Anyone been ? Going next Weds and Thursday. If you have any secrets post them here I can keep a secret.
Anyone been ? Going next Weds and Thursday. If you have any secrets post them here I can keep a secret.
It's been tough for quite a while now. Catching less than 10 per day and lucky to have a keeper or 2. The plant has been up and down, so it's hard to claim any water temps. Clarity is fine.
We have a tournament on Sunday, so maybe I'll have some fresh.. and hopefully more positive... info.
Thanks, good luck to you
Fishing was a bit better today. We caught 17 with four keepers for 15.7something,good for 2nd place. Winners had a limit for 18something. Crankbaits and jerkbaits did the most damage for us. One team had over 13 pounds in 2 fish... one weighed 8.36!
44-47 around the ramp to not very far up the warm side. 43-44 on the cold side. Give 'em hell, Joe.
Good to hear the quality still swims there. That's a special place for a group of us. Normally we head down in March, but opted for the 2nd weekend in April this year. Sadly, I worry we'll miss the prespawn bite. Maybe we'll get the back end of it? Keep the reports coming!
Went three times last week, spent most of my time scoping in deeper water. Had two sub-par days and one big day. Caught 8 keepers in total with my two biggest ones around six. Seems to me that the deep fish and baitfish are starting to move up shallower?
We don't do a lot of scoping, but I think you're right about the movement toward shallower water. I doubt that he majority have made it to the bank yet, but it's time for the movement to begin.
Keep the reports coming. Curious how an early spring might affect the lake. In years past, we've always gone down end of March, but seemed to always be a touch early for pre-spawn. Made the decision to come down 1st week in April this year and worried we'll miss the prespawn on the back end. Temps seem warmer than normal, but the "tougher" bite seems about on par compared to previous years.
When you are 73 you lay out best plans buuuuut sometimes they don't happen. Hopefully I can get back to my most favorite lake ever pretty quick.
Please keep posting results really look forward to reading.
I know they crushed them last weekend in some tourneys. 29lbs won with 8 plus big fish on Saturday at HS tourney. Buddy of mine had 4 fish for 21lbs with a 7.5 big fish the next day to win at tourney. I'll be there on Sunday to fish a tourney with him. I'll let you know how it goes.
There has been some big bags lately, but then it drops off pretty quickly. Not many limits, but some dandy fish.
We had a tournament last weekend. Singles club. I had 2 chances at overs and lost them. One as I went to net it. Fishing was steady, caught probably 15. Spinnerbait and rattle trap. Since we're single we can only keep 3 fish. Our first place was 11lbs with 2 fish
Thanks guys love the posts.
Was on Newton today(cold side) to avoid the big tournament. 52 degree water. Had a nice crank bait bite early then it slowed mid day. No overs but some nice fish.
Enjoying life in Southern Illinois
23lbs won our AC tourney yesterday. We had 4 for 15lbs and got second. It was pretty slow day for us and didn't catch many. Lucky the ones we got were keepers. 1 way up warm arm, 2 in the middle, and 1 way up cold so we were all over the place. Crankbait got our bites.
Last edited by DylanSam; 03-11-2024 at 12:08 PM.
Sounds about on par from my past experiences despite the warmer spring. I know this lake is really not dependent on water temps like people seem to think. But I would imagine these fish really start moving up soon. I'd like to think in a week or two, things should really start to take off.
It's been years since I've fished the lake. Glad to hear it still seems healthy.
We found it tough yesterday, but not so for a lot of people. 24+, 23+, 19+ and 18+ to cash. We had 3 for 13.84 with two 5 pounders and an 18 incher. 1 caught near the bank on a jig and the 2 bigger ones off the bank, but not very deep, on a jerkbait.
54 degrees to start at the west (hot) ramp. Water is quite clear. I think the shallows will really bust loose in the next few weeks.
Trying to keep tabs on Newton. We're not down there for another two weeks, but I imagine things maybe slowed down a bit with the recent cold. Any reports out there?
Any recent reports on water clarity or temperature, I haven't been able to make it out recently. I saw there was a high school tournament last Friday, anyone know what it took to win?
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