clinton lake help

[kmanbear]

I'm prefishing for a small club event on clinton. Went down yesterday with my non boater and only caught 1 short. The water temp was 58 to 70. We tried the coves first thinking some should be on beds(no luck) then we moved to main lake points. We didn't see any other bass guys out fishing but all the crappie guys said fishing was slow. I was running my first bass boat for the first time so... lets just say I wasn't fishing 100%. My Co angler is a young college kid that just got into fishing. Maybe we just wern't "doing it right"
I really want to get this kid on fish! I'm going to prefish again this week. My questions are:
What depth do fish usually make their beds in Clinton?
If they are pre spawn, where would you look for them?
What presentations would you throw at the pre spawners?
Any other advice?
Thanks for any help
Kman

[Philly]

The lake is still closed above Dewitt until March 31st as far as I know, but I could be wrong. If that's the case, then the lake is going to fish pretty small (assuming your tournament is before the 31st). I haven't been over there yet this year, but I've never seen fish below Dewitt that were anywhere near ready to spawn this early. I realize that it's been an unseasonably warm winter, but we're normally still catching pre-spawn fish at Clinton in mid April (especially below Dewitt). If Dewitt to Parnell is off limits (and probably even if it wasn't.... ) I would look for fish on the main lake points leading into some of the better spawning coves (Jungle, Rt. 10, Houseboat). #7 Shad Raps (Helsinki Shad and Silver/Black) and Wiggle Warts were the deal for us the last couple of years in March and early April.

[bassindon2]

Howdy Philly.

Good advice for the man, sounds about what I would do as well.

By the way glad to see that you are back on the boards again. You have not missed much but always good to have a few more on here.

[Philly]

Thanks Don, it's great to be back!

[jokerjp]

For what it's worth I zero'd last weekend at Clinton myself. Fished the main lake points out front of the above mentioned coves and a few others. I was primarily throwing jerkbaits, traps, jigs, and plastics. There were probably 20 bass fisherman I saw throughout the day and I didn't see anyone else catching fish. When I got home I looked at my fishing tracks and tried to identify other places I missed....the only other area I think I SHOULD have fished was a couple of areas where the channel swing is right next to shore. I generally find Clinton frustrating for numbers, but each bite I get is a worthwhile fish.

I think next time I go out I will also focus on the west end more....I really neglected that area thinking that I should be trying the warmer water....that might have been my biggest mistake.

Tried Banner Marsh today and partner and I caught 6 fish in 3.5 hours with 3 of the six being very nice for that body of water.

[Philly]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by jokerjp &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">For what it's worth I zero'd last weekend at Clinton myself. Fished the main lake points out front of the above mentioned coves and a few others. I was primarily throwing jerkbaits, traps, jigs, and plastics. There were probably 20 bass fisherman I saw throughout the day and I didn't see anyone else catching fish. When I got home I looked at my fishing tracks and tried to identify other places I missed....the only other area I think I SHOULD have fished was a couple of areas where the channel swing is right next to shore. I generally find Clinton frustrating for numbers, but each bite I get is a worthwhile fish.

I think next time I go out I will also focus on the west end more....I really neglected that area thinking that I should be trying the warmer water....that might have been my biggest mistake.

Tried Banner Marsh today and partner and I caught 6 fish in 3.5 hours with 3 of the six being very nice for that body of water.</td></tr></table>

You're definitely right about the channel swings being key. If you're up on the West end be sure to fish the main lake point on the right hand side going into Rt. 54 Cove (not sure if that's the real name or just what we always call it, but it's the very last cove before the buoys that restrict access to the North Fork. In fact, the buoy cable runs right into the point that I'm referring to). The river channel swings right into this point and there are a couple of brush piles that sit in about 9ft of water right adjacent to were the flat dumps back into the channel. That brush is ALWAYS worth dragging a jig through no matter what the time of year and I really don't know why I'm plastering this on the forum, lol!

[kmanbear]

Philly, thanks for taking time to share your knowledge with us, We really appriciate it.

Kman

[kmanbear]

Thanks for the advice joker. Banner marsh is one of my favorite places to fish. I also am better controlling my 15ft alumicraft on banner than I am my 20xs on Clinton. Hopfully practice will make me better, but I can't help remembering and parafrasing my favorite line from the movie jaws "we're gonna need a bigger boat" (I'm gonna need a smaller lake)

[jokerjp]

In a very short time the bigger boat will be easier to control than your aluminum rig.....trust me

Banner is a great place to fish, but once the weeds come in it becomes a little boring to fish due to the limited number of presentations that work in that heavy cover. I'm liking the early start out there this year and hopefully I can get there a few more times before it gets super weedy

[5000D]

Kmanbear:: was that you in that legend?

[kmanbear]

Nope... Triton 20xs red and silver. I was the jackass that took off with his trolling motor down... lucky it was 83 degrees on Friday so it was almost refreshing to get soaked oh well...at least I remembered to put the plug in, that's something

[BirdMan528]

They had 60 degree water in the classic and were coming off a nasty cold snap and look were they fished, alot of really skinny water. I didn't think fish would be that shallow here in IL this time of year but last weekend at banner we did 15 plus fish with a sack easily over 20 thanks to a 6 pound kicker. 90 % coming out of water a foot deep. All the other guys we talked to said they couldn't catch a cold, doesn't mean they were telling the truth but we didn't see anyone else fishing where we were. Don't rule out the skinny water especially if there is a dark bottom it could be 5-10 degrees warmer. Also if your tournement is after or on april 1 you will probably be able to catch alot of bucks out of shallow flats in the warm water, may not end up with much weight but you'll be on fish. Try salt creek or the access area cove across from it.