Where to take my kids?

Hi all. ..just found this site a few days ago and its great. My young kids are losing ambition to fish with me so I thought a crappie trip with lots of action may change their attitude. Im not much of a crappie fisherman and dont know where to go. I live in northern Il, and am thinking of either Shelbyville or Rend next weekend. Ive bass fished Shelbyville years ago on the southern end of the lake. Rend is 5 hours from my house and Ive never been there. What do you think is my best option?

Are you hiring a guide? Either lake has great potential. A lake guide will put you on fish all day and fire up their fishing furnace inside.

Welcome to the board. I'm not sure how old your kids are, but the Crappie are probably in the buck brush on Rend. This won't be very easy fishing for young kids. That said it can be very good action. I don't fish shelbyville so I can't speak to it.

Here is a link to a video for buck brush fishing on Rend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prgdg0M__5c

Getting a guide would certainly put you on the fish and the kids would be able to catch a bunch of fish on either lake.

Theyre 6 & 8. Most of our time is spent trolling on L Michigan and theyre bored with it. Getting a guide sounds like a great idea. Ill have to call around...might be tough to find one during prime time.

If you are going to Rend or Shelbyville I would hire a guide. Both lakes are great fishing but there is a learning curve for both, especially if you want constant action. If you want to go on your own I'd recommend Lake Sara in Effingham. You'll catch plenty of fish but will have to weed thru some small ones. Anthony Acres is a nice place to stay right on the lake.

Don't know want type of quality you are looking for. but for pure fishing fun for Kids you can not beat Dawson lake right now. small lake east of Bloomington. days of 200 plus crappie are not uncommon. most fish being in the 8-9 range.

crappie just starting to come shallow at shabbona lake , just south of dekalb plenty of shore fishing available for kids check out shabbonalake.com rich mc

I second Dawson Lake. While its small, the Crappie are abundant. If your after action, Dawson is the place to go. We are trying to thin the heard to get the quality back up. Great campground too.

Thanks for all the help guys. Ill have to give Dawson and Shabbona a shot at a later date. I booked a guide for next sunday at Shelbyville. Ill report back when we get home. Praying for good weather.

Dawson Lake seems small...is there a hp restriction on it?

No HP restriction on Dawson, however there is a speed limit restriction for motors larger than 10hp. It's either no-wake or 5mph or less. I don't remember which at the moment. If you have a 10hp, there is no speed limit.