IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Illinois => Ice Fishing Illinois => Topic started by: Iceman Cometh on Dec 08, 2003, 12:46 AM
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Just wondering if there were any fellow central il. hardwater fanatics out there? I live in Yates City and fish several of the local ponds, summer and winter. Pray for ICE!!!!!
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Hi, I live just north of Champaign and fish about anything that freezes.
Pop
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hello, I live about an hour north of Bloomington. Looking for places to ice fish this season.
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Hey guys good to hear from you-my time is short so just a quick reminder,let's all try our best to go to the ice conditons section for Il. and report after each fishing trip-I know it'll be a great resource when we don't want to get all bundled up, drive to the lake only to find we've got 1" of ice or none at all! I'll keep in touch and perhaps we could meet for some hardwater action!
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Kim, it would be nice to fish together. Do you ever fish Banner Marsh? I have been by there during open water but have always wanted to try it through the ice. Another question: have you been to the Galyans store and Gander Mnt. in the past month? Do they have the ice fishing tackle out on the floor?
Pop
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I went to gander last week 12-6 and spent some $$$$ they have a great selection..Then went to Gaylons, it was a waste of time .. only a very small selection. stopped by presleys for the 1st time,wasnt impressed.
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yea, fooman's right gander mountain's by far the best-though they can be a bit pricey I've found when compared to ordering online(on a few items anyway). To POP-I've fished Banner only once and it was during the summer-hoping we can get enough ice to try both it and Lake Storey(can be a great crappie hole also). Maybe we can hook up(LOL), I know that was bad! Also, POP, do you live in Champaign-If you do, I think you and I emailed each other a few years back, when I needed help on my fishtrap and you were just starting to icefish and wanted info on gear-Am I right? JUst wondering.
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I'm not exactly from central Illinois, but close. I live in morrison, which is between STerling and Clinton Iowa. I've never fished south through the ice but have fished places like spring and storey open water.
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crystal lake here, reporting ice conditions sounds like a plan
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Hi from mendota here right by lasalle peru we had about 3 inches of ice along the edges of my town lakes we still need that one artic blast so we can go out and sit on our buckets and I can't wait. Lets go winter start the ice.
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Gill how are the lakes up there by Mendota.(mendota,kakusha) Is ice fishing allowed? Have you tried Mautino?
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Kim, I live about 20 miles north of Chamapign, and am always looking for fishing pardners. I don't think it was me you were talking to, I bought my first ice auger, a Snaab, in 1959 and have been beating the hard water ever since. I even used an ice chisel for 2 years before that. We are getting some ice here but the weather is getting warmer. I have a friend that calls from Shelbyville when the ice is safe there, if you would like I will email you directions if you would like to join us for some crappie fishing.
Pop
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Thanks for the reply POP and the offer,perhaps we can hook up-if we ever get that damn ICE!
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We still have ice on some of the small lakes I fish, not much but it made it through the warm weather. Now if we could get some of the cold stuff, I think we would be ok. If you have never fished Shelbyville, I think you will enjoy it. If any of the other Illinois hardwater fisherman (or Zach if it isn't too far) would like to go, let me know, we might as well make a day outing of it. There is a bit over, 11,000 acers and a lot of room to fish. My fishing buddy and I have fished 2 days in a row and not seen another person there
Pop
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Foo the lakes in Mendota are hit or miss they let you fish kakusha only thru the ice. There is and 8 inch limit on bluegills now there and they enforce it. I saw a few guys get busted last year. Mautino's I have fished in a boat never on the ice. I have caught some really nice crappies there before in the spring so I know there is some nice ones in there. If there is any thing else I can help you with give me a holler.
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Any ice reports for the peoria area-thinking about going out(not in(LOL)) tomorrow(12/20).
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Peoria Heights here. Fishing 12/20 would be iffy cause its suppose to be 50 . kind of rymes. We havent had enough cold to make me feel safe out there. I fish Banner all the time. good place if you can find the crappie. Also fish near Victoria in the strip mines. Come on cold. I wish they would take the hp limit off at Bannerfor the open h2o fishing.. toph2o
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Washington here - about 10mi east of Peoria. It's 46 today. . .
I fish Eureka lake quite a bit, as it's 10min away. Lots of 7-8in Crappies, a few near 10in.
I fish Evergreen in open water. At least Banner is 25hp, Evergreen is 10hp. Need a good trolling motor. . . Anyone ice-fish at Evergreen?
Paul
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I see toph2o and pgottshall are from around the same area. Lake Bloomington had some nice crappie for a few years, are they still there? I have always wanted to fish Banner Marsh and never have, if we get some ice and I plan a trip over there would either of you help me figure out where to start. I don't need to know secret holes, just a general idea of the layout of the place and what fish are in each lake. If they have a seasonal depth preference that would be nice to know. I hate fishing for bluegill in a lake that doesn't have many good sized blue gills. I would be happy to help you with any lakes in my area. The weather today has really killed the ice we had forming, now we have to start the wait all over again.
