8 / OutdoorIllinois July 2011
improvement projects. For smaller
streams, I have to nominate the Kish-waukee
River (2). We sampled this
stream last year and saw an incredible
number of smallmouth bass in the 2-3
lb. range. Also, my personal favorite is
Hanover Lake (3) in JoDaviess Coun-ty.
This 16-acre lake is a significant walk
and bank fishing only. It’s scenic, quiet
and offers large numbers of decent bass
for catch and release.”
Rob Hilsabeck: “My vote is for
Thompson/Flag Lake (4) at the
Emiquon Preserve in Fulton County.
Since the restoration of the fish popula-tion
in 2007, largemouth bass have
been the dominant species. In 2010,
the average 3+ year-old bass was 14
inches long and weighed 1.43 lbs. But
anglers also have a chance to catch
some of the 667 brood bass that now
average 5-8 lbs.”
REGION TWO
Rob Miller: “The largemouth bass fish-ery
at Braidwood Lake (5) is starting
to come back from some really down
years. The impacts of stocking, restrict-ed
harvest and moderate summers con-tributed
to the improvement. Braid-wood
is a cooling lake, so opportunities
are better during the cooler months.
Heidecke Lake (6) always has had a
decent smallmouth fishery. Last survey
(Fall, 2010) indicated that fish larger
than 18 inches were not common but
80 percent of what we collected fell
within the protected slot (12-18 inch-es).
This should provide decent action,
albeit catch and release of smaller fish.”
Steve Pescitelli: “I agree with Gary
Lutterbie about the Kankakee River
(7), although I would also include the
middle and lower sections of the Fox
River (8), which, in some areas, is as
good, if not slightly better
than the Kankakee.”
Frank Jacubicek: “For public-access
lakes, the entire
Fox Chain (9) system in
Lake and McHenry coun-ties
provides a range of
great options for large-mouth
bass, with a
variety of habitats on
these 7,000-acres of
impounded lakes.
Anglers catch largemouth
up to 4-6 lbs. Also, the small-mouth
bass fishing on the
Lower Fox River (8) from
Algonquin to Montgomery is
pretty significant. Smallmouth up to
16 inches are not rare. In Cook County,
I vote for Busse Lake (10). Large-mouth
are fairly common in the 14-16
inch range and up to 18 inches. In
DuPage County, I vote for Mallard
Lake (11). It’s a nice shoreline fishing
lake with lots of access points. There’s
an occasional sleeper fish in the 20-21
inch range in some of those DuPage
County lakes. Bass up to 8 lbs. have
been caught.”
REGION THREE
Gary Lutterbie: “My pick for outstand-ing
bass fishing is the Kankakee River
(7) where smallmouth bass is king.
During the past 10 years, the average
number of smallmouth collected per
hour of electrofishing was 169 per
hour. Currently, 42 percent of the
smallmouth are more than 11 inches,
17 percent more than 14 inches and 3
percent more than 18 inches. The
entire length of the river provides good
fishing, though the area adjacent to
Kankakee River State Park (Kankakee
County) has some excellent areas.”
Mike Mounce: “My picks are Mill
Creek Lake (12) in Clark County, which
has a lot of bass, many large bass present
(a 10 lb. 4 oz. largemouth
was reported in March
2011), Lake Shelbyville
(13) in Shelby and
Moultrie counties,
which has a lot of bass
of all sizes (8 lbs. 5 oz.
lake record caught in
April 2009), and Paris
Twin Lakes (14) in
Edgar County, which
also has many large bass
with a good number of
fish present.”
Trent Thomas: “My
best river smallmouth
bass fishing is in the
Kaskaskia River (15)
downstream of Lake Shel-byville.
My electrofishing
catch rates have exceeded 80 small-mouth
bass per hour and our largest
fish have been more than 5 lbs.”
REGION FOUR
Dan Stephenson: “It’s hard to say
what the best bass lakes are. Not being
boastful, but we have many excellent
bass lakes in this part of Illinois. Lake
Jacksonville (16) (Morgon County),
Gillespie’s new reservoir (Macoupin
County), and Prairie Lake (17) at Jim
Edgar Panther Creek SFWA (Cass Coun-ty),
come to mind. Also, Lake Spring-field
(18) (Sangamon County), Cof-feen
Lake (19) (Montgomery County),
Sangchris Lake (20) (Christian Coun-ty),
Washington County Lake (21)
and Horseshoe Lake (22) (Madison
County)—you pick. Whatever you
decide will be great.”
