screen, The best way to explain it is for you to Google up Mapquest. You won't need to mess with addresses, just put in your town and Victoria, IL. It will show you driving directions and a map from you to Victoria.
When I'm talking to someone that wants to explain how to get to them, I just say ,"all I need is an add". lol :D Mike

[CavScout]

Hey IllinoisGiller what lake were you on? I have caught some big crappie out of Lake Victoria. I have never caught anything but dink gills out of any of the ponds there. Keep us in the loop about the ice. And do you know when they are going to bring the water back up?

[gofish]

illinoisgiller you oughtta be getting some ice now! from a high of 57 to 17 in 3 days wow.

[Illinoisgiller]

The lake I was on doesn't have a name that I know of . It's a pair of lakes in the phesant habitat area. I was on the front lake . It has some nice ones in there but not a lot of them. I'm thinking about trying it again in the am. There is a pretty good chill going on here and I'm hoping there is safe ice by now. I'll probably trek on back to the back lake where there are more fish although a little smaller.

Cav Scout. I've never gotten on the Crappie in Lake Victoria because I"ve never fished for them. I have gotten some real bull gills and nice red ear there though. It has been 2 or 3 years since I've fished that lake though. I and the wife went down there during the spring weather we had and seen the low water. I think it will take some spring rain to put water in it . The powers to be think McMaster will be up to the ramp this spring. 15 ft. low now, it will take take a LOT of rain . When it is full to the new level it will flood another 40 acres at the far end. Mike

[CavScout]

IllinoisGiller
I have never fished them ponds before. Every pond there has a name, if you go to the check station you can get a map of all of them and they are a pretty good bunch of guys working down there will tell you what they have seen go into the ponds and what they have seen come out.

[Environmentor]

Is it worth the drive? I have always dreamed of getting an Illinois fishing license and going down there. I have always been told that the bluegills and bass were BIG in those mines. Now you are saying the bluegill are small. For anyone who has fished both strip mines, are Muscatine Sandpits and Snake Den Hollow comparable? What is the average size bluegill? 8 oz. and 10" like in Muscatine Sand Pits. Does Snake Den Hollow have alot of trophies in the 12oz to 1 pound range (or better)? The amount of time it would take me to drive to Snake Den Hollow, I could drive to Coralville, Macbride, Geode, or many other lakes/ponds/streams.
P.S. If I ever go, what is that Victoria baitshop's name and where is it (that has the detailed maps), all I got is some crappy maps off the internet.

[CavScout]

If you got the map from the Illnois DNR page it is the Office/Check station on there, Victoria Bait is the name of the bait shop you cant miss it on the main drag, big brick building with a Live Bait machine out front. Phone # is 309-879-2664. I have taken some big crappie and bass out of there just have not got into any of the gills, I am sure that they are out there.

[Illinoisgiller]

I went out to the Snakeden lake today. It is the pair of lakes in the Phesant Habitat area N.W. of Victoria. It is state owned but managed by the Snakeden people.
The ice varied a LOT. I found from 3 1/2" down to open water .I couldn't mark any fish on the Vexilar, so treked to the back lake. The water and ice was so clear that I seen a muskrat scoot off to the deeper water almost under my feet.
The back lake had a little more ice. The deepest water I found was 16'.There was 4" out in the center. I caught a half dozen bass and as many 6" skinny bug eyed gills .Needless to say I left them all there. lol The bite was real light for the ones I did catch. I know there are at least some nice fish in there. I stayed off those lakes a lot to lessen the pressure some , but it might have gotten hammered by others .The barometric pressure was high today in the middle of a cold front. I may try later in the week if conditions change. Mike

[gofish]

illinoisgiller cool glad you got to go and stayed safe. ponds here all froze over last night but i dont think ill get on em yet lol.