Pop
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Went out Sat. 12/20-about 1 and 1/2 to 3" of ice on a local farm pond- it has very few fish, so I didn't even get a bite! Well, the real reason could be I didn't go beyond the 2 fow mark and I also tied myself off to the bumper of the truck! Still had fun testing out the gear finally- fellas, got to get yourself a Mr. Buddy/Dynaflow Heater- they're amazing! Put the hut up in the drive way the night before(it was 10 degrees out with a medium breeze) and fired up the heater on high to start it like your supposed to and within 3-4 min. had to turn the sucker to low and take off my coat,hat,and bibs-told my wife if I'd ran it any longer on high, my neighbor would be getting a moonshot from my hut(LOL)! Come on ice! Bad news predictions for January are above average temps! Be safe Take floation gear, buddies, ICE PICKS!!!! and change of clothes-later!
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Pop,
I've never fished Lake Bloomington. I fish Evergreen, which is just across the highway. I "heard" Crappies were OK in Bloomington this year. I'd like to try for Walleye there too. Evergreen has Saugeye, & 3lbs is big (for me). I'd love to get into a big Walleye.
I've fished Banner open-water, mostly for Bass, but tried Crappie enough to know you need to be in the right lake. There are three main lakes, the east access is good, with lots of standing wood. The main access is a typical deep strip-mine lake & I've never caught a Crappie there. Bells Landing (South) has some Crappies. Most people fish all the way down & around to the right (North).
There is a lot of non-boatable water at Banner, which I haven't been on. If someone else has & can give advice, I'd love to meet you there sometime.
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt/PARKS/R1/Graphics/bnmsitemap.pdf
Paul
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Paul, let me know when you think the ice is right and I will drive over. I am looking at some aerial photos of the area but I need to find better ones. A friend of mine tells me there are some nice bluegill there but a lot of small ones to work through. If we get good ice there can be some walleyes caught in the east arm of Clinton. You have to go above the hot water release and fish the old gravel pits. If I hear they are moving up, I will let you know there can be some really big fish there.
Pop
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Anyone have a report around the lasalle peru area and how is the ice. Where is the cold weather. I am like a ticking time bomb about to explode lol.
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bg63, are there any tackle shops in Ottawa, other than Farm & Fleet? How about around your area? When I get up there I can never find a local shop to pick up the items I always seem to forget. Do you fish any of the back water areas along the Illinois?
Pop
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Pop there is a few places in Utica that I go to. The ace hardware here in Mendota has a basspro outlet there he doesn't have alot of ice fishing stuff but has a nice selection of other stuff. I have never fished the back waters of the Illinois I fish the lakes here in town and a few private ponds.
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Did you guys see the weather for next week!!!!!! Finally-Ice!
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Yes! Yes!! 61 today. . . can't wait - ice next week!
I just got a used Vex & a Scout, & wondered if I was wasting my money!
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Can't wait either, let me know what you think of the scout, I have a fishtrap 2 older model,love it, but I am thinking of buying a used scout for the days I fish alone. The scout is bigger than the pro, correct?
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NO the scout is smaller
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Thanks headhunter-very quick response if i must say-pro it is then!
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i'm online 24-7, that is, until we get ice :-) :P
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Kim,
I was ready to spend $269 on a Pro, & $399 on an FL18. - Found a 5yr old Scout for $75, & a 1yr-old FL8 for $160. Couldn't pass 'em up. What am I giong to do with all that unspent VISA credit?
The Pro is bigger, but the Scout is 10lb lighter. I also have a Voyager, which is over 80lbs, & know I can't handle it alone. A Pro is 1/2-that, & would probalby be OK, but I've been doing all I've been all I can to lighten up this year. I've been watching 4 web-sites, but haven't seen a single used Pro in the last month. I hope you find one.
Got the Vex today. My wife thinks I'm silly, holding the transducer at head-level, & running my foot back and forth like it's a fish. She has no imagination!
Headhunter - I'm on here pretty my 24-7 too. Kinda' sad, but THAT's ABOUT TO CHANGE! Ice is a-comin!
Paul
ps - how was I to know that Chubby Darter would get caught in the rug?
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Hello everyone I'm from a spot in the road called Buda. bout 2 miles from mautinos. going out tommorrow to try my luck will post how I did when i get back
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I'm in NE Illinois, near the Indiana line, and we have 5 1/2 inches solid on a retention pond here.
Getting the gear ready now!
