Coffeen Lake, Montgomery County, Illinois, August 14th, 2011: Incredible day of Largmouth fishing!

Coffeen Lake is one of 3 nice size lakes around Litchefield, IL. I fished this lake in May with my friend Ray off the kayaks, and we had a little success then, so I figured I would come back. I am glad I did....This lake has some really nice Largmouths in it!

The lake is still a little high- I was going to try and paddle the whole lake, but there is a railroad track levy half through it. Due to the high water, you cannot go through the tunnel (it is almost entirely under water.

I caught over (7) bass, a few in the 15-16" range. What I noticed about the ones I caught at this fishery were how fat they were. Little footballs! Also, I noticed what fight they had! I have caught a few bass in last months that have been like catching a branch, but not these. I really thought at first I had landed a smallmouth or something.

My success was based on a spinning rod, with a carolina rig, and a zoom trick worm. I think the secret today was the carolina rig. I think this rig causes action on the worm, but not as much horizontal movement. Could that be the secret to getting on large numbers of bass in the late summer? I am looking forward to trying this at Table Rock Lake in a few weeks as see if it holds true there as well.

Fish ON!

Mike

Coffeen Lake, Montgomery County, Illinois: Very nice Illnois power plant lake with a lot of potential!

Got a chance to get a quick trip in to Coffeen Lake, Illinois yesterday.  This lake is very close to Litchefield, Illinois, and is about an hour north of St. Louis.  A lot of time Illinois lakes are overlooked by Missouri anglers, including myself.  It is official- I am now licensed in Illinois!  So I intend on coming back often.  What I like about the lakes in Central and Southern Illinois is the fact that they are closer to the St. Louis metro area than comparable lakes on the Missouri side (and that is not a criticism of Missouri lakes!)

This is a power plant lake, so I can imagine there are parts of the lake that you can fish all year.  I can also imaging that the growing season is longer, and the potential for monster bass is definite.
We put in on the north side of the lake, and paddled for about 2 miles or so.  My friend Ray went about double that, but I was getting on some fish, so I slowed down to fish it.  Did not tear it up, but caught a small one and a medium sized one. The regulations on the lake for Largemouth bass are (1) over 15" and (2) under 15" (no slot).  I also noticed that the lake has stripers, and a (10) total, 10" limit on crappie.
Caught my first small bass on a roadrunner with a white grub (kind of my go to since I caught that huge bass on Table Rock) and then with the overcast skies, I switched to a texas-rigged black culprit worm (this is my go to when it gets cloudy out).  That was the bait I caught the biggest bass on.
I spoke with another fisherman who was tearing it up.  He was catching on a white/chartreuse spinner (which out of all the lures, did not have that day).

The bass were literally jumping out of the water.....this is a lake I intend on coming back to in the future, as well as the other lakes that surround this area.

Fish ON!

MLT

Kayaking Coffeen Lake, Illinois

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