Fishermen:

Tonight I caught one of my biggest bass ever while on a trip with my family to Hennepin Hopper Lake.

http://www.casualangler.com/HennepinHopperBass.jpg

I was wacky rigging a shoreline and got a bite. I really didn't think much of the way the fish bit, so I set the hook and the huge bass took out line immediately. Beth then got the net and about 3 minutes later I landed this monster. It took me a few minutes to stop my hands from shaking!

Hennepin Hopper Lakes are open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays only and there are more bass like this one in this lake. I caught a 23 incher last year!

If you would like to fish this lake I offer a trip here as part of a mini vacation package or I can guide it separately.

Thank you
Jay

Fellow Anglers:

These bass were caught on Shabbona Lake tonight despite storms rolling through and persistent rain. I was thrilled to see Bob catch a nice sized smallie. This bite is going to continue for the next 6 weeks or so. Lets hope that the smallies continue to grow.

We caught at least a dozen more smaller bass in the 2 hours that we targeted this area.

I am free on Saturday morning, next Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Lets go fishing!

Jay

I have great news. I saw big female bass on their beds yesterday. This is great news. For the next 2 weeks bass in different parts of the lake will be in pre-spawn-spawn and post spawn phases. Anyway that you look at it the bass fishing is going to be great!

Last night we caught some very nice crappies, some of them measured 10+ inches long. Crappies will be spawning for the next week or so.

I am available this Saturday morning and a few nights next week.

I fished with Russ Gorecki and his son Russ out on Heidecke last Sat morning. Big Russ caught a nice sized striper right away casting a crank over by the boat ramp. That fish fought him all the way back to the boat.

Then little Russ caught a walleye on the east side of the south pool dragging a spinner rig baited with a crawler.

I was trolling the north side of the south pool about mid day when a huge fish bit on a crank. I thought it must be a state record striper or a musky. It turned out to be a humongous carp.

Little Russ was thrilled to reel in this monster.

Shabbona Lake:

The crappies have invaded the shallows big time. Today the shores of the south side of the no motor zone were lined with anglers who were all catching fish.

We caught most of the crappies around the standing timber in 3 feet of water or less using Mini Mites. The crappies will stay in the no motor zone for a couple of weeks then move out. You will find them spawning in the shallow area of standing timber south of the East Bay next and then the last place they will spawn is on the rocks of the dam face.

Muskie fishing continues to be excellent. Most of the muskies I have taken bit on Rattle Traps or Rattlin Rouges. Look for them in the shallow waters at the backs of bays.

Bass fishing is improving. Smaller males have moved back into the shallow water and the females will not be far behind. Most of them have been caught using either Rattle Traps or Rattlin Rouges.

Crappies, Crappies and more Crappies:

On Saturday, May 3, I went to Shabbona Lake in search of crappies and bass. I knew that it was going to be tough, but I didn't think it would be this tough. We went out in 30 MPH winds. I have fished in some tough conditions before, but these winds were ridiculous. We casted the dam face for bass with no luck. Then we tried the entire west shore with nothing.

Then it was time to go to the campground shoreline and target the fish cribs to see if the crappies were home. They were. We found them on the brushpiles between the fish cribs. One interesting thing that happened was that I was fishing 4 feet down with Mini Mites and getting a fish every 15 minutes or so. Then I decided to put the Mini Mites 6 feet down and we began catching more fish. We caught 20 or so in the next hour. It was such a small adjustment and it made all of the difference in the world.

Jim "Crappie Professor" Kopjo was fishing about 30 yards from us. He also was catching crappies one after another. That doesn't surprise me a bit because Kopjo is the best when it comes to crappie fishing.

Last weekend was tough to say the least. At 4:30 am on Saturday I was awaken to my alarm. I went downstairs to check my email and the weather. The forecast called for 20 - 25 mph winds with gusts up to 35 mph. I went outside to a blast of wind that sent me right back to bed. I had planned on hitting Heidecke that day, but decided to stay home.

Sunday found me out on Evergreen Lake. We launched 1/2 hour before dawn and had the side of the lake near the dam to ourselves for most of the day.

It was quite peaceful, but that was all that it was. We bottom bounced, trolled cranks, jigged minnows and crawlers for saugeyes with only one fish in the boat and one lost fish for 4 hours of fishing.

Then we decided to fish for crappies. We fished them shalllow, deep, and then hit even deeper water with no sucess. We even bought some minnows and still couldn't find the fish. My Father's words kept coming back to me, "That's why they call it fishing!" I always hated that saying. I think that fishing is about the catching.

I am really hoping that things turn around soon, but with the snow that we got today I am not very optimistic.

Shabbona Lake

I hit the water last Saturday around 8 am. Water temps were hovering in the mid 50's. Almost immediately my customer, Mike Lohmeyer, hooked into a huge muskie that broke his 8 pound test. Lohmeyer was throwing a 1/2 ounce rattle trap on the north side of the northeast bay in 4 feet of water. We beat the waters of the northeast bay, the spillway bay, the southwest bay and the dam face for the next several hours with no success. Then we went back to the northeast bay and caught one 24 inch long muskie throwing a shad rap.

Tired of casting we decided to do some crappie fishing.We targeted the deeper standing timber of the no-motor zone using mini mites 5 feet down over 10 feet of water. We caught lots of them in a very short period of time.

We left the water around 2 pm . My friend Ron Pantilla caught some small muskies and a couple of really nice bass that evening in the northeast bay throwing rattle traps.

Catfish are being caught in the shallow water of the bays using nightcrawlers.

A few notes about part 2 of the Walleye opener

There were a few noteworthy catches during part one of the walleye opener. A 20 inch + bass and some nice crappies. Remember that part two of the walleye opener is this weekend.

With a warming trend forecasted for this week the water will also begin to warm which will in turn cause the fish to begin to move.

Here are some tips to help you with the walleye opener.

Look for bass up in the shallows. The northeast bay, the east bay, the spillway bay, lakeside bay and the bay by Somonauk Point will be key areas to target. Begin by using shallow running crankbaits such as the Manns Baby one minus, a rattle trap or a shad rap.

Walleyes should be moving out of the depths and feeding aggressively. They spawn in water temps in the high 40's which should be this week! I am going to key in on the deeper flats and drop offs with Lindy rigs and crawlers. I am going to have out as many rods as I am allowed by law to have and am going to be moving as slowly as it is possible to move.

4/12

I went out on LaSalle today with 2 customers. It really wasn't that bad when we launched at 6:30 am.

The waves were only about 1.5 feet tall in pool 1. Water temps were in the low 50's and we didn't even get a bite.

We went to pool 3 and fished the south shore in waves that were building to 2 to 3 footers. It took us about 1/2 hour just to get there. My customers were throwing Berkley Gulp Alive 2 inch long Minnow Grubs. They caught several bass and a few cats. No real big fish, but the action was steady.

We lasted some where in the neighborhood of 3 hours out there while the waves grew from 3 to 4 footers.

None of us felt safe with waves that were that large so we motored slowly across the lake and had the boat back on the trailer at 11:00 am.

It was a tough day to say the least.