;D
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Hey Bucky which lake do you fish on at Mautino's I live in Mendota and have fished them lakes from a boat the lake with the real steep launch but never thru the ice let me know how much ice you have there thanks
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Hey bluegill i fished the one across the road from there today with no luck. there was about 3 1/2 to 4 inches on it today. I also went out to the Hennipen canal parkway, it had between 5 and 6 inches there but of everyone i talked to they weren't having anyluck so i left. went to farm pond, found them with a camera but couldn't get a bite
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Washington here.
Ice on Eureka lake was a good 3in today, and very clear.
I fished everything from 2ft to 12ft. Did get marks in 10ft or so, & caught about 10 fish (counting 4in Bluegills!). I kept going smaller & smaller on the jig size, & finally caught a few. I wish I had even smaller jigs; I saw many fish "sniffing" my bait, but few biters.
Paul
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Hey Pop,
The annual fishing show is in Peoria this weekend. Don't bother going, as this year they made it a "Gun, Knife, and Fishing" show. There were only a couple dozen fishing booths. $5 parking & $6 to get in to look at guns. . .
Anyway, I talked to a local guide, who fishes Lake Bloomington in open water. He had pictures & told me the Crappies there were good this year. He also had some Walleye pics, including an 8-pounder he caught there.
I also talked to folks from Mark Twain lake in Missouri. They told me almost all Crappies are over 10in, & often go 15in. I gotta' go there. . .
Paul
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in new here i fish lake storey alot along with a few local private lakes and pits
i met a guy from this site today and so i came to check it out
i fished lake storey with 2.5 to 3 inches of ice and caught 3 small crappie i fished from noonish till 5
drilled about 20 holes in the old segregated beach area
a bit of a warning the area where you get on the lake at the sunken bridge was still open water tuesday there is also open water at the swimming beach and west of the pistol range from the geese
dusty t
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Hey Dusty T,
Glad to see you found the site. We're you able to find those Demons. I'lll be keeping an eye open for some future reports from Storey. Thanks again for the info and visit today.
Randy B.
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to P Gottshall-your name sounds familiar, any family from Yates City-my Dad taught at the high school for years-you got a heck of a deal on the new winter toys,I'm impressed! I love my trap 2 like I said, probably won't get the pro until some future season,been using my Mr. Buddy portable Heater for the first time this season, very impressed with the ease of use, heat output and ignition, but it does have one draw back, even a slight wind will snuff it out on low, so I have to keep the trap closed to save fuel, and it flared up on me once when it was on high and a breeze blew in under the hut, thought the trap was a goner!
To the guys who fish lake storey, I live in Yates City, like I said, and have always wanted to fish lake storey in the winter(I'm a Carl Sandburg College, EIU alum), but since I've only ice fished farm ponds around here locally and never had to worry about rangers and regulations, is there anything special I need in the way of safety gear that they might check for? I realize this might be a stupid question, but I've never had to worry about anyone ever ice fishing around me, literally! In the past 3-5 seasons since I've started doing this seriously, I've only seen one other guy on a lake! Pretty lucky,HUH!
Ok-Here's Sat.'s Report-went to private honey hole-it's lost nearly 4 ft. of water this summer,so my expectations were low, and after arriving at the lake and only getting one bite(and missing it!) after 4hrs., I figured that this might be the end of the honey hole.... until.... thanks to all the guys who post here and all the informative articles and tips I've read the past couple years.... I started thinking about tightlining, and since I'm just learning bloodknots, I decided instead to tie a 1/64 oz. marabou with a white head and yellow tail feathers(downsizing from the #10 and #12 genz worms and fatboys I'd been using). I tried it straight onto the main line(2lb. micro ice) and "swam" it horizontally to the surface, pausing every few inches, and WHAMO!- It was out producing my deadsticked waxie 2 to 1- what a fun way to fish-it really puts the sport back into it(plus it helps when the bluegill average over a pound in this lake-only a handful of the farmer's friends get to fish it-it's literally his front yard-and I'm exclusively catch and release on this lake) I really want to go out tom.(actually this morning, now) and try it on a lake that's almost fished out, just to test out my "technique", but I'm worried with the warming spell, and only 3-3 1/2" of ice on it, do you think it will get do dangerous to fish as the day progresses? Anyway, if I don't get to go- had a BLAST today and I'll be posting thicknesses and such, here after my next trip! Happy Harwatering Fellas!
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one thing about the marabou jig "techique" I forgot to post- like everyone says about this techique or about using plastics,it can be best at times to NOT use bait- with these small jigs it can severely hamper their performance to "swim" properly- That's what I did today, so that's what I meant when I said it really puts the sport back into icefishing this way!
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Hey Bucky went to Lake Kakusha in Mendota yesterday did real well on crappies never had that kind of luck on crappies like that before and caught some nice gills to. Boy was it fun took some beer and cooked some cheeseburgers out on the ice. How deep are them lakes in Mautino's it has been some years since I have been out there. I remember the one I have fished there is pretty deep do you think it is safe to go on that one? Well GOOD FISHING ALL!!!!!!
