Lake Shelbyville

Some friends and I recently went on a trip to Shelbyville, IL for a weekend fishing/camping trip. The trip was not very successful for fishing, but we did manage to get one bass, off a plastic worm, in the spillway.

Lake Shelbyville is one of the largest lakes in Illinois and is great for camping, fishing, hunting, and boating. Millions of people vacation there year round. here are a few pics of the lake and spillway:

Lake Shelbyville

Spillway

The lake's surface covers about 11,000 acres of water. The Kaskaskia and West Okaw Rivers provide excellent stream fishing for walleye, white bass, crappie and channel catfish. The spillway contains a high concentration of musky, and the ponds surrounding the lake are great for largemouth bass, bluegill, and channel catfish.

Mazonia State Fish and Wildlife Area

Here is one of my favorite fishing spots, the Mazonia State Fish and Wildlife Area.


This is where I spend most of my time fishing. It is located in Grundy County three miles southwest of Braidwood, Illinois.  There is some 1,017 acres with 200 water impoundments ranging in size from 1/4 acre to 30 acres in size.


This is probably one of the best places to fish in the area. There are plenty of bass in these old strip mines, along with bluegill, crappie, channel catfish, northern pike, and walleye.

The state record Northern Pike was caught in Monster Lake, which happens to be the lake that I fish most in this area.

Kankakee River

I will be doing most of my fishing from 2 different areas. Here is some information, news, and more on one of these spots, the Kankakee River.

Midwest Fishing Report: Chicago fishing/rivers - Stray Casts
blogs.suntimes.com4/25/12
Kankakee River: Indiana: Rt. 39 & 8 and the Point for pike on *big minnows *weedless Doctor Spoons *Spinnerbaits. Grand Kankakee Marsh Area Pike as above. Walleye on *jig and minnow *jointed minnow shaped plugs.

Midwest Fishing Report: Rivers section - Stray Casts
blogs.suntimes.com4/11/12
Sam Bennett was speaking of the upper Fox River, but his comment--``The flow is low, so it's a great wade"--could apply across the area rivers. So could Ed Mullady's conclusion about the Kankakee River, ``River very ...


The Kankakee River is the most popular place in the area to fish. Also, there was a record walleye caught in this river just a couple months ago!

Fish of the Week: Big Kankakee walleye - Stray Casts
blogs.suntimes.com3/4/12
One major note of fishing this mild winter has been good walleye catches from area rivers, typified by the 10.5-pound walleye Dan Davis caught from the Kankakee River....

Fishing Around Kankakee

Hi Everyone!

Here I will be posting about my summer fishing trips around Kankakee, Illinois.

During the summer, I usually go out fishing at least every weekend so I figured this summer I would share my results with anyone interested.

After each trip I will be posting pics of my catches, talking about the locations and conditions that I fished, what lures I caught the fish with and more.

I do not consider myself an expert fisherman in any way and I am always looking to learn different ways to catch more fish, so feel free to comment with any tips you might have or to share your own stories about your own recent catches or adventures.