Fishing in the Ozarks (MO/AR/OK/IL/KS) all 12 months! even winter! what is working, what is not working, new ideas and photo's of great fishing experiences. Kayak Angling is spoken here with a heavy emphasis on Kayak Fishing and paddling!
Showing posts with label kayaking Illinois. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kayaking Illinois. Show all posts
I had an awesome time kayak fishing Pyramid SP in Southern Illinois on May 12th. This area is an old strip mine that was converted in the early 60's for recreational use. There is an older section and a newer section. I went ahead and fished the newer section, choosing the larger Boulder Lake as the place I would fish for the day.
The water is gin clear and varies in depth within a matter of feet. Like its name would imply, there are quite a few boulders and rock piles, which is AWESOME!
It took me a few hours to figure out what they were biting on. I eventually caught a huge bass on a texas rigged Senko worm, but lost it about 5' from the yak. I started to throw what has become my "go to", the Wiggle Wart (never thought a crank bait would be my go to LOL). SMACK! thought it was a bass a first, but ended up being a nice sized channel catfish. Took me about 1/2 hour to the get the lure untangled from the net! After that caught several smaller bass and bluegill on the Wiggle Wart.
Looking forward to coming back to this place soon!
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.
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.