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i fish lake storey alot but i cant remember if you can use more then 2 rods when ice fishingid have to get out the state book to make sure
other then that i dont know if there are any other rules just be ready to be around alot of people when the bite is good or journey out and find new ice
im currently a csc student again ill be on the lake alot mon w and friday afternoons if home work allows
csc= lsu lake storey university makes it more appealing to me the fisherman
hey randy had a good time talking to you today yes i found them demons now i just got to order them and hope there still as good as they used to be
dusty t
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hey blugill ihaven't seen anytracks on the lake you are talking about and i have not checked it yet. I have not had very much luck on the ice at the lake, but i have at the second pond in the park. you just have to find them in there though. i have caught crappie, bass and gills in it. Well i took my boys for the first time today, there mother finally let me. We had a ball on the hennipen canal at the parkway lagoon. There wasn't any real size to them but we did alot of them and i think i got the kids started on another type of fishing, though i will have to invest in a shanty now. Well i probabaly won't be able to get again till next weekend good luck to everyone.
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Thanks dusty for the info-
Thanks also to HeadHUNTER, I'll go and check it out- yea, I'm a huge fan of the fishtrap and their lures, but the site sucks in some major areas when compared the ice shanty! They both have their pros and cons- and I'm loyal to genz and the boys because one of the first posts I ever put on their site was for a fistrap and they liked my signiture line at the bottom of the post so well(at least that's what the guy on the phone said)- they posted a thing to call them and long story short, I got a demo for $150.00 off retail at that time-thing was brand new-just had to put it together- and best of all-I lived in a small apt., so they shipped to the loading dock of where I worked!
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Anyone have decent ice? I just got laid off and need to get some fishing in. I live in Streator (LaSalle County) Anyone have any suggestions where I might have some luck.
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Kim, No family near Yates City. Interesting though; Gottshall is pretty unusual in IL. Extended family is in NY. My dad taught at Illinois Central College. Maybe that's where you've heard the name, or at Caterpillar where I am.
I've been having a great time updating my $75 Scout. It's old enough it has a bench seat, which got pretty uncomfortable on the ice Sat. I had an old folding chair, cut the back off, and attached. Comfy!
I also picked up a couple of $0.79 hooks at Farm & Fleet, and attached to the metal brackets. Now I have somewhere to hang the auger. The sled's just too small otherwise.
Another excellent piece of advice I picked up here was to put a 1"x2" in the pockets along the bottom of the loose flap hanging along the ground. I got quite a bit of wind blowing through, & this should help a ton.
I'm pretty much set now. My only equipment-confusion is my heater. I bought a $45 Mr Heater, which puts out 8000 - 12,000 BTU's. I tried it in my garage, & am afraid 8000 BTU's will cook me alive.
Sat was the first time I've ever used a Vex (FL8). It was OK, but honestly I wasn't more impressed than with the single-color Humminbird flasher I used last year. I'll keep using it, & maybe I'll fall in love with it. It didn't pickup my small jig as well as I hoped. I had to turn the sensitivity way up, & then you see all kinds of garbage.
Weather is calling for 30's for the next week. I guess I'll keep playing with my Scout. . . and my Vex in the kitchen. . .
Paul
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Dusty - FYI: http://dnr.state.il.us/fish/Digest04/digest.pdf
"The ice angler may use a maximum of three poles or tip-ups with no more than two hooks on each line."
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to p gottshall-kim here- your father might know my aunt-Carol May- she's taught sociology at ICC for years.
I did the same setup for my trap2- it also has the bench seats, so I put in boat seats- my Mr. buddy heater is the new model, with the CO2 shutoff- you're right on high, it'll cook ya! wish i had a flasher! though the farm ponds i fish are all small, i think it would save time to find fish occasionally. I'm waiting to get my high velocity hand auger i ordered- been a month now!- it's a Nils-master in the 4.5" size-have you seen these?-later on I'm gonna buy the powerhead to make it a power auger also.
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lake storey opperates under site specific rule #1 2 pole line fishing only with no more then 2 hooks
so id need to talk to the local doc guy to see if you can use 3 poles im not sure you can since it is listed under site specific thats the way i read it any way
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Kim,
No way! I had Carol May for Soc 110 back in '79 or '80!
I have a 6in Nils Master. Cost me about $80 at Presley's South Side Worm Ranch. Worth every penny. It stays sharp & cuts fast! You'll love it!
Well I put a spring bobber on my UL tonight. Used a match to shrink the heat-shrink, & burned the fiberlass to smitherines. Lucky it was an $8 pole I guess!
ps - I got a "B".
