Author Topic: Cook County FPD lakes (Read 4135 times)

gillsforthrills92 · « **on:** Jan 17, 2010, 11:40 PM »

Any one have luck on any of the cook county forest preserve lakes their alot of them. ive only fished a few of them. any info would be cool 8)

crappie66 · « **Reply #1 on:** Jan 18, 2010, 12:10 AM »

I stayed close to home and tried Beck Lake twice this past week, big mistake, should have drove up to the Chain. I was after bluegill and/or crappie. This is the only CCFP lake I have fished through the ice, so I can't speak for the others.

I am not your typical "just love to be out" type I go out with one mission and that is to catch fish, I get disappointed if I catch less than 20 keepers in a few hours, so my opinion on this lake is that it is a waste of time for gills.

If you just want to catch fish and don't care about size then Beck is the place to go. I caught fish in just about every open hole and hole I drilled. A couple reached 7 inches, and even those were few and far between. There were A LOT of people out there on both Friday and Sunday, similar results for those people, however, I was surprised at how excited they were to catch the small gills and they considered them good size.

gillsforthrills92 · « **Reply #2 on:** Jan 19, 2010, 08:33 AM »

ha. wow thanks, the chain is a bit of a hike from where i live, so i was trying to try some local lakes,

fishchris · « **Reply #3 on:** Jan 19, 2010, 02:25 PM »

horsetail has been getting gills ...lot of dinks with some borderline keepers. tampier has some yellow bass, gills and crappie northerns on tipups in the right spots and i HEARD theres been a few walleye caught. i know there in there, caught them in the spring never through the ice though. the slough off archer has been putting up some panfish but finding them is key...friend of mine fishes there i never have though....hope that helps a little.

illinoisice · « **Reply #4 on:** Jan 19, 2010, 04:46 PM »

I have fished horsetail many times so far this winter, and caught many gills, a few crappie and perch. But the only thing big enough to keep was the trout from there. Also yesturday i went to maple and caught 52 gills, 4 perch 4 crappie and 2 largemouths. one was 16.5 and the other was a less than a foot, all on waxies. Then when i fished cal sag quarry i was able to get 8 keeper gills with as much girth as a gill can have lol. But overall so far shadow lakes was the best for me so far this winter.

gillsforthrills92 · « **Reply #5 on:** Jan 19, 2010, 06:20 PM »

Ive fished maple lake a last winter. caught some pretty big gills out of their. theirs a a little sand bar on the northeast side of the lake its goes from 11ft to being 4-5 ft.

The Prizz · « **Reply #6 on:** Jan 25, 2011, 10:44 AM »

Alright, time to update this thread. I know that there ARE ice fishermen in Cook County. The problem is that the other counties around us have better fisheries due to aggressive stocking and care. There are nice fish available in Cook, you just have to get out there and FIND! Thankyou to everyone who talks bad about Tampier Lake. I was out there over the weekend and caught some good fish.....And I was ALONE!!!!! Driving around and checking on some of the other smaller lakes, I see good signs of ice fishing. I've been itching to get out to Wolf, but as usual there is no info. I guess just wing it and see what that brings.........or go to Dupage.

bigmk49 · « **Reply #7 on:** Jan 25, 2011, 09:30 PM »

im off to maple in the mornin to try and get on some largemouths..possibly some gills

Tricounty · « **Reply #8 on:** Jan 25, 2011, 10:01 PM »

Was out at papoose the last 2 days, the ice was solid 12"
1- 13" bass on tip-up, 1 - 8" Bass on waxie
13 - 7" gills on waxies ( were released to grow bigger )
1 - dink crappie on waxie
50 - dink gills on waxies

Literally 80 holes

1 - written warning from the nice DNR Officer. (read the fine print) 2 lines in Cook County forest presserves.
he really was a nice guy had a nice chat said it was slow every where. He also said GO PACK!

But it was better than work

Tricounty

bigmk49 · « **Reply #9 on:** Jan 25, 2011, 10:05 PM »

def gotta watch urself with how many lines you got in..ive been checked several times

Tricounty · « **Reply #10 on:** Jan 25, 2011, 10:10 PM »

My wife always tells me to read not just look at the pictures,

I just didn't read far enough into the rules . First time I have fished the preserves in the winter. He was pretty nice to let me know I was wrong.
I wish they were out at the big pond more, some people at NP are pretty bad.

Tricounty

Carrots · « **Reply #11 on:** Jan 25, 2011, 10:28 PM »

Quote from: bigmk49 on Jan 25, 2011, 10:05 PM

def gotta watch urself with how many lines you got in..ive been checked several times

Really? I've been checked once (a couple weeks ago) for my license, first time in about six years, and I frequent many of the lakes. Unfortunately.

bigmk49 · « **Reply #12 on:** Jan 25, 2011, 10:31 PM »

ya ive been checked for lines and my liscense

The Prizz · « **Reply #13 on:** Jan 26, 2011, 10:03 AM »

When I was at Tampier, the ranger drove right by me as I'm pulling my sled to head out. (NO check) But if I go out to Dupage, they are waiting at the gates to check licenses. Get this, they EVEN come out on the lake!!!!! That is way too much for the COOK guys, they don't want to even roll down their windows! Oh well, going to try Arrowhead after work today for the last 2 hours of light. Let ya know.

