A Different Kind of Fishing DayMost people who are avid fishermen know someone who wants to be taken fishing- a neighbor, co-worker, school buddy, or a relative. We all know kids or other novice fishermen who would love to tag along during a fishing trip. I decided that it would be a fun outing to set aside a day to take someone on an unusual fishing trip. To make the day more interesting, we would make it a multi-species fishing day, trying to catch as many different species of fish as possible. My fishing partner and I chose 158-acre Dawson Lake, part of Moraine View State Park, for our multi-species day. Dawson is a good choice for a multi-species fishing day because it contains largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, crappie, channel catfish, bullheads, walleye and hybrid walleye (saugeye), northern pike, yellow perch, and carp. DNR fisheries biologist Mike Garthaus characterises Dawson Lake as an excellent walleye fishery that also contains good populations of bass and catfish. Good numbers of bass are available between two and three pounds, with some fish weighing five pounds. Garthaus rates crappies as fair during spring and fall, with fish averaging 9-10 inches. He adds that bluegills are numerous but small, while redears are low in numbers but good sized ones are available. Northern pike and yellow perch have small populations. Stocking was switched a few years ago from walleyes to the hybrid saugeyes so the larger fish will be older walleyes, with the more numerous saugeyes now reaching up to 20 inches. The lake has more than five miles of shoreline, a maximum water depth of nearly 30 feet, and an average depth of 10 feet. There is a handicapped-accessible fishing pier available on the east shore, across from the boat ramp. Fish limits include a daily creel of six fish per angler for largemouth bass and channel catfish; three walleyes, hybrid walleyes, or northern pike; 10 crappies; and 15 collectively for bluegills and redear sunfish. Each angler is limited to 2 poles. Size limits are 15 inches for largemouth bass, 14 inches for walleyes and hybrid walleyes, and 24 inches for northern pike. There are no fees to fish Dawson Lake and outboard motor size is unlimited, but any motor more than 10 horsepower must be operated at no wake speed. Among the facilities located at Moraine View are a campground with separate boat ramp and dock, a swimming beach (closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays), shelters, grills, playground equipment, boat docks, and a two-lane concrete boat ramp. Horseback riding and hiking trails are also available. Gibson’s Concessions operates a well maintained restaurant and bait shop, providing breakfast, lunch, and early supper meals every day except Mondays and any Tuesday that follows a Monday holiday. Try the homemade smoked beef brisket or smoked pork loin for a real treat. The bait shop offers minnows, dew worms, wax worms, meal worms, chicken livers, dip baits, and shrimp. They also rent row boats, canoes, and paddle boats. Soda and fishing bait vending machines are available. We brought our crappie and bluegill rods and lures for the day, as well as our bass and catfish equipment. I had some old dip bait for catfish and purchased some wax worms for the bluegills and redear, chicken livers for catfish, and dew worms for anything that bites. The water temperature was a reasonable 83 degrees at the boat ramp at 8:00 a.m. on July 25. The air temperature was in the low 70’s, sky was sunny, and winds were from the southwest between five and 10 miles per hour. Water clarity was murky with a white lure visible two feet under water. We started our day by fishing crankbaits, Texas-rigged worms, and Carolina-rigged lizards for bass. We caught several small bass by fishing the dam and worming main lake points. The largest bass was just shy of the 15-inch length limit and was caught on a 7-inch, black with red fleck Berkley Gulp Turtleback worm. After an hour of bass fishing, we switched to wax worms on slip bobbers for bluegills and redears. We had noticed while bass fishing that our depthfinder was marking pods of baitfish suspended 8-10 feet deep over 13 feet depths. We found a wind-blown, main lake point near the dam that had baitfish suspended off it and soon started catching bluegills up to 7 ½ inches long. We stayed there long enough to convince ourselves that the larger redears or crappies weren’t there and left for some catfishing. Although we didn’t connect with any crappies during the day, there was a 14 ¾-inch, 1 1/2 –pound crappie caught at Dawson during April. Our first catfishing spot yielded some bass on dew worms and one bullhead on a dew worm, but no catfish. We rigged the worms and liver on treble hooks with barrel weights pegged one foot above the hooks. After an hour, we went back to bass and bluegill fishing and caught a 14-inch catfish in front of the dam on the same Gulp worm that caught the bass (so much for the dip bait, worms, and chicken livers). We Carolina-rigged main lake points for bass for less than one hour with no results and then headed to the shallow end of the lake to give the catfish one more opportunity to dine on their “normal” baits. After an hour of missed strikes and several more bass caught on Gulp worms and dew worms, we finished the day fishing our slip bobber rigs and wax worms near the boat ramp for more pan fish. After eight hours of fishing we had four species to our credit- bass, bluegill, catfish, and bullhead. We were a little disappointed in the size of our bass and catfish, but we really enjoyed mixing it up for different fish and not knowing exactly what we would connect with from hour to hour. We both agreed that a day of multi-species fishing would be fun and interesting for that special individual that you have been meaning to take fishing for a long time. My partner put it best when she recounted childhood memories of fishing being nothing more than casting a bobber into the water and waiting for a bite. Only years later did she realize the differences between fishing for pan fish, bass, catfish, and walleye. By exposing a new fisherman to different types of fishing you will give them an idea of the relaxation, challenge, and excitement that different types of fishing offer. So why not give that new fisherman some choices? Dawson Lake is located about 20 minutes east of Bloomington between Route 9 and Interstate 74. Exit Interstate 74 at LeRoy and head north to the first stop sign in town. Turn left onto Route 150 West and follow it through part of LeRoy, turning right at McClean County Route 21, where the Casey’s store is located. Follow Route 21 north until County Route 36 and turn right. Go one mile and continue east on the lake road where Route 36 turns north. Follow this road one mile and turn right at the yield sign. If you are coming from the north, take Route 9 to McClean County Route 21, turn south, and turn left at McClean County Route 36. Then follow the above directions. For more information about Dawson Lake call the park office at 309-724-8032 or visit the DNR web page located at: To contact Gibson’s Concessions call 309-724-8295. |