anyone have any good tips on gettin monsters in Illinois, I live in peoria only real cool thing so far is one bowfin pulled out of a river run off by duck island, and some alligator gar same round about place, basically Im lookin for tips on nabbin bowfin and Im assuming there has to be snakehead around here -somewhere!!! I think Im jonesin hard to go fishin man damn spring needs to get hear. and any mfkers round here wanna go for some monsters, oh damn I nearly forgot and I know this is probly old new but drop a line near the duckblinds in springlake if you can get em out b4 there tangled monster catfish!
Illinois monster fishing??
- Thread starter blue_pill85
- Start date
the only thing better would be living in hawaii 
but yea a natives tank is in the works, though Id prefer an exotic intruder tank (channa micropeltes)
anywho its in the works locally theres a pond I know from a buddy has some in it.... just found that out few days ago when he brought me a pic to i.d. took some searchin.... but its the land time forgot I swear only things Ive seen out there are gar and bowfin and that one channa better get my arse out there early before the dnr is on it like stink on well ya know
but yea a natives tank is in the works, though Id prefer an exotic intruder tank (channa micropeltes) anywho its in the works locally theres a pond I know from a buddy has some in it.... just found that out few days ago when he brought me a pic to i.d. took some searchin.... but its the land time forgot I swear only things Ive seen out there are gar and bowfin and that one channa better get my arse out there early before the dnr is on it like stink on well ya knowNever fished Illinois, but I have fished Indiana for skemenia they get some great summer runs. I'm sure there are some spring creeks off of lake michigan that get a run, go to your local fly shop I'm sure they could point you in the right direction.
Good luck
Good luck
Illinois is a fishing hot spot!!!
Striper run in the 50lbs class at Hiedicke lake near Joliet .
In the fall around Halloween the Rainbows hit the lake front at Chicago and again are all 35lbs plus!!! Bring lots of line for those big runs!!!
Lake Shabbonna has the best stocked Muskie lake in the Midwest!!! Huge fish!!
The Mississippi River has tons of Blue Catfish weighing in over 150lbs!~!
Waukegan has a power plant on the Lake Michigan with a warm water discharge that has huge 30lbs Steelhead!!!
You need to get a script to Illinois Fish and Game Magazine for more hotspots!
Illinois has a little of everything, big and small.
Striper run in the 50lbs class at Hiedicke lake near Joliet .
In the fall around Halloween the Rainbows hit the lake front at Chicago and again are all 35lbs plus!!! Bring lots of line for those big runs!!!
Lake Shabbonna has the best stocked Muskie lake in the Midwest!!! Huge fish!!
The Mississippi River has tons of Blue Catfish weighing in over 150lbs!~!
Waukegan has a power plant on the Lake Michigan with a warm water discharge that has huge 30lbs Steelhead!!!
You need to get a script to Illinois Fish and Game Magazine for more hotspots!
Illinois has a little of everything, big and small.
I do a lot of collecting with minnow seines in Illinois. Another member here, Teleost, and I go out together a lot. We have caught northern pike and flathead catfish in the nets. He has caught numerous baby bowfin (last year). We catch TONS of gar, especially shortnose. Illinois has lots of fish. We tend to focus on the smaller species: pickerel, sunfish, darters, minnows, etc.
I tend to fish rivers and lakes the most. I use open face spinning tackle on ultra-lights with 6lbs fireline.
This was not necessary.
I forgot to tell everyone about my favorite secret fishing paradise.
400 yards north of the Old Expo center just east of Soldiers Field is 6 sets of submerged rock reefs that go down to 30+ feet. These are breakers to stop the waves from crashing into the lake front foundations at full force. The water here is crystal clear and you can see bottom. There are tons of smallmouth bass in the 4-7lbs range and many 30" walleye and Sauger. This area is awesome in the spring before June. If you got a boat launch near here and you will be amazed! Overcast days hit the hardest.
This is downtown Chicago just north of I-55 at the lake front(Lake Shore Drive)
You know the moron comment has me feeling I need to explain further.
I grew up fishing in Northern IL. now I fish mainly southern IL. because I moved near St. Louis, MO. on the IL. side. After 28 years of fishing up north some places became apparent that they were top notch get em big sites to fish.
Hiedecke lake is off of I-55 in Marseilles CO. and is the cooling lake for that power plant. It is stocked with Channel cats, walleye, LM bass, Northerns, tiger muskie, and Hybrid Stripers( the big ones). These fish are trolled in 17' of water with either umbrella rigs or multiple lines on cannon balls and they are big! Check the state records for catches from this lake!
Every fall King Salmon, lake trout, big rainbows, all come into the harbours for the kings to spawn. Snagging is legal during this time. There are numerous big monster fish that can be hooked in the harbours. I fish at montrose or Belmont right from the concrete sidewalks. This is very good fishing!
Lake shabbonna has a muskie club that operates from this lake and works with the IDNR and has established a huge muskie fishery here. I have caught many Tigers here with big tackle. Boat rental is available. If you never fished for muskie and want to then this is a great place to go.
