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Structure Fishing Paradise
by Kevin Patton When I first became addicted to fishing and had dreams of finding that secret honey hole full of lunkers, I soaked up all the fishing advise that I could find. I studied books by such legends as Buck Perry and magazines such as "In-Fisherman." They wrote about "structure fishing," which, if mastered, could make your fishing dreams come true. Terms such as "cover on structure" and "migration routes" supported the old-school idea that "deep water is the home of big fish." Finding the right offshore structures with cover on them could lead to a fishing bonanza of huge schools of fish. If an angler would only take the time to learn the terrain of his favorite lake, his rewards could be the stuff of which fish stories are made. This old-school theory is challenged by the idea that there are always some fish in shallow water and shallow fish are feeding fish. Bass pros like Denny Brauer and Kevin Van Dam have made millions of dollars by fishing shallow water with jigs and spinnerbaits. Flipping shallow cover marched to the forefront of successful bass fishing techniques during the 1980's. Still, pros like Paul Elias and David Fritts popularized deep-cranking instead of beating the banks for bass. Bass pro Tim Horton caught so many fish from an offshore rock pile last year that he quit fishing early during the final tournament day and ordered a pizza delivered to the dock. Now that's confidence! Taking the opposite approach, Dean Rojas secured a victory at Lake Oneida this year largely by casting a floating frog in shallow water. So which approach do I use, and when? Of course, the answer is both of them, depending on the time of year, local weather, and a myriad of other factors. But, if you want to visit a place that is loaded with a variety of offshore cover and is ideal for learning to "structure fish," Shabbona Lake is a great place to fish. Shabbona Lake State Park What makes Shabbona Lake such a good structure lake is that there has been an ongoing effort to place fish-holding structures in the lake to supplement the natural cover that it contains. Shabbona is a 318-acre reservoir located just east of Interstate 39 and about 30 minutes west of Aurora. The lake has specific hours of operation that change during the season and a maximum 10 h.p. motor limit. The closeness to the Chicago area makes Shabbona Lake one of the most visited lakes, per acre, in Illinois. However, the lake does have many advantages that make up for the crowds and motor horsepower limit. The park has a campground, lakeside restaurant, bait shop, and boat rental, as well as a many fish species available for anglers. Structure in Shabbona Lake includes fish cribs, brush piles, rock piles, flooded timber, roadbeds, and building foundations. A detailed, current map of the lake can be purchased for $5 at Shabbona's Lakeside Bait, Tackle, and Boat Rental. They also offer lures and a variety of live bait. There is a decent two-lane, concrete ramp with docks, handicapped accessibility for fishing, and five earth piers on the west side of the lake that provide good areas for bank anglers. Our Structure Fishing Day Dee Kumpf and I headed to Shabbona Lake on September 25 to see if we could find some of the many species that roam it's waters. A call to the bait shop and local fishing expert Denny Sands convinced us to target crappies, which had been biting well. They suggested that we look for feeding fish in the flooded timber, fish cribs, or in rock piles located along the sunken road bed. We launched at 8:30 with a bright sky and NE wind 5-10 mph. We headed for one of the most obvious structures in the lake, the flooded timber. Most of it is located south of the main boat ramp or in the No Motor Zone at the northwest corner of the lake (trolling motor use only).
