shocking news

[rich mc]

brian and larry from the slsc assisted the dnr with its annual fall shocking yesterday[24] this is done to look for all year classes of fish . lots of carp. lm bass with many 4-6lbs areas checked where the sw bay and dam face and handicap pier to south of pokanokas. smallies to 15inch, lots of small crappie. very few shad. thunder and lightning made them stop early. fish were IN the weeds, not much along the dam except big carp[removed ] . lots of cats 20 -26 inches in the weeds also. earthen pier 4by lakeside produced the best

[dave_goodlaxson]

"smallies to 15inch..." Rich, I have caught smallies over 15 inches along the rocks. Of course, I know you can't get all of the fish, but they are there.

[NxtRecordholder]

Hey Rich,

Any muskies get shocked, or was the voltage too low?

I wish I would have known where they were shocking before I went and wasted time fishing the areas they were in a few hours earlier. Oh well, the shocking has to be done just as a matter of management - I just hate to be the next one through the area.

Also, I found it strangely ironic that the electro-shocking boat had to get off the water because of lightning. :)

[jjkessler]

Are there any natural enemies to the Shabbona Carp?

[rich mc]

there was one small musky about 12 inches , and one walleye same size. muskies are normally to quick. the boat were very close to shore and didnt go north of the handicap. they just hit the spots memtioned. i was hoping they would have hit the roadbed rocks. only enemies of the carp are the spring bowhunters in the upper creek and our biologist and most of the slsc anglers

[Shabby]

:confused: Hey Rich, what’s up with the water level? The lake looks to be at least a foot low, and I believe that there isn't anything going over the spillway. Are they drawing the lake down again to work on the spillway or is just low because of no rain?

[rich mc]

as far as i know its just a major lack of rain. it would have been a great summer for the dnr to do work on the lower creek. it was so easy to fish along the dam face and walk on the water side of the weeds.

[Shabby]

Originally posted by rich m
it was so easy to fish along the dam face and walk on the water side of the weeds.

I see, said the blind man. THAT'S how JJK was going to fish the inside of the weed edge on the East shore. D'oh!:rolleyes:

[jjkessler]

What is the best way to fish deep into the East bay with the amount of weeds in that area? I cannot get my trolling motor too deep into that area without mulching the weeds and stopping dead in my tracks.

[NxtRecordholder]

I've taken my kayak into the East bay slop on many occasion. Not a whole lot to write home about back there. Extremely shallow water, and incredibly thick vegetation. It probably looks a lot more appetising for most of you because you can't fish there in a conventional boat. I've heard some fish slapping around at the surface back there (nothing big), but have yet to get anything out of there.

I've had MUCH better luck bass fishing the looser weeds (still a lot of weeds, but more pocket than weed matt on the surface)a little farther out. My rule of thumb is that if it's too thick for a trolling motor, it's probably too thick to be productive hunting grounds for a fatty like a 5 pound bass. They need a little more room to roam than that thick matt of weeds will allow. If I ever did hook up with a large bass in that stuff, it would be virtually impossible to pull out.

Just the initial impressions from someone who has been able to fish back there!

[jjkessler]

NxtRecordholder, thanks for your guidance in actually reaching that area. I wonder exactly where the shocking took place at in the East Bay?

[rich mc]

there was no shocking in the east bay. shoreline from the handicap , around earten pier 4[ by lakeside ] down to the dam and spillway only . my best route to fish the back areas is to have a push pole, and lift up the motors. my push pole is a 10 ft old cane stick.