Bj1 · « **Reply #14 on:** Jan 26, 2011, 01:24 PM »

Any of you guys fish bode ponds? or maybe they call them bode lakes north and south? are they worth drilling holes??

bigmk49 · « **Reply #15 on:** Jan 26, 2011, 03:49 PM »

well we were on maple today..2 northerns a dozen of gills...tons of flags poppin tho...dnr came out onto the ice and gave us a warning for to many lines

fishingene · « **Reply #16 on:** Jan 26, 2011, 11:25 PM »

HeY PRIZZZ how did you do on arrowhead? just got home from Rosemont show.
LET me know weekend plans. Aunt Nancy's? might have to help horak at Rosemont, hope not I need a big Gill!!!!
I talked with the COOk county biologist about what we talked about. Cook county is trying... years behind the curve
GET out of the truck? Check license? Cook county DNR = joke

Now that I Have typed This I Hope They Get OUT OF THE TRUCK AND CHECK EVERYONE!!!!!!
FOR THE GOOD OF THE LAKES!!!! Check me im good to go!!!!
Hurry!!!! Check that ONE!!!!

TIP DOWN

Gene

The Prizz · « **Reply #17 on:** Jan 27, 2011, 08:16 AM »

Actually, treated me pretty good. Couple more specs and gills for the freezer. Not too bad for an hour of work! Aunt Nancy's should be ready for another harvesting(this weekend?) I'm taking both kids out on Saturday if we are not going out so let me know. Talk about luck, I picked a spot around one of the cribs and caught out of the 2 holes I drilled! 7 - 9FOW about 3ft. off the bottom and aggresive jigging. Ice is still over 9" and the ranger came on the ice to check me! IN COOK COUNTY!?! Hopefully all these posts about COOK COUNTY not checking people will kick thier butts in gear to bust the people who don't buy licenses and fill a bucket up with non-keepers. Just sick of seeing it because that is where some of the funding for stocking comes from! Phew, that made me feel better.

fishingene · « **Reply #18 on:** Jan 27, 2011, 01:54 PM »

I hope you get a chance to go to the Rosemont show. try getting there today, we can talk with the different county officialls.
I was talking with Steve Silic Good Guy!!! He gets as disgusted as we do. He has several projects going on if he can get volunteers
to commit everything can get better. They have some photos of the lakes on their show walls, newer contour lines.
more later have to head to the show now.

The Prizz · « **Reply #19 on:** Jan 28, 2011, 12:57 PM »

Well, it's nice to see some "groundwork" being taken care of while I'm out and about slaying these CookCounty fish! Sorry, but I have a few things going on this weekend, so I don't see the Rosemont show on the radar. But I am taking both kids out tomorrow to a local CCFP lake. Going out early and letting the kids/fish dictate how long we are out! Say hi to Spence and Al for me.

icedtea · « **Reply #20 on:** Jan 28, 2011, 04:56 PM »

No luck for me yesterday afternoon at Beck Lake, and the few other guys I spoke to there said they weren't getting much either. I was using both waxies and small minnows.

If anyone finds a good CCFPD lake on the north end, let me know.

The Prizz · « **Reply #21 on:** Jan 28, 2011, 05:53 PM »

Sorry Ice-T, I am hittn up lower cook county this year(when I can). Finally gettn both kids out with me tomorrow morning for a while. The son has gone once, now the daughter is rarrin' to go. I'm pretty much hearing that with most of your popular early lakes that have been fished hard, the bite is very limited and that's where the smaller fish are coming into play. That's why we all have to try different approaches and new waters. Sorry I couldn't help ya, but sooner or later, you'll get the info you need. This sight has some reputable fisherman(oxymoron) on it! Keep your lines wet

fishingene · « **Reply #22 on:** Jan 31, 2011, 02:35 PM »

This sight has some reputable fisherman(oxymoron)

Prizz
I hope you are not refering to me. I know Nothing!!( Hogans heros) lol
Good luck with your search to find fish. Once you find em, tell me, so we can post it on the internet
and watch all the bucket heads take as many fish as they can. Then we can all cry about it.

Seriously. we need to educate others in selective harvest. The county needs to crack down. LOL
The fisherman of CROOK County need to petition the county to turn a few lakes into catch and release Only
Good luck with that. To many people only care about themselves. I doubt there is anyone in that county
willling to stand up. Let alone grab the bull by the horns. Get a hold of Steve Selic(biologist for the county)
HE would help. Good Guy trying to keep YOUR county stocked with fish.

The Prizz · « **Reply #23 on:** Feb 01, 2011, 07:05 AM »

Sorry about the whole "REPUTABLE FISHERMEN (Oxymoron)" thing, that was a joke.LOL But it is true about the people on this sight, they will help if they get the chance. I'm new here, but after reading the many posts, a LOT of info is out there to be snagged up!
F.G.: As far as getting a respective program going in Cook County, it starts with all of us to get the word around that we DON'T have to take everything we catch out! Although, Cook County HAS come a long way in the last 10 - 15 years. When I was back in high school, Tampier looked 20x worse. The rangers are out and checking licenses and creels these days and I only hope that when there is a holiday weekend and thousands of immigrants are lined up on shore (TAMPIER), they are checking twice as hard!
And Mr. SELIC, thankyou for ALL of your effort into the lakes of COOK COUNTY!

P.S.- it only takes a minute to pick up the phone when you see something you shouldn't. I don't have it with me, but I will later post the phone # to report poaching in Cook County.

The Prizz · « **Reply #24 on:** Feb 18, 2011, 01:16 PM »

From what I am being told, Cook County lakes are holding up. Anybody doing any good out there? This "work" thing is getting in the way of fishing for me.

News:

Author Topic: Cook County FPD lakes (Read 4135 times)