Going to Lake Clinton

[theBaitBar]

I am going to Lake Clinton Thursday for a couple of days. I was there once before and caught nothing. Can anyone help with patterns & presentations? Any help would be great.

[sgt93]

Let me tell you this. I can hook my boat up and be in Clinton in about 20 minutes. I use to fish that lake probably 60 times a season as it was so close. 90% of the time it is tough. The other 10% of the time you can go and do very well. It's a rough lake to fish. There are some coves on the west side with stumps that you can do well in. The bridge the Mascoutin area is decent as well. Best of luck, I make the drive to Shelbyville or Mill now.

[bassindon2]

Ya, + What Steve said.

[theBaitBar]

I dont have much choice, I have to be at the state park so I will be fishing Clinton. Anything useful is appreciated.

[Philly]

John....I haven't been on Clinton in a couple of weeks, so someone else may have more current information, but I'll try to tell you what the fish were doing when I last fished, as well as what stage I believe they are in now from previous experience.

Most of the fish above the Dewitt bridge (warm water area) have spawned out. We went up there and fished all the way above Parnell and we caught a lot of fish, but not many keepers. We were fishing the ends of laydowns near channel swings and main lake points and catching them on wht/chrt Chatterbaits and firetiger Bandit 100's.

There were a lot of fish just beginning to come up to spawn from the area below Mascoutin all the way down to Rt 54 cove and the bouys that restrict access to the North Fork. We caught some decent bed fish in the back end of Jungle and Rt 10 coves flipping a grn pumpkin Beaver. The water had too much color to see the fish (typical at Clinton), but they were definitely bedding fish and right off the bank. I would have to think that most of those fish have spawned out, however, there should be a bunch more fish that have moved up since then as the majority of the spawning activity in that part of the lake seems to take place later in May. Jungle, Houseboat, Rt 10 and the Dam Cove are all good spawning areas and definitely worth a look. You may also want to look for pre and post spawn fish on the main lake and secondary points leading in/out of the spawning areas. A Spro Little John in Spooky Shad and Strike King Series 5 in Sexy Shad are always a good bet on the points. You might also run into a decent topwater bite in the morning fishing the laydowns with a buzzbait or Sammy. The fish can be in all stages of the spawn on Clinton in May, but if you can find a school of pre/post spawners you can get right quick in one small area. My partner and I won a Fisher's of Men team tournament in May of '09 with a stringer that was just under 19 lbs and every one of those fish came from the same 100 yard stretch of bank in a spawning cove. So, just keep covering water with the baits that I mentioned and you should be able to scratch out a few. God Bless............Phil

[cougarftd]

you can never go wrong working the rip rap by the dam and the cove next to the dam. I usually crank or work a jig along the riprap. Topwater when the water warms a bit. Lots of laydowns in the cove that you can swim a jig around.

[theBaitBar]

Thanks guys!

[sgt93]

Maybe it will be that 10% when you get there man. You never know