Best 3 lakes in Northern Illinois

[Wolverine73]

New to ice fishing in the area and trying to determine some of the better lakes to ice fish within 30 miles of Cary, IL.

Thanks in advance.

[boscolab]

Shabbona Lake is probably the most consistent good lake. 2nd and 3rd place probably falls on the fox chain.

[Wolverine73]

Thanks boscolab... much appreciated.

Went to Dave's Bait and Tackle on 176 and he said people are driving their cars on the ice at the Wisconsin border and there is 5-6 inches of ice on Bang's Lake so will likely go out there this afternoon to test my luck.

[Tubes77]

If you go to Bangs, don't forget that they now require a $25 permit for all portable ice shelters!  Reports are slow there anyway, so I would head north and fish Pistakee.  Reports are much better there and no fee.  (although you will generally have to pay to park).

[Tubes77]

Oh, I totally forgot! My votes for best three lakes in northern IL are Shabbona, Pistakee and Lake Michigan (either Montrose harbor or Belmont Harbor).  Of course all those can vary depending on what you particularly like to fish for.  Perch and trout?  Lake Michigan harbors are where it's at (don't forget Dusable and Brunham).  Crappie and gills? My vote is for Shabbona, especially for big crappie.  For a steady bite mixed bite of everything?  The chain is hard to beat, with Pistakee my favorite and Marie a close second.  You can catch all the pan fish varieties (gils, crops, whites, yellows, etc)  without too much trouble, and with a little work and patience, find walleyes, perch, bass, pike, cats etc.)  The bonus there is that there are a lot of rough fish to catch just for fun too.