Paul
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to p gottshall-small world, huh!- I could believe you got a "B"-I never had carol as a teacher, but I'd imagine she's a hell of a stickler! I like her a lot, but she can seem precise and distant at times-kind of a family trait-my whole family's filled with teachers or professors(I wanted to get my doctorate in philosophy, but ended up in the "blue collar factory lifestyle" and one thing that taught me that college couldn't was to be more realistic, grounded, and most of all-just lighten up and tighten a line!) Too bad about the pole- one good thing though, looks like thw weather's gonna give you another week to replace it-I was gonna go out this morning(fri.)- but don't know if the ice is safe-if you get out,let me know! P.S. still waiting on the damn nils-it was a great deal at $59.99, but I've waited close to a month and a 1/2 now for spectacular sports to send it!
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Went to Eureka lake today. The outer 3ft is open water. People had been on the ice today, so I went out anyway. I could see the ice cracking as I walked on it, & my spud bar went easliy through the 3" of mushy ice. I'm not totally stupid - I only went out 20-30ft, over 3ft of water.
I want to get out again badly, but are people nuts? I'm confident that I could have gone through if I walked too heavily. The holes I saw were over 12ft of water. With nobody else at the lake to pull me out, I sadly went home, and got on here. . .
Cold weather next week should improve conditions.
Sad sad times in central IL. . .
Paul
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Very depressing Paul.
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I am from Farmington and I ice fish every chance I get. I went out today and caught some gills and crappie. Ice is not very good but in a couple of days is should be safe. The person from Yates City should contact me and we can go fishing sometime. I fish alot of tournments in the north maybe sometime you could with me, always looking for a parnter from around here. I also have alot of property around middlegrove and fairview, if you would want to get on some other ponds in the area. If you want to go fishing, write me at [email protected] Be safe and I will try to check this more often since there are some flatlanders that like to ice fish. (lol)
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Same here, Wanted to go but heard the ice was iffy because of the warm winds we have had. So I went to south sideworm ranch and bought new coveralls and new adjustable seats for my boat. May be useing them before we know it. He wasnt selling any bait so I made his day toph2o
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to nick stevens(from farmington)- Kim here(the hardwater fanatic from yates city)-just wanted to know if you wanted to hook up next weekend?- also, did you go to farmington high-if you did you might know my mother mabel tanner. my father fishes the "fin and feather" outside of fairview- I went spoon river valley high school and had a lot of partying buddies in the old days from farmington, fairview, middlegrove, ect. I also used to fish the mine ground around middlegrove when I was a kid, some really good lakes!
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Kim, have you been to Gander Mountain lately? They were expecting another shipment of ice fishing supplies and I was wondering if it had come in. I called but the lady I spoke with didn't seem to know anything about ice fishing anything.
Pop
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Nope -POP- haven't been to the ol' gander mountain lately- took too many days off fishing (3), so I 've been working-but I hope to get there maybe this weekend- the store's still 25 miles away for me, even though I work in peoria-so I usually have to hit it before work(4p.m.- 2 a.m.-horrible hours to work, believe me!) I'll let you know if I see anything new- what are you looking for?- if I remember right they were pretty well stocked 2-3 weeks ago when I was in there, but that was before this last freeze.
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Well-Squeeze my Peaches- Thank you Jesus and all the "ICE GODS"- Did you guys see the weather forecast for this weekend and next week?!!!!!!! Come on Ice!- If any of you guys get out before friday(when I'm DEFINATELY GOING!) please post a report on thickness and such- Hope that if any of you guys have been able to get out this week while I've been watching the ice form going to work(and DROOLING) have been having success! I Love to come home at night and check out the site for posts from fellow hardwaterer's- I wish there was one central lake here in Illinois we all could meet and have our own Year Round trap attack- the Ice would never leave and we could all enjoy the sport we all love so much!- OK,OK- I'll calm down- I don't even drink and I'm babbling- see what working 10 hours till 2 a.m. and little sleep and too much dreaming of hardwater will get you! Be Safe and tightlines and BULLGILLS!
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KT, that is one thing that makes this sport great. You can babble and we all understand. I am needing some ants from custom jig and assorted small plastic. It was picked over, when I was there 2 weeks ago. I also need to pick up some 14 and 16 size hooks to tie scuds on. I use these on my tight line rigs. I have 3 green ones left and need to tie some brown/black and green/tan.
Pop
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Now I'm impressed, POP-you know how to tie flys(scuds)- I used to fly fish as a kid, but never learned how to tie-you'll have to show me if we ever hook up! I also haven't tightlined in the traditional way(still learning bloodknots, though my stepson says the bloodknot is real similar to the knot i use on my lures,having a helluva time doing it with two lines!) -, I simply have tried tying a short leader off a barrell swivel on the mainline with a fly-haven't had much success- Have you(with tightlining)? What's the ice like near you?
