The Crappies are in the shallows at Evergreen Lake

Look at these crappies we caught at Evergreen today, April 30th.

I love Evergreen lake because it has so many big crappies in it. The wind was blowing so hard today that we only fished for about 2 or three hours and we caught about 30 fish. They were up the the shallows with some fish being caught in 1 foot of water. If you would like to book a trip with me, I have next weekend free. Email me at dekalbfish@yahoo.com.

Product Review: Abu Garcia Soron SX10 and the Fenwick's HMXS 70M-F

I am always searching for the perfect rod and reel combination for a variety of presentations that I use for bass fishing. To effectively work a presentation you must have the correct equipment, which includes a rod and reel combination that are matched. If you are just getting into bass fishing, you really owe it to yourself to invest in some good rod and reel combinations.
Wacky rigging is a presentation that consists of a small do-nothing worm and a hook. The worm is usually between 4 and six inches long and weighs next to nothing. The challenge in finding a good rod and reel combination is threefold:
1)  You must cast this lightweight worm, sometimes in clear water you need to cast it a long way, and:
2) You need a rod that is sensitive enough to feel a bite in the weeds and far away.
3) The rod also needs to have enough backbone in order to drive a hook home using monofilament line at a long distance.

The rod must be long enough to cast a lightweight worm. I prefer to use a one-piece seven-foot rod. The difficult part is to find a rod that is sensitive enough to detect a strike, yet beefy enough to be capable of driving home a hook.

Finding a rod that possesses all of these qualities is a dilemma. Most rods are either too whippy to effectively set a hook. Real whippy rods can fling a lure a mile, but they have no sensitivity or backbone. A nice compromise is a one piece, and medium power rod. I have owned many rods in my life and one of them that has preformed very well. That rod is Fenwick's HMXS 70M-F. With medium power, it has the backbone that is necessary to set the hook on even the largest bass. The combination of cork handle, fast taper, and IM7 graphite give this rod superior sensitivity. This has been my go-to rod as far as wacky rigging goes.

As far as reels go, you need one that is lightweight, smooth when you reel and has a very smooth drag system. Another problem I see is that many reels will be worn out in a year with as much as I use them. Abu Garcia has a reel called the Soron SX. This is a reasonably priced reel, yet it has many great features as well. When I evaluate reels I seek to balance price vs features such as ball bearings.The Soron SX10 has 6 ball bearings, a continuous anti-reverse system, and is constructed of a very tough alloy so it will not rust or break. I need a reel that can stand up to the elements, as well as being used every single day during the spring and summer. This reel has proven to me that it can do that!

If you are really beginning to get into bass fishing, or you are a seasoned pro, you will benefit from this rod and reel combo if you wacky rig. I have wacky rigged for a decade now and have used lots of different combos, this particular one will really help you with your wacky rigging.

Announcing the first muskie/walleye rescue at Shabbona of 2011

This is the first muskie/walleye rescue since the new lower creek barrier fence has been constructed.

It will take place on Tuesday, May 3 beginning at 5:15 pm. Meet the rest of the participants at the park office off of Shabbona Grove road.

Make sure that you have a good pair of chest waders, your largest muskie net, and a large cooler if you have one.

Muskie and walleye rescues take the fish that have swam over the spillway and are now trapped in Indian Creek. They used to either swim down to the Fox River or die in Indian Creek later in the summer when the creek stops flowing.

You should really come out to see the rescue. There are some really big fish in this lake, and this is the best way to see them first hand.

Shabbona Lake, my prediction

Water temperatures are hovering around 50 degrees and despite intense rains, water clarity is greater than a foot.

 

Several bass have been caught each day that anglers have been able to get out.

 

With temperatures rising into the 60's for the last several days, and some warm rain, water temperatures should be rising quickly and the crappies should be moving into the shallows any time now.

Some state record muskies netted at Shabbona by the IDNR

Check this thing out. It was netted by the IDNR recently at Shabbona Lake. In all,  55 muskies were netted in one day.  Two of them would have broken the current state record had they been caught by an angler. Hey muskie maniacs, these muskies are still in the lake! 

A Huge Thank You From Duane Landmeier

Here is a guest post from Duane Landmeier, a great muskie angler, a very active conservationist, and a good friend of mine:

Shabbona Lake Barrier Fence Project Completed

About a year and a half ago Clint Sands a concerned angler, member of Muskies Inc. and Shabbona Sportsman` s Club and co owner of Shabbona` s Lakeside Bait and Tackle had an idea. He thought that a way to keep the escaping fish from going downstream in Indian Creek never to be seen again. He shared his idea with his father Denny and a friend and fellow muskie angler Duane Landmeier. The three of them put some thought into the idea and thought of ways to make the project a reality and make it work.