I fish the Mississippi at Lock and Dam 24 and at a spillway just south of I270.
Both of these spillways are great places to catch all kinds of fish from shore. I usually wade out to hip deep and cast upstream with a float and 30" of leader to avoid snags and then just let the float work back down stream until it is well past me. I can not tell you how many fish I have caught here. Too many!
The power plant at waukegan is another fish from shore site that offers huge salmon in the warm water discharges. the water rushes thru there pretty good and the best time to fish there is when the big lake is below 60F.
Right behind the Shedd Aquarium is a great place to fish for rock bass, yellow perch, and others. Again, the water is crystal clear thanks to zebra mussels so sight fishing is possible. It is alot of fun.
Busse woods off of H72 has a tail water from the reservoir that feeds the Salt Creek. This is a bass bonanza! Go further down the creek on the bike trails and you will hit Butterfield Rd. This is where 7 ponds form thanks to the Mc Donalds Corp. These ponds are on their property and the creek flows thru them so access is not available. What is important to understand is that Mc Donalds stocks these ponds with Tiger Muskie each year. These fish roam down stream and are fair game back on the bike trail!!! There is a spillway further down by 31st ST. near the Brookfield zoo. Here there is some great fishing also! Keep going south and you hit Joliet Avenue in Lyons, IL. Here there is a 22 ft spillway waterfall that offers incredible fishing in the straight away for the next 800 feet to the next spillway which is only 3ft. There is a ton of big fish and even more snags here. Keep going another 1,000 ft to the bend at the Riverside police station and swinging bridge(suspended pedestrian cable bridge) and there is another good spot that holds fish. Keep going further and you reach the mouth of the Des Plaines river where the 2 meet! Again, another great spot!
The reefs behind the old McCormick Place Expo center are awesome too! If you got a boat head out there!
The Fox Chain of Lakes on the Fox river is also a great place to rent a boat for the day and do some good fishing for walleye, northern, SM Bass, and yellow perch!
As usual make sure you have your IL. fishing license because they will check!
HTH, Rich
I grew up fishing in Northern IL. now I fish mainly southern IL. because I moved near St. Louis, MO. on the IL. side. After 28 years of fishing up north some places became apparent that they were top notch get em big sites to fish.
Hiedecke lake is off of I-55 in Marseilles CO. and is the cooling lake for that power plant. It is stocked with Channel cats, walleye, LM bass, Northerns, tiger muskie, and Hybrid Stripers( the big ones). These fish are trolled in 17' of water with either umbrella rigs or multiple lines on cannon balls and they are big! Check the state records for catches from this lake!
Every fall King Salmon, lake trout, big rainbows, all come into the harbours for the kings to spawn. Snagging is legal during this time. There are numerous big monster fish that can be hooked in the harbours. I fish at montrose or Belmont right from the concrete sidewalks. This is very good fishing!
Lake shabbonna has a muskie club that operates from this lake and works with the IDNR and has established a huge muskie fishery here. I have caught many Tigers here with big tackle. Boat rental is available. If you never fished for muskie and want to then this is a great place to go.
I fish the Mississippi at Lock and Dam 24 and at a spillway just south of I270.
Both of these spillways are great places to catch all kinds of fish from shore. I usually wade out to hip deep and cast upstream with a float and 30" of leader to avoid snags and then just let the float work back down stream until it is well past me. I can not tell you how many fish I have caught here. Too many!
The power plant at waukegan is another fish from shore site that offers huge salmon in the warm water discharges. the water rushes thru there pretty good and the best time to fish there is when the big lake is below 60F.
Right behind the Shedd Aquarium is a great place to fish for rock bass, yellow perch, and others. Again, the water is crystal clear thanks to zebra mussels so sight fishing is possible. It is alot of fun.
Busse woods off of H72 has a tail water from the reservoir that feeds the Salt Creek. This is a bass bonanza! Go further down the creek on the bike trails and you will hit Butterfield Rd. This is where 7 ponds form thanks to the Mc Donalds Corp. These ponds are on their property and the creek flows thru them so access is not available. What is important to understand is that Mc Donalds stocks these ponds with Tiger Muskie each year. These fish roam down stream and are fair game back on the bike trail!!! There is a spillway further down by 31st ST. near the Brookfield zoo. Here there is some great fishing also! Keep going south and you hit Joliet Avenue in Lyons, IL. Here there is a 22 ft spillway waterfall that offers incredible fishing in the straight away for the next 800 feet to the next spillway which is only 3ft. There is a ton of big fish and even more snags here. Keep going another 1,000 ft to the bend at the Riverside police station and swinging bridge(suspended pedestrian cable bridge) and there is another good spot that holds fish. Keep going further and you reach the mouth of the Des Plaines river where the 2 meet! Again, another great spot!
The reefs behind the old McCormick Place Expo center are awesome too! If you got a boat head out there!
The Fox Chain of Lakes on the Fox river is also a great place to rent a boat for the day and do some good fishing for walleye, northern, SM Bass, and yellow perch!
As usual make sure you have your IL. fishing license because they will check!
HTH, Rich