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KT, when I first started ice fishing we didn't know what it was called but we didn't use bobbers. We just sat and stared at the line all day. With the kinky old mono it was a chore. We would tie a small (00) split ring to the end of the line and tie a dropper off of it and another line down to a tear drop jig. We called these dippies. To the dropper, off of the spliit ring we would tie a small egg hook and put two acorn worms on it. I have caught a truck load of fish on the drop line. My sister lives in Michigan and when I was up there 3 or 4 years ago, I found out they called it a tightline system. One of the guys there was telling me about using the wet flies. It has worked out well here.
If we can find a time to meet I will show you how to tie the blood knot. I will give you some of the scuds to try.
We have some good ice on the small lakes and it is getting better. Clinton Lake will be ready this week end for the areas east of the hot water discharge and north of the power plant. I fished last Saturday but the ice was going away by noon or so. The warm winds and rain were hard on it.
Keep trying the tight line, when you get it you will have another great tool to catch fish.
Pop
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thanks for the info pop-was clinton lake ever featured on midwest outdoors? hope the farm ponds are thick enough to fish friday- took the day off today, too damn tired to go in to work- thought about fishing tonight, but since i don't know what the ice is like probably won't risk it- had a friend of a friend chase a goose(i think) they had shot out onto a local lake and break thru in 10 ft. of water this weekend- he got out luckily,- when my wife heard this my stepson said she got all nervous about us going icefishing- he told me he calmed her down by explaining how we check the ice every few feet and if there's ever any SIGN of danger we go home- had to pat him on the back for that- don't know if you hunt, but my dad's even told me stories of his buddies chasing downed birds on the ice in some of the stupidest places i've ever heard- one time he said a friend of his went after a pheasant, which had fallen on one of those mine lakes with 20-30 sheer banks, and he estimated there couldn't have been maybe 1 1/2- 2" of ice- they had no picks or tow ropes, nothing!
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hey kim
there was 20 people or so on lake storey tuesday night they never quit ice fishing it
there were a couple people over the sunken bridge area also but i still think that area would be iffy
i dont know if there catching any thing but im going to little jon friday and more then likely lake storey saturday and if i get the urge lake warren sundy
but as of tuesday more people were on the ice then there had been combined all year
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Very cool dusty! where's little jon at? if it's at lake storey maybe I'll see ya-don't know though- go some friends comin' over and we may fish elsewhere
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Does anyone have any info on Banner Marsh or Eureka Lake? How thick the ice is? Any fish being caught? ...THANKS
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KT, I fished last night for 4 hours. The pond I was on had 5 - 6 inches of good ice. The warm wind made the edges look a bit funny. I don't think Clinton was ever talked about for ice fishing. If people ever find out what a hoot the sunshine bass are to catch through the ice I am sure it will be talked about. It has some nice walleye, but they normally roam the open water humps in the winter. The crappie move under the ice and the bluegill fishing is ok in the cold water areas.
My wife is great about this sport, she even likes to go if it isn't to windy and cold. She also knows I won't take any chances on the ice, it takes me too long to heal anymore.
I grew up hunting the old gravel pits in this part of Illinois. We carried weighted treble hooks and an old spincast reel. Push the button and swing that hook around and let it go. There were pits that never froze solid and I didn't want the dogs on them.
We are going to Homer Lake this week end. There are some nice crappie in there and a true bull bluegill ever once in a while. Not much real pressure in the winter. Same ten guys fish the same little flat every year for the last 10 - 15 years. I think they would get tired of catching the same 4 inch bluegill and 5 inch crappie. When one of them catches a 12 inch crappie they do what we call the bucket dance. They all get up and run over to the guy that caught it and since they have been setting on the bucket for 8 hours, without moving, they can not walk very well. Then they all look around like chickens, to make sure none of us saw the fish and then stumble back to the same hole they have fished for the last 5 days and set down on the bucket and start the funny little shaking presentation.
Pop
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kim
little john is south of victoria it is south of snakeden hollow just east of oak run its a private club with 30 strip mine lakes but i think a few have dried up or are very small
now if this dang wind would die
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hey Dusty, do you fish snakeden hollow? been there a few times. never ice fished it. I'll be at hook and bullet Sunday fishing with a buddy who belongs to the club. I hope it wont snow till late sunday or I'll have to stay home to plow it. If you do fish snakeden do you go to the smaller lakes . :'( toph2o
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i dont think i have ever ice fished snake den i think alot of the winter the main lake is closed cause of duck and goose season but im not totally sure
if i was to ice fish it id go to the north gate and walk the half mile to the big lake back there caught good gills in it years ago in the spring plus not all the standing timber to drill and hop you found the right tree
we caught 20 or so today but only 6 were even worth keeping so we set them free hopefully better luck tomorrow
snow sunday? bout time lol
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Hey bluegill, I went to mautinos earlier this week and we (my brother and I) Found anywhere from 31/2 to 8 inches of ice. So I'm sure anywhere you would want to fish there is safe now. If you ever want to go sometime drop me and line and maybe I will be able to meet up with you and show you some of the better spots to try
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Cool thanks bucky just might take you up on that offer!!!!!!!!!1
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ok got a question- went out today and had 4" of ice on the lake, but it had white, spiderweb looking lines running all over the surface. the ice looked "crystallized" also and the shavings when i drilled looked like a snowcone around the hole. the ice inside the hole appeared layered horizontally and had vertical cracks in it. I thought I had read somewhere that this type of ice forms under frigid wind chills and can be only half the strength of good clear ice. is this true? I must admit it scared me enough to leave the 1st lake I was at and go fish another one(though i probably could've died just as easily there because the ice looked just the same!)