Doug Carney: “The Bath Chute/
LaGrange Pool of the Illinois River
(23) gets my vote. Recent years have
been favorable for largemouth recruit-ment,
and the numbers in 2010 were
higher than we’ve seen in many years.
Largemouths 1 lb. and up are common.
This year, 44 percent of the bass should
be 2 lbs. or better.”
Jeff Potnack: “My votes: Gillespie’s
new city lake (24) (Macoupin County)
and Coffeen Lake (19) (Montgomery
County). Both are excellent for large-mouth.”
REGION FIVE
Chris Bickers: “I recommend Little
Grassy Lake (25) within Crab Orchard
National Wildlife Refuge in Williamson
County. Our spring 2010 survey pro-duced
131 bass per hour of electrofish-ing.
Of those, 63 percent were larger
than 12 inches, 35 percent were more
than 15 inches (the upper end of the
protective slot limit), and 14 percent
beat the 18-inch mark. Fish in the 3-5
lb. class are fairly common, and catch-ing
7-8 lb. bass isn’t out of the question.
Anglers must have a Crab Orchard
National Wildlife Refuge user pass to
access the lake, and info can be
obtained by contacting the refuge visi-tor
center (618) 997-3344.”
Shawn Hirst: “Largemouth fishing in
Cedar Lake (26) in Jackson County
should be excellent in 2011. During the
2010 sample, largemouth were collect-ed
at a rate of 208 fish per hour which
is the highest rate on record. The num-ber
of bass collected that were in the
14-18 inch protected slot was the high-est
on record. The number of bass
more than 18 inches (132) was the
highest on record. In 2010, 350 porcu-pine
fish attractors were added to
Cedar Lake in 30 locations. Maps of
these locations are available at City Hall
in Carbondale as well as the Lake Mur-physboro
State Park office and Top of
the Hill Bait Shop in Murphybsoro. At
this point Cedar Lake may the have best
bass population in all of Illinois.”
Kurt Daine: “My vote goes to Dolan
Lake (27) in Hamilton County. This
once-troubled reservoir near McLeans-boro
was drained and then restocked in
2005-06. An abundant, fast-growing bass
population has resulted, which now
includes a number of bass over the 18-
inch limit. We collected more than 240
bass per hour during a recent sampling.”
Mike Hooe: “Newton Lake (28) in
Jasper County has been managed as a
bass lake from the day it was opened to
fishing in 1975. During recent sampling,
73 percent of the bass were larger than
12 inches, 53 percent were more than
15 inches and 16 percent were more
than 18 inches. I think the one thing
that sets Newton apart from the other
lakes in southern Illinois is that these
numbers represent an average year. This
lake consistently produces large num-bers
of big bass including several 8-9
pounders each year. It has always had
18-inch length limit with a three-fish
daily creel limit, and these regulations
help maintain the size structure of the
population by limiting harvest. Also, the
lake has a tremendous population of giz-zard
shad, and with few other predator
fish in the lake, the bass have very little
competition for food. This abundant
food supply, along with the extended
growing season provided by the warm
water, allows the bass to grow quickly. I
think you would be hard-pressed to find
a lake that produces big bass more con-sistently
than Newton.”
Region 1
Region 2
Region 3
Region 4
Region 5
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July 2011 OutdoorIllinois / 9
Smallmouth bass stocked at
Kinkaid Lake near Murphysboro
are now reaching the legal keeper
size of 16 inches, making it one of
the up-and-coming bass fisheries.
Jim Cunningham and son Brendan
hooked this keeper last spring.
Doren and Loren DeBold hoist
an enviable day’s catch of healthy
largemouth bass from west-central
Illinois.
DNR fisheries biologist Trent
Thomas shows off a fat Kaskaskia
River smallmouth collected during
electrofishing sampling.
(Photo by Shawn Hirst.)
(Photo by Rob Hilsabeck.)
(Photo courtesy Trent Thomas.)
