09/21 Report

[basshunter]

So, I went out to the lake around 3:00pm, just bought a new fishfinder and musky setup and a bunch of lures, I think Gander Mountain likes it when I shop. First I ran the lake to get an idea of what the underwater structure looked like and where all the fish have been hiding. One thing that was interesting for yesterday anyway, was that most of the fish I marked were along the dam face in about 20-28 ft of water suspended between 17-23 ft of water. The rest of the lake looked pretty sparse. Man it was like an ocean out there, I tried to troll with a large shad rap along the dam face, it was so windy that my 36lb thrust motor could not keep me straight at times. I just had fun getting a better perspective underwater on structure and fish. I did mark 4-5 large fish along the dam face suspended between 5-17 ft. Musky? So I have a question for the veterans of this lake, why was the lake so windy yet elsewhere away from the lake it was not? Is it from the direction of the wind? I have never seen it like this.

[NxtRecordholder]

I'm no veteran by any means, but I think I can answer the wind question. As Shabbona is an artificial lake, where the valley of a creek is filled in and impounded, there are no valley walls to protect it - as there would be with most natural lakes. Combine that with an unobstructed plains wind, and you get an EXTREMELY windy lake. My rule of thumb is to take whatever the wind forecast for your area is, and add between 5 and 10 mph. It can be very frustrating, but this time of year a strong wind can also lead you to the most active muskies (on the windward side).

Those fish that you marked were probably walleye. Someone else correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they start to congregate along the dam face this time of year? And also, aren't they notoriously difficult to catch when they are on the dam??

[jjkessler]

Basshunter - What knd of Fish Finder did you end up purchasing?
I have yet to buy my first and am interested in hearing opinions on models that work well.

Must be some very nice suspended Walleye to make a large mark on your screen.

[basshunter]

I did a lot of researching, could not find many opinions on the net for fish finders. :(

I was originally going to go with the humminbird Matrix 35. But I went to Gander Mountain in Geneva for my first time this past weekend and looked at it first hand, I did not like the resolution, I looked at all of the finders they had and just fell head over heels for the Lowrance LCX-15 MT. It has a very nice display, I am very happy with it. Price was 699.00, but lowrance is supposed to be one of the best, and you definitely get what you pay for. The maxtrix 35 was on clearance for 249.00. One nice thing if you signed up for a gander mountain credit card, you get 10% off your first purchase + 1 year interest free right now. So I spent a grand and got a hundred bucks off..

Actually I spose I should have asked the viewers out there what you are all using? I would still like to know all of your experiences likes dislikes and what you own, just for others maybe in the market for one as finding reviews on them is next to impossible.

Also for the people with finders, I was trying to locate the bridge and the road bed, I could not find it, can someone tell me what it looks like on the screen? Thanks..

[NxtRecordholder]

I just have a Fishin' Buddy portable fish finder, which probably performs at about 1/5th the level of yours.

I'm including a picture I took of my fish finder when it was over the roadbed. There is certainly some unique structure there. Maybe your fishfinder will show something similar.

[TimK]

I'm going to have to get me a giggin' pole!!!

Did you see the size of that frog down there!!!

Lot more timber in that part of the lake than I thought too.

Yee Haw!!!:D

[Shabby]

That frog has to zig zag through all those big boats that have their big motors running before he can get to all that timber!:eek:


Way to go Nxt! Now I'm going to have to go check the kids machines to see if they have that on them. All I have on this one is the 3D version:(


Basshunter, are you not able to find the road bed at all, or are you just having trouble finding the bridge? If you sit on the Big Jim Memorial bench that overlooks the ramp you can see where it comes into the lake from the north. They keep it mowed during the summer, so it's not hard to see where it was on shore. The attached picture was taken from the bench back in March, but you can see where it is. The Golf Course is to the left of the road in the picture.