The water temperature at the ramp was 70 degrees and the water color was murky. Since my boat has a 25 h.p. motor, we used the trolling motor to head south for the flooded timber near deep water. We tried minnows on slip bobber rigs at various depths, near main lake flooded timber located in 10-30 feet of water. We caught a few crappies, but finally deserted the area at 11 a.m. The No Motor Zone was our next stop, where we again fished the flooded timber. After getting no bites in 20 minutes, we left to cast muskie lures to weedy shorelines while we made our way to find some fish cribs. We choose to look for the cribs located in front of the campground cabins rather than the ones located around the earthen fishing piers. The cribs located around the piers were planted in a horse shoe pattern, while the cribs near the campground are located in a straight line. Denny Sands told me that the cribs were located in 12-14 feet of water, so we thought it would be easier to find the campground cribs by using only our trolling motor. Sands was right and soon we were on top of a fish crib and catching crappies. Most of the fish were 8-10 feet deep over a bottom depth of 14 feet. Our minnows also attracted some bluegills and small bass. At 2:15 we gave up on the crappies and again cast muskie lures to schools of baitfish near the weedy northwest bay of the lake. We had no takers, so we finished the day by fishing some rock piles. The rock piles are located along the north half of the sunken road that enters the lake on the north shore. We cast small jigs with nightcrawlers pieces and bounced crawlers on the bottom with Lindy rigs. We were hoping to hook up with some walleyes. Again, local help can be of great value. We knew that the rock piles were in 6 to 17 feet of water and soon located some 8-10 feet deep. Again we failed to boat a fish, despite getting a few bites. At days end, we had caught nearly two limits of crappies and kept one limit of 9-10 fish for the frying pan. We probably should have left the timber earlier and also spent more time fishing for other species, but seven hours on a new lake goes by quickly. What to Bring to Shabbona Trying to find structure without the benefit of an outboard motor is a time-consuming process. Also, the lake is fairly open and trying to maneuver with a trolling motor on a windy day could become a problem.
I suggest that you bring a boat with a 10-h.p. or smaller motor, borrow a motor, or rent a boat or motor at the lake. There are a variety of boat rigs available for rent, some of which have outboards, trolling motors, depth finders, and plastic seats. You can also rent a 6 h.p. motor to place on your boat. Check the lake web site listed below or call the bait shops for rental rates. Make sure your depthfinder is in good working order because you will need to spend some time trying to find fish cribs, brush piles, rock piles, and other structures. Get a good map of the lake at the bait shop. It is worth the $5 investment. If you can cover water with an outboard, know how to use a depthfinder to find structure, and have a good map, you will have the tools to increase your fishing success. Lastly, bring some marker buoys so you can mark structures when you find them and plan on giving yourself a productive day learning to structure fish. We didn't have the best of fishing days and only scratched the surface of this lake's potential. But, we'll be back to try again and hopefully be better prepared next time. Fish Limits and Contact Information In addition to being home to four state record muskies and two state record hybrid crappies, Shabbona boasts a variety of other species. Fish limits for Shabbona Lake are as follows: bass- 1 fish per day, 14-inch minimum length; walleye- 6 per day, 18-inch minimum; muskie- 1 per day, 48-inch minimum; bluegill- 10 per day, no minimum length; crappie- 10 per day, no minimum; catfish- 6 per day, no minimum; and stripers- 3 per day, 17-inch minimum. The lake is stocked with both largemouth and smallmouth bass and redear sunfish. The bait shop and boat rental can be contacted by calling 815-824-2581. The park office can be reached at 815-824-2106. Campgrounds information is available at 815-824-2565 or 824-2106. For comprehensive information about the park, hours of operation, fishing forums and much more visit: www.shabbonalake.com The IDNR site also has information about Shabbona at: http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/PARKS/R1/SHABBONA.HTM and http://www.ifishillinois.org/profiles/lakes/shabbona.htm Pokanoka's Restaurant, open from April through November, can be contacted by calling 815-824-2481. Directions to the Lake Take Interstate 39 to the Route 30 exit, north of Interstate 80. Go east seven miles to the town of Shabbona and turn right (south) at Shabbona Road (where the Casey's store is located). Turn left at the stop sign at Preserve Road and then turn right into the park. Shabbona Lake State Park is easily accessible from the Chicago area via I-88. Take I-88 west to the Sugar Grove exit, which is approximately 2 1/2 miles west of the Aurora toll booth. Take US 30 west from Sugar Grove approximately 22 miles to Shabbona. |
