To start with, we contacted the experts, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, to find out what is happening with fishing in our county, and just beyond.  They reported the following:

Most of the small lakes in the area have bluegill, redear sunfish and largemouth bass spawning right now with the channel catfish to follow shortly.  Now is the time to be out on the lakes fishing for these species.

The following should have good-to-excellent fishing right now: Mt. Pulaski Park District Lake, Lake Williamsville, the lakes at Jim Edgar/Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area, Kincaid City Reservoir, Virginia City Reservoir, Ashland City Reservoirs. 

In addition, farm ponds should be "hot" right now, but they are privately owned and will require permission.  On the large reservoirs, Lake Sangchris, Springfield, Clinton, and Bloomington, for example, the crappie have slowed down but the bass should still be pretty good.  

[Randy Baker, and son, Cole, of Emden, caught this mess of bluegills at Weldon Springs. They used night crawlers.]

Where to catch 'em and 
what they’re hitting on

§         White bass are hitting on minnows, small spinners, and small jigs. There are reports they are being caught at the Illinois River below the Peoria Lock and Dam, and Lake Springfield near the warm water discharge.

§         Striped bass are hitting on large minnows, crankbaits, spinners, and jigs. They are hitting at Clinton Lake now.

§         Smallmouth bass are hitting on crayfish, small crankbaits, spinners, and minnows. They ar e active at Powerton Lake near points and current breaks.

§         Largemouth bass are hittng on plastic worms, jigs, spinners, crankbaits, and minnows. They are reported to be biting at Dawson Lake, Clinton Lake, Weldon Springs, and the Illinois River.

§         Crappie seem to have slowed down or stopped. The few crappie being caught hitting on minnows at Sangchris Lake, Spring Lake, Banner Marsh, Anderson Lake, and the Illinois River.

§         Channel catfish seem to be hitting on shad, chicken livers, night crawlers, shrimp, and stink bait. They are being caught at Banner Marsh, Dawson Lake, Lake Springfield, Mackinaw River, and Powerton Lake.

§         Bluegills are reported to be hitting on night crawlers, wax worms, and crickets. They are reported to be hitting at Weldon Springs, Dawson Lake, and Anderson Lake.

Fishing tip

For bass fishing, since the water temperatures are in the 70's, a good bait to use is disturbance baits such as poppers and imitation frogs. These types of baits attract bass by creating sound and vibrations on the water's surface. This will be more effective on calm waters than when the wind has stirred up the water. 

How to fix 'em after you catch 'em

Fish In A Bag

6 lbs. fish (catfish or what you or your spouse has caught that day)

1 lb. butter

1 tsp. mild or hot sauce or soy sauce (if you want)

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

juice of 2 lemons

juice of 2 limes

1 C. wine

1 tsp. salt

Salt and pepper the cleaned fish. Shake 1 tablespoon flour inside a large cooking bag. Place fish in the bag. Heat all the other ingredients together. Pour them into the bag. Close the bag and punch about 12 little holes on the top of the bag. Bake according to bag's instructions. You can serve this over rice when done or serve with red potatoes.

Don’t get me wrong. We wouldn’t have gone to Canada had there been no prospect of catching any fish. No. We are, after all, fishermen, and this was our excuse for getting away in the first place.

 In fact, I have a theory about this. It sounds a little redneck, but hear me out. Men – at least some men – bond around meat. Think of it. Duck blinds. Deer camps. Barbecue pits. Always pointing out their secrets on how to successfully bag a turkey, call a duck, sucker a walleye, baste a brisket, men bond around meat, alive or dead (quite often alive, then dead). It’s not that women aren’t allowed or wouldn’t have anything to offer. I suspect there are deer camps for women, barbecue pits where men aren’t allowed, walleye tournaments just for ladies. I just haven’t seen them yet. Nor is it that all men enjoy this. Nor is this the only way and certainly not the most significant way you’ll find guys bonding. In fact, it seems sort of barbaric. But isn’t it true? Men bond around meat.

[Neal's homemade chowder, a group favorite of the week]

So when Jack Getchel, Tom Seggelke, John Allison and I (all from Lincoln) left for Lake Kashaweogama early in the morning on May 20, we left to catch walleye and northern pike. We had been planning – always half the fun – for months. We left with more lures than we could ever hope to throw at them, more rods than were needed for the task. I even bought an eight-weight fly rod and some of the largest, ugliest flies I’ve ever tossed at a fish in my life. We left pulling two boats, several motors, minnow buckets, sonar and nets. We left – can you believe it? – with very little meat, and it’s not because we’re vegetarians. It was our task, after all, to chase down and catch the fish. It’s called venery (the art, act, or practice of hunting, and in this case, fishing). Bonding around meat.

When we got there the weather was warm and the bugs were out. There were dreaded black flies and huge mosquitoes. Our first weapon was "Off!", our first prey insects. Mercifully, the repellent worked. After setting up camp, we chased down plenty of walleye and feasted in Jack’s more-than-ample motor home on Jack’s more-than-generous portions of walleye and spuds.

 The next day, and several days to follow, turned out to be quite cold, very windy and soaked with rain showers. But the walleye – unusually large walleye for this time of year – cooperated. We caught them drifting. Casting. Trolling. We caught them on jigs. On minnows. On jigs and minnows. On crankbaits. Just about everything we threw at them worked. And this was the pattern throughout the cold spell. There are lots of hungry fish this time of year in Canada.

The northern pike, on the other hand, were hard to come by. The southern bays of this 12-mile, glacially carved lake produced very little, so we turned our attention to the shallowest waters of the northern bays, which tend to warm faster than the southern bays in the spring. During the last two days of the trip, in the tight, protected tip of a spring-fed northern bay roughly eight miles from our campsite, we caught a pair of 12-pounders – one on Friday, another on Saturday – and these turned out to be the biggest fish of the trip. Some years have produced fish twice that size, but given the weather conditions, we were happy with these pike.