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New to northern Illinois crappie fishing, from central Illinois(Shelbyville Lake). I have heard lake shabbona is a place to start. As of right now bank fishing is the only option so any recommendations on where to start at on the lake? Or any other crappie lake recommendations in northern Illinois wouldbe helpful
Thanks for any ideas
Shabbona is to far north for me so I do not play there.......there are some boys on here that I would think point you in the right direction for Shelbyville. 2.5 hrs away so I do not venture that far southeast either
THanks plateboater.
I am quite familiar with Shelbyville but nothing north of Bloomington IL, if you have any information that would be great
They have a map at Shabonna of all the sunken trees an such. Im pretty sure they rent boats too. I have only fished there on hard water.
Thanks Wilbur, I will have to look into the map at Shabonna. Do you have any other recommendations for crappie lakes up here in the north?
No I dont I been driving 2hrs south to play with Plateboater.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wawhite
Have a friend who has just moved back from Wisconsin who would love to hear about Shabona
Where exactly do you live?
About 10 mi outside aurora il
You are close to Shabonna
Having lived about 20 miles south of you all of my life I have discovered that any good fishing lake is either 3 hrs south or 3 hours north. Supposedly Heidecke lake has crappie I have never fished it for crappie but they allow bank fishing also. It is an old cooling lake that no longer has power plant on it so it has no structure rip rap around the entire lake. Plenty of creeks and rivers but not areas containing much crappie.
I spoke with a young man last winter who needed help on Shabonna. He mentioned it gets heavy pressure. I mentioned the rillinois River. He has been very successful and he said no one is crappie fishing on the Illinois. Rivers have plenty of fish in them, so give them a try.
Thanks for all the information guys. I'll have to poke around on the river and give that a shot.
Chicago Fishing Reports | Chicago Fishing Forums
Crappie Professor Jim Kopjo- member of this site and Chi-Town. He guides on Shabbona and Evergreen.
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Didn't realize that they were that close
I will be staying there this Thursday-Sunday. I will give you an update Sunday night.
There's also a website for Shab that has a fishtails section. I used to visit it a lot. It's not as active as it once was, but I'm sure you could find some useful info there. It is run by Denny Sands, who owns/operates the baitshop there.
Shabbona isn't going to give you the size of other lakes. If you want a whole bunch of 8"-9" fish, I recommend it. April and May vertical jigging have been very productive for me in the past. Won't be fishing it any longer as my time in Illinois ends Saturday morning...
You going to camp Guber?
I start my job that week, so no I'm not coming back up. It's over 6 hours and I am driving my old Escape down and leaving the Acadia with Pam. I'm praying that thing makes it down to Arkansas!
Jeff, what part of Ar you going to Jeff ?
Pesce, I'll be living near Batesville.
Very nice Jeff, some good fishing in Ar and nice people, hope you and Pam enjoy it, i know we do and when you get time take a ride down to Hot Springs, about three hours away from you.