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Live Bait Gives You Optionsby Kevin Patton
The spring rains and wind, coupled with entry into two local bass tournaments, delayed my crappie trips to Evergreen Lake near Bloomington, so I headed there May 9 armed with a bucket of well-aerated minnows and a sharpened filet knife. I had intentions to make up for lost time by getting a few late-spawning crappies. Since intentions are not reality, I soon discovered that I would have to switch to "Plan B." I fished at all my productive spots from last year (See "Crappies at Evergreen Lake," Part 1 and 2), but found few biters. I tried main lake areas near channels, pockets off the main lake, secondary points in coves, and the backs of coves. I fished from two feet on down, but only managed a few small crappies. The water temperature was 68-70 degrees and the full moon had occurred May 2. The shallows were full of bluegills, carp, and an occasional roaming bass, but I saw no crappies. I assumed that I had missed the main crappie spawn.
"Plan B" was created when I bought the nightcrawlers at the bait shop and it involved drifting main-lake flats and points for the plentiful saugeyes that are in Evergreen Lake. What "Plan B" didn't involve was to be pestered unmercifully by hungry bluegills that have an absolute talent for nibbling away an entire nightcrawler without getting the hook. Initially I thought that some of the bluegill bites had been reluctant saugeyes (wishful thinking on my part). Eventually, one of the stunted worm-killers got a bit too close to the small trailer hook that I placed in the rear of the nightcrawler, so I hauled it aboard and had my fishing partner scold the little critter for bothering us. Fortunately things turned around and the saugeyes started to come onboard. They weren't big, but a limit of 14-inch and larger saugeyes are worthy of my frying pan any time, especially after a futile day of chasing crappies. My most productive area is called the "Big Flats" by locals and is located on the north shore across the lake and a little west of the north boat ramp. There are power line towers located on shore to the north of the flat.
My presentation was about as simple as it gets. I used a Lindy Rig that included a 1/2-ounce walking sinker, swivel clip, and snelled hook attached to a 36-inch leader. I pumped a bubble of air into the nightcrawler by using a Worm Floater (worm blower). I attached the rig to a 6 1/2-foot, medium-action spinning outfit. I left the reel bail open and held the line with my index finger, while keeping the rod tip high, so that quickly releasing the line and lowering the rod tip would stop the bait for a biting fish. The wind was blowing at a reasonable 5-7 mph parallel to the flat, which enabled me to drift the same depth of the flat with little use of the trolling motor. I caught more saugeyes when my bait was in the 11-14 foot depths. It was a leisurely and relaxing way to fish, except for the bluegill problem.
Having a couple kinds of live bait gives you fishing options when one species refuses to cooperate or when fishing in general is slow. There is one down side for me when using nightcrawlers though. I am incapable of using them without making a mess of the boat by getting the crawler bedding on everything and unfortunately my fishing partner has yet to master the use of a vacuum cleaner. We are going to have to work on that before our next trip. Lake Evergreen is located 10 miles north of Bloomington and one mile west of Interstate 39. Information on the fishing, camping, boating, and hiking activities can be found at the McLean County Parks and Recreation web site located at: The lake has 900 surface acres of water and 22.5 miles of shoreline. The average lake depth is 19 feet with a maximum depth of 55 feet. Motors are restricted to 10 horsepower or less. Watercraft registration is required and can be done either at the park headquarters or at each boat ramp. Fees for McClean county residents are $12 per day or $35 annually. Out-of-county boaters must pay $16 per day or $45 per year. In addition to crappie, the lake is stocked with largemouth bass, muskies, channel catfish, hybrid walleyes (saugeye), and panfish. Illinois Department of Natural Resources information about Evergreen Lake can be viewed at: DNR- Evergreen Lake Other contact information for the lake includes: |