[Reggie]

NxtRecordholder
The last time I saw a sreen that looked like that, it was called pack-man.: As for the bridge, look halfway between the launch and where they put the new rockpile in this year, about a 100 yards off shore. At least thats what my fishing buddy shows, to look like the bridge with the creek on the west side of it.

[Shabby]

Kinda like this Reggie?

[basshunter]

OK, thanks for the pointers on the bridge, I thought it went through the cove by the campground. No wonder I could not find it. Thanks for the pic shabby, now I know where to look, are there any distinguishable traits on the finder that let you know it is the roadbed? Dips on either side of the road?

Hmm, now I know what I was marking that was big, it was that damn frog!

[basshunter]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have a pic of the lake before it was filled that they could post? I am very interested in seeing the structure of the lake before it was filled..

Many thanks if someone has one..

[TimK]

I don't know about pics to post, maybe Shabby does, but I know Lakeside tackle and Big Jims both have some great pics of the lake before the cork went in.

Next time you're at the lake stop in and I'm sure you'll enjoy them. Of course keep in mind that was, what, nearly 30 years ago? Good chance things may have changed a little.

Get that map from Denny, that thing is great.

[Reggie]

Yep Shabby thats almost exactly what it looks like, except Ive never seen a muskie there even with the alantis. But I have seen A lot of walleyes. on some drop/offs near-by.

[Kathy]

Shab/Reggie,
I'm confused about what I'm looking at in the pic that Shab posted (I'm a dumb girl, what do you expect?). From what I understand you're saying that the pic displays the BRIDGE. I'm clear on where the road comes in, and I assume that the big dark colored pile in the pic is a rock pile? Where's the bridge in the pic? Also since we're on the topic of our display screens and landmarks, etc. I find that I'm never sure what I'm looking at when I'm cruising around staring at my finder. In fact, I've considered paying one of you guys in the know to go out with me to show me how to properly use the darned thing. I've had it for several years and the thing came with nearly nothing in the way of details about any adjustments that might need to be made, how you'll know that adjustments need to be made,etc. All I concentrate on is keeping the transducer as parallel to the water as possible but other than that, I'm clueless and tend to question what I'm seeing. For example, Sunday I cruised all up and down the shoreline near the cabins looking for the cribs which I KNOW are there but couldn't see a thing. Are there any landmarks that can be used to locate how far out they are? Something that would be pretty cool (albeit time consuming for whoever does it) would be for some of you guys who know the lake inside and out to post up several landmarks that can be used by even people without electronics to find some of the classic structure. Just as was done with the pic of the road and the bench. Anyway, just a thought and thanks for any tips on locating about how far out to start looking for those cribs would be appreciated.

[basshunter]

Kathy, the cribs all along the bank of the campground are easiest to find, they are about 20-25 feet out from shore, your finder will show flat bottom, then it will show a hump-like structure as you drive parallel with the bank , that is the crib, there are several along the bank there, once you find one, just keep driving and you will hit the others..

Hope that helps

[Kathy]

Basshunter,
..yes, that will help a lot. The last person who advised me on where they are said more like 60-65 feet out and added that they are located about twice as far out as the average person is able to cast despite the fact that they were put there for the benefit of shore anglers. I'll try again next time....assuming I'll have more opportunities this year! Kind of a funny thing about locating structure: Sunday as I said was really crowded and I was cruising around looking for some rock humps when I saw these 2 boats REALLY close to each other just tossing their lines right over the side and vertical jigging right in the area that I was pretty sure was this one rock humps. So we motor over there KIND of close but not close enough (hopefully) to piss them off. It was kind of funny because it looked kind of like people sitting around a camp fire roasting marshmallows....all these boats in a tight little circle, etc. Funny. I guess the moral of the story: if you can't find structure...look for the boats - they'll all be sitting right on top of it.

[Reggie]

Kathy
Go back to the spot where you caught the small walleye last year and run along the shoreline going east, you will find the rest of them.

