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You Have to Fish This Lake- Part 5

Crappies like this 12 inch fish give promise for a return trip in the fall.

We had decided to fish until noon the final morning before heading back to Central Illinois, but it was a frigid 38 degrees when we started at 8 a.m.

Water temperature at the ramp fell overnight to 59 degrees and it was bright and sunny with winds from the west at less than 5 mph. This was a stereotypical post-front day.

The weather was very similar to the first day of our trip except that today was after a cold front and Wednesday was just prior to a front. The difference would be evident in the fishing.

We headed up the hot arm to where we had caught fish the previous day, but soon left due to the water becoming so muddy that you couldn't see your lure six inches under water. The runoff from feeder creeks had moved down the hot arm to the coves we wanted to fish so we left for the cold arm after trying unsuccessfully to pitch plastics and jigs to shoreline cover.

The water in the cold arm still had a clarity of 1 1/2- 2 feet and the water temperature was still 60 degrees.

We didn't catch big bass every day, but 38 percent of our bass during the trip were at least 16 inches long.

We tried the lizards, spinnerbaits, swim baits, and soft plastic jerkbaits from previous days fishing, but could only manage five fish for the entire morning. Most fish bit on the white/green Gene Larew plastic stickbait and a five inch pearl Tiki Stick, fished slowly over dark patches of underwater weeds.

Bass didn't seem to be roaming bare banks as they had much of the trip, but were instead holed up in weeds, unwilling to move far for a bait.

Today proved how tough fishing can become due to local weather conditions, even on the best of lakes. Our trip was over, but we had experienced some great bass fishing and caught a few impressive crappies along the way.

We fished during a variety of weather, sky conditions, water clarities and water temperatures. This forced us to change as the fish moods and preferences changed. Different presentations worked under the varying conditions, which made the trip a real learning experience.

Totals for the trip were 116 bass with 16 keeper bass of 18 inches or longer. Twenty-nine more bass were between 17 and 18 inches long, making 25 percent of the fish caught during the trip at least 17 inches long. Another 44 bass were at least 16 inches long. These numbers are impressive for a public lake in Illinois.

This was definitely a trip to remember and like I said, you have to fish this lake!