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kim
i had the same thing it was cracking where the cracks allready were and it didnt sound good we was spooked off one lake but fished another same situation i think its softer ice
i think what happend was it got hot rotted the ice then it refroze and the rotted stuff is still in the mix and it dont freeze as hard when plus where ti was cracked before it opend now the cracks have froze back but not sealed together
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Fooman,
I was on Eureka Monday 1/19, & ice was a good 5in. I fished a couple hours past dark, & heard the ice cracking a lot. I hear that's a good sign, but it's kinda' scary when sitting in my Scout huddled over a lantern, seeing the water hicup out of my hole.
I was there for a couple hours, & only caught one Crappie. - a little disappointing, but I was without bait. I saw quite a few fish on the Vex, but only two bites.
Interesting too, all the fish, but one were near the bottom in 12ft. That one was three feet under the ice, & was the only Crappie I got. Roaming through I guess.
I didn't get out until after dark, so didn't drill much. Next time I'll get out early enough to scout a bit to make sure I'm on fish before I huddle up to keep warm.
Paul
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Went Sunday to victoria, Fished 4 differnt lakes had 4 to 5 inches of ice Most of the ice was clear but ran in to the soft white ice. lots of small gills , one nice crappie and had to fight off 2 inch crappie that were almost jumping out of the hole to get the float.the small jig could not sink fast enough with the wind blowing so the 2 inch crappie kept getting caught and in the way yesI fish without a shelter. but Sundays wind may change my mine about buying one toph2o :'(
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dont look good for me this weekend saturday ill go but 4 inches of snow super bowl sunday and nex 2 days under 10 with wind chills below zero i have a hut but id freeze before i got to the lake
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yeeha its back
i got out 2 times this week caught 2 good crappie at lake storey but lost 6 of what felt like solid fish in the middle of the day on saturday my lantern broke so i didnt stick it out to late
went to lake warren (private) on monday during mid day hours the crappie ran small but had solid gills but lost more then i caught
in conclusion i got my medium dimond lap file out and sharpend hooks for 4 hrs monday night hopefully this wont happen again
fish seem to be moving deeper at lake warren no bites where old holes were drilled went on to 22 foot of water near a flat and a big hole and fish were suspended 10 to 18 foot down only one came with in a foot of the bottomn
alot of the fish i caught were on the fall raised my depth and it didnt work seemed they wanted that fall alot better but i lost one gill that id say was close to 11 inches i got a side view of it before it hit the ice and hook poped out
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;D Got out yesterday on a private pond north of Bloomington with a couple of buddies. Overcast when we started. Caught bluegills and a couple of nice crappie before the skies cleared and the sun came out in the afternoon. That really slowed things down. Stayed out until after dark, thinking they would turn on again, but that didn't happen. So, all in all, the fishing was great, but the catching was just so-so.
Good fishing!
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went to Banner Sunday. Didn't do any good . Just small gills. I cut hole near trees and dropoffs but could not find a crappie. I'm out of luck going this weekend so hope the ice holds up for a few more weeks A lot of people were down there but they were having trouble also toph2o
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how thick's the ice been fellas-haven't been out for two weeks-that's why I haven't posted my usual report here. hoping to get out this friday. Has the ice started to "rot" yet?
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Hey Kim,
Been wandering what's happened to you. Miss seeing your posts for the cent. IL area. Don't worry the ice is in excellent shape, just hope we can keep a while longer. Seems like the sunshine has slowed the fishing some. Just need to add some cloudy days.
Randy B
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i got one lake in the area it seemes theres a layer of snow then water then ice this ice is 6 to 8 inches in this area and the other areas are 10 inches of goo had clear ice under the snow
is this water on top where the ice is starting to rot?
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Hey Dusty,
How are things going at Storey? Think I might try to meet my son up there Thusrday afternoon as he drives home from Davenport to try the late afternoon easrly eve. bite. I know you fish some clubs in the Victoria area but wanted to ask if you have ever fished any of the Snakeden Hollow lakes. Also wnted to let you know that we had similar ice conditions that you mentiioned in you post on to different lakes I fished this past weekend but went back to one of them yesterday and it is now froze from top to bottom.