In the past the local clubs had done muskie rescues that consisted of a mile and a half stretch of Indian Creek. This was a very physical job that needed a lot of people donating a lot of time and energy to retrieve the fish and get them back into the lake. The new idea was to try to contain the muskies that went over the spillway in a close proximity (250 yards or less) of the spillway.

Thanks to the State of Illinois for allowing us to go ahead and doing this project it will make our job easier in the future.

On March 12 we started the building phase of the project. Eric Peterson a local concerned walleye angler joined us by donating his time, knowledge and energy. Eric works with aluminum extruded materials every day in his job so we had him order us the parts and build the fence with different fishing club volunteers assistance. On March 19 the fence was completed. It took 24 hours of hard work by the contractors along with a lot of help from local fishing club members and concerned anglers. Thanks to the Shabbona Sportsman` s Club, Quad County Hawg Hunters Muskies Inc. and other concerned anglers who helped out. Without them this would have never happened. There are always other things that need to be done that the contractors cannot do and the clubs and concerned fishermen did that.

The fence looks very professionally done. It covers the area up to 48 inches above the normal water level and goes up on the bank quite a ways to prevent fish escapement. There is a roadway that needs a little touching up when the roads are not posted to get some stone in the park. That access road down to the creek bed allows a truck to get within 6 feet of the bank. This will allow members of a fish rescue to efficiently get the fish from the water to an aerated tank in literally seconds which will make fish survival very much higher.

A very big thank you goes out to the Hugh C. Becker Foundation. They took requests from two Muskies Inc. clubs for the fence project and approved $5,800.00 towards the project. They were a big part of the funds needed for this project. This foundation has grants available for any worthwhile project that benefits muskie fisheries or conservation. The Twin Cities Chapter of Muskies Inc. helps to manage this foundation. Hugh Becker Foundation is one of the great conservation minded groups in the country. We need more quality minded people like this in the United States.

A big thank you goes out to the clubs that donated their hard earned money towards this project. Those clubs were were Illinois Muskies Alliance Member Clubs the Quad County Hawg Hunters Muskies Inc., Fox River Valley Muskies Inc., Shawnee Muskie Hunters Muskies Inc., Mississippi Valley Muskies Inc, Midwest Musky Club and the Illinois Muskie Tournament Trail.

Other clubs and donators were Shabbona Sportsman’s Club, Shabbona` s Lakeside Bait and Tackle and Denny Sands. The total cost of the fence was about $15,000 all raised from muskie clubs with no money from taxpayers being used.

As many of you readers know there are a lot of special projects that are completed time and again that take a bunch of hard work and volunteers to get it done. Some of these projects benefit every angler (not just muskie anglers) in the area that the project is being done in. This often goes by without notice. If it were not for people like Denny Sands, Clint Sands, Eric Peterson and Duane Landmeier who put time in on projects like this one for the benefit for others many projects would just get talked about and never get done. These individuals live and breath for their favorite sport fishing. Thank you again to these four fine conservationists for their efforts.

Be sure to take a walk down below Shabbona` s spillway and see the nice job that was done. The area between the spillway and the barrier fence in Indian Creek will be a no fishing area.

This will make Shabbona Lake an even better place to fish in the future for all species of fish.

I am very proud of all of the clubs that helped in making this happen. It has been my pleasure and look forward to working with you in future projects. Thank you.

here is a photo of the completed barrier.

Fishing on the Illinois River with John Mannerino on 4/17/11

4/17/2011

Capt John Mannerino was nice enough to take my 11 year old son Matt and I out on the Illinois today. The waves were big, the wind was howling and it was cold, but of course, Mannerino was on the fish!

We were trolling by Clark Island, and it was rough!

John and Matt hanging out on the boat before we got started!

John teaching Matt how to fight in a fish with a trolling rod. Careful, Matt, nice nad easy now!

John hoisting a fish in the boat.

Are you cold Matt? Look at the whitecaps behind us.

One sauger we caught.

Hold on tight Matt!

Another one.

Patiently teaching Matt how to troll.

Hey, why aren't you catching fish.

If you would like to book a trip with John Mannerino, call him at (773)631-7684 or go to his website at rockysanglingpersuits.com.