[rich mc]

if you want to find the two rock humps off somonauk point. look for the rocks going down the northeast corner of thge point. we put them there in a row, so just keep them lined up straight and move away from shore. the original rockfest hump is a little closer to shore and about 50 ft south of the new pile.

[Kathy]

...hey, you remember ! That's exactly the spot I was looking for and I couldn't seem to locate any of the cribs but it sure seems like it was more than 25 feet from shore although I'm terrible when it comes to judging weights and measures, etc. If I could have found 1 of them on my locator I would have gone in a straight line to find the others but I was so confused because I couldn't even find 1 at all ! Well, I know they are there so I'll take more time to find them next time. Thanks!

[Shabby]

Originally posted by Basshunter
are there any distinguishable traits on the finder that let you know it is the roadbed? Dips on either side of the road?

Basshunter,

I don’t believe there are any dips or ditches on the side of the road near the bridge. The road was built up off of the creek bottom quite a bit so it didn't really need ditches. If there were any, they are probably silted in by now. The closer you get to the bridge, the more the rise off of the bottom. NOTE: The only way you are going see the road bed and KNOW you are over it is to run across it going East to West, or the opposite. That is the only way you will see what was in the picture that I posted. If you run straight north up the road from the boat ramp all you are going to see is a flat line that gradually comes up until you get to the rock piles. If you hit the bridge while moving slow (east/west) the depth finder should show more of a vertical drop/rise than the road bed does, and the bottom depth should be greater because you will be reading the creek channel instead of the what was the land around it.

does anyone have a pic of the lake before it was filled that they could post? I am very interested in seeing the structure of the lake before it was filled

Sounds like Denny needs to do another “Shabbona Lake Fishing School”. He has some great slides of the lake bottom before it was flooded. If you want to learn the lake and be able to see in your minds' eye what you are fishing, there is nothing better than Denny’s class.

Originally posted by Kathy
Shab/Reggie,
I'm confused about what I'm looking at in the pic that Shab posted (I'm a dumb girl, what do you expect?). From what I understand you're saying that the pic displays the BRIDGE.

Kathy,

The picture doesn’t show the bridge, it’s more of a cut-away/cross-section of the lake a little north of the bridge. It’s roughly an area south of the rock piles, looking towards the north.


I'm clear on where the road comes in, and I assume that the big dark colored pile in the pic is a rock pile? Where's the bridge in the pic?

Yes, that is supposed to be a rock pile. ;-) The bridge is to the south of the area depicted in the picture.

Also since we're on the topic of our display screens and landmarks, etc. I find that I'm never sure what I'm looking at when I'm cruising around staring at my finder. In fact, I've considered paying one of you guys in the know to go out with me to show me how to properly use the darned thing. I've had it for several years and the thing came with nearly nothing in the way of details about any adjustments that might need to be made, how you'll know that adjustments need to be made,etc. All I concentrate on is keeping the transducer as parallel to the water as possible but other than that, I'm clueless and tend to question what I'm seeing.

The new depth finders are almost automatic, pretty much fool proof (I know!). I don’t know what you have, but I’ve fished with my brother a couple of times in the last week and used the Garman he has, and all I did was turn it on, turn on the back light when it got too dark to see it, and turn it off when we loaded the boat. The $100 Eagle that I have is the same way except that I did turn the fish ID feature off. I just need it to show me the bottom contour and the structure, I know the fish are there.

Something that would be pretty cool (albeit time consuming for whoever does it) would be for some of you guys who know the lake inside and out to post up several landmarks that can be used by even people without electronics to find some of the classic structure. Just as was done with the pic of the road and the bench. Anyway, just a thought and thanks for any tips on locating about how far out to start looking for those cribs would be appreciated.

I give you an M&M and now you want the whole bag? That would be a monumental task; I just don’t have the time or the patience to do it. Sorry. But I will try to answer questions about specific areas, when I can. Besides, if you have Denny’s map, you know He has spent the last 25/26/27(?) years doing all that work.

Good Fishing,
Shabby