Randy B
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i havent ice fished snake den i fished it a couple times with out the ice and done best at the farthest north gate its about a half mile or longer walk to the big lake i fished caught descent fish on years ago
i dont know what there rules are sence it is a goose place in the fall and winter and is closed to fishing the big lake this time of year i believe
the big lake has alot of standing timber so the fish could be on one tree at any depth right now
as far as storey goes i might swing out and catch ya before class (twin 125's are on so i wont be out till there over and i got class so i cant fish )
the dam area still looks like a shanty town and there are people fishing the normal places again but no one has flocked to the bridge in great numbers that i have seen
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Thanks so much guys for the info-good to hear the ice is ok-what a great way to stay "on top" of things-sorry 'bout the poor pun! also, it's good to hear that you missed me randy and that everyone seems to found their way back to the board ok-I was jones'n without it-well, with your good info I'm hardwatering Friday and Sunday! Gonna hit the honey hole, gonna have a new computer soon-maybe I'll have pics to put up soon. What I meant about the ice "rotting" is what happens usually to late ice when it turns white-ish-gray and gets filled with bubbles. I've had way,way,way too many scares trying to "read" or judge this stuff and it freaks the !#$%^ out of me! This new honey hole I've got is fillled with barely keeper blugill, but it's also 16 ft. deep with shear banks and creek fed-so you can see my concern for ice safety! Last time I went to my other honey hole I slayed them( in this lake the blugill are all 10" or better, some at least 1lb., I think! I can't wrap my hand around them any way!), but as you guys probably already know from my other posts , this is my catch and release lake, so I put them all back-maybe this weekend I'll keep a few(LOL)! Don't know if any of you dedicated outdoors types like me who tend to carry an old soft heart when it comes to killing things, have ever "raised" blugills at home in you fish tanks(mine is a 55 gallon), but once you've had one as a "pet", sometimes its a little hard to put them on the plate or the wall. Anyway I'll post my report as usual, and if any of you guys want to go, drop me a message.
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just a quick post to let you guys know how the trip went-went to the new hole-good 7" of ice-caught 15-20 barely keeper 'gills and 1 nice crappie( crappie caught on 1/64 jig tipped with plastic tail, no bait,-Very hard strike!) the trip was a little unique in one respect- fish bite was very active up until 1hr. before sunset!-very odd. well going out this morning to the honey hole with the 1lb. "Bullgills"- looks like high winds-also, maybe a warm up this upcoming week-hope the hardwater lasts! P.S. all the fish from yesterday were caught scattered throughout the water column, and came on either genz worms, fat boys, ant jigs, and jigging spoons.
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kim tanner....do you or any body else ever fish mautino? ....is it safe ,where would you try,what is in it,gills, crappies, etc...only been there once in the summer, never fished it....mainly fish the miss.river, 12+13 +14 pools, very slow now....any help would be appreciated..... ???
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jepik i live 3 miles from there. theres about 7" on the main lake with some of the smaller ones having a foot or more haven't been there all week there was about 3" of water on top of the ice under the snow so plan on wet feet.
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Hey, I ran in to the water underthe ice before the good ice at banner last week. I was walking along when I felt the ice give and saw it crack :o under my weight. I stopped and drilled a hole to check it out and found 7 inches of ice under me :P scared me to death. Can't go this weekend and looks like the warm spell is comming toph2o
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i went to the strip mines today and the ice is getting thinner its down to 7 inches there and i noticed bubbles coming up alot today in my holes
also caught very few fish and what i did catch was the size of a small patato chip
one of them i did catch i seen him go down but 5 minutes later he was back up right under the ice flopping around
must have swim bladder problems
hopefully today was my last trip for the season but i doubt it with 50 degree weather next week and nights above freezing i hope this ice is off like a prom dress
where do you all chat at when there is no ise?
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Was out this morning on a local pond, with 5in of good ice. Went to Eureka Lake this evening, & there was 3ft+ of open water around the shore. I did see one guy on the ice, who apparently found a way on, but I went home.
This year's gone too fast for me. I only got out about 10 times, but really enjoyed it. The best was this morning, as I took the 9yr-old across the road, his dad, & my 17yr-old son along. We didn't catch a bluegill over 5in, but had a great time.
It was about 30degrees out, & I had my 3-man Fish Trap Voyager, with a Mr Heater that we made hot chocolate on, & kept so warm we were stripping jackets off. We were using my new Vex, catching lots of 'gills 18ft down in 28ft of water. It was so cool, as my buddies outside were fishing "two cranks" off the bottom & not even getting bit! Anyone who thinks they can keep up without electronics is missing it! My used $160 FL18 is priceless.
I've enjoyed this site immensely, & can't wait for next year.
Take care,
Paul