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

Busch Wildlife CA, St. Charles County, MO, Lake 35, July 2nd: Lizards and Tubes

Hit the lake about 8:00 a.m.- started off a little slow at some of the "go-to" spots. Probably has to do with the water in the lake being high. On that note, this is a lake that looked like it was dead this time last year- it has come back nicely! Looks like they found the leak area and the lake is really starting to hold water well.
Salt tubes way to go (natural color) and the standard for this summer: Zoom Plastic Lizards. I took the one photo of the bass with the lizard just because I thought it was funny- The lizard is almost as big as the bass!
Used some deep diving crank baits and trolled a couple of times in the 25-30' water. Just wanted to see if any big bass or musky were awake- no luck this time.

Barometric Pressure: 29.92
Water Temp: 82.3
Solar Lunar Times: 12:34-2:34 a.m.; 12:59-2:50 p.m New Moon
Outside Conditions: Cloud bank early, then sun, hot

Fish ON!

MLT

Busch Wildlife Area, St. Charles County, MO. Lake 35 July 27th: Some success on Lizards and Worms

Lake 35 was a little more productive than it has been in the last couple of weeks. Still getting some nice bites on Zoom Plastic Lizards with the Carolina Rig system. I noticed that the bass are moving into more of a traditional summer pattern. The larger bass was "laying in the salad" when he hit on the red 8" culprit worm, texas rigged. Barely felt the bite, thought it may have been a snag. Caught him in about 8' of water about 10' out from shore.

Fish ON!

MLT

Lake Hunnewell, Shelby County, MO, July 23rd- Lizards are the word

Came back for a few afternoon hours at Lake Hunnewell. Caught over 12 bass on a Carolina Rigged Zoom Plastic Lizard, 14# test on a baitcasting rod. I really have come to like the Carolina Rig as a tool to catch fish. You will get more hang-ups and lose more rigs, but the sensation of catching a bass on a Carolina Rig is pretty awesome.
I am going to come back to this lake and fish it for what it is really known for: Redears and large bluegills (maybe some cats as well).

Fish ON!

MLT

Lake Hunnewell, Shelby County, July 13th- Bass on Lizards (again!)

Lake Hunnewell is a very interesting lake. Lots of deep drop-offs and tons of really thick vegetation. Fished the entire day in the veg, used worms, drop shot rigs, rattle traps, etc. The only thing that seemed to work was a carolina rigged Zoom plastic Lizard. Caught about 8-9 fish up on the dam on the way out the door. Felt good not to "0-fer".

Fish ON!

MLT

Busch Wildlife Area, St. Charles County, Lake 35, July 4th, 2008: Bass hitting on "spring like" lures

Hit Lake 35 about noon on July 4th. I decided that I was going to leave the live bait at home and just go for bass. Tried and threw quite a few different lures: Flukes on a spinning rod, Plastic worm, Hula Grub jigs, even tossed a wiggle wort around.
Here is what worked: A carolina rigged baitcast rod with a green zoom lizard. Caught the two fish you see and got more taps that I was able to miss. Here is what I have noticed about 2008: since the water is high, what worked in May last year is working now in July. I have even noticed this with panfish fishing.
Good news: Lake 35 is looking healthy for the first time in about 3 years. It still is a real mossy lake, but it looks nice and healthy.

Fish ON!

MLT