Cubs, Bulls and Bears, but How 'Bout Bass?

A lot of people live in the Chicago Metro area. A lot of them must be fishermen- the law of large numbers pretty much assures that. Yes, I saw Mike Iaconelli catching big brown trout around the docks not far from Soldier Field on his TV show. But I also know that when the Bassmaster Classic was held in Chicago on Lake Michigan in 2000, Woo Daves’ winning weight for three days was 27-13. That’s less than 10 lbs./day and less than 50% of this year’s winning weight. Ike himself had only 20 lbs. over that period but it was still good for 10th place. Let’s face it, when you think about bass fishing, you don’t normally think of Northern Illinois.  If you ask residents who fish, most of them would say they go to Wisconsin or Michigan.

Searching Bassmaster Magazine’s Top 25 Central bass lakes, I was surprised to find an Illinois lake, Newton Lake, ranked 22nd. Newton is in Bogota. If that sounds far, it’s because it is- a lot closer to St. Louis than Chicago. Surprisingly, this 1,750-acre lake in southern Illinois is going up in the bass fishery rankings and had a heavy largemouth bass of 8.3 lbs. in a recent tournament, with four other bass between 7.0 and 7.5 rounding out the top five derby catches. Gizzard shad are the primary forage. As good as those weights sound, it’s a four-hour drive from O’Hare and now that Bassmaster has added it to their list, the idea of a quiet summer Saturday of fishing Newton is probably a distant memory.

But fear not Northern Illinois bass anglers, all is not lost! I was a fishing guide there for many years until I had to relocate to Louisiana, and I am here to tell you there are plenty of opportunities for the bass fisherman in Northern Illinois. The reality is every one of the waterways in this area contains bass, so let me highlight two that are worthy of your time and effort- Shabbona Lake and Heidecke Lake.

Shabbona Lake:

Approximately 60 miles outside of Chicago, near the town of Shabbona, the suburban landscape gives way to the rolling prairie of Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area. The 319- acre Shabbona Lake is a man-made lake that boasts some of the best bass fishing in Illinois. Boat and shore fishing are available. While the lake is no-wake, it does allow motors of all sizes- except for an 18-acre upper lake area that is restricted to electric only. There is a double-lane launch in the day use area and a single lane in the campground. Shabbona Lake has produced 6 State record fish including 4 Muskies and 2 Hybrid Crappies. The lake is stocked with large and smallmouth bass, black and white crappie, channel catfish, walleye, muskie and perch.

The best spot in this body of water is along the dam’s face. This rip-rap shoreline covers one-half mile and is loaded with bass. I recommend throwing a wacky -rigged Senko or Missile Baits The 48 in the morning. Concentrate your efforts on the area where you can no longer see the bottom. Allow the bait to sink on its own. Keep your line just about tight as it is sinking. By this, I mean follow it down with minimum bow in your line, allowing it to sink naturally. If you feel a bite or observe your line shooting off to the left, right or toward you, set the hook immediately. This technique works best during the low-light periods of the day.

The riprap continues down into the lake. The bottom slopes down at a 45-degree angle. Run your boat over this area and look for fish on your electronics. Once you have found an area where there are concentrations of fish, target them in that area. This is a good area to use dropshots. Any soft plastic baitfish imitator designed for this application (shorter than 5 inches and free of appendages) will work. When it comes to drop-shotting, the simpler the better. You’ll want to hook the bait through the nose and bounce it around off the bottom. Adjust the amount of jigging action and speed of retrieve until you get bit. In summer, the bass will “slide down” the incline of the dam face as the sun climbs higher in the sky so you will need to adjust and fish deeper.

Heidecke Lake:

Approximately 45 miles SW of the western suburbs of Chicago lies the town of Morris, home of the Heidecke Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area. The 1,955-acre lake is formerly a cooling reservoir with 75% of the shoreline comprised of riprap dikes. There are no horsepower limitations but there is a maximum speed is 40 mph, and there are designated "no wake" areas. There are some interesting “rules” governing fishing in Heidecke. A gasoline engine is required as main propulsion and boats under 14' are not recommended. There is a recently refurbished three-lane concrete boat ramp with fully blacktopped 100+ car/trailer parking. Since windy conditions can produce treacherous waves, the lake is closed when wind speeds are projected to be 25 mph or greater as reported by NOAA for Morris, IL. Thes is shore angler access located on the east side of the lake off Dresden Road with portions of the center and east dike open to bank fishing.

Bass spawning habitat has been installed at various locations and other habitat enhancement projects are planned. Heidecke Lake receives annual stockings of walleye and hybrid striped bass. Pure muskellunge are stocked every third year, while black crappie and largemouth bass are released based upon availability. Heidecke Lake is supported by a thriving Gizzard Shad forage base as well as various other minnow species. Round Gobies have been recently discovered as well. There are also zebra mussels present in the lake. Fish is allowed from 6:00 AM to sunset starting April 1 and is closed to fishing 10 days before the opening of the Northern Zone Duck Season.  Size regulations include a Largemouth/Smallmouth 12” to 18” protected slot with 2 fish under 12”, 1 fish over 18” as the daily creel Check the regulations for other species limits.

As stated, this is also a riprap-centric lake, so I recommend targeting the windy shorelines with smaller jerk baits or smaller crankbaits. I like to cast the shorelines with size 5 Rapala Shad Raps. My good friend and dedicated Northern Illinois bass angler, Ken O’Malley, recommends looking “for larger chunk rocks that extend out from the rip-rap using a Neko rig or a drop shot to target bass on the offshore structure”. The multi-species aspect to Heidecke is what makes it so exciting- you never know what you’re going to catch. I’ve caught big walleyes, stripers, even muskies while casting cranks at the windy shorelines.

There are also some kayak and Canoe friendly rivers, especially if you are a smallmouth bass fan- the Des Plaines, Illinois, Kankakee, Fox and Kishwaukee Rivers are recommended. Whatever your choice, Northern Illinois waters are a great place to Live The Passion!

Jay Angel is the host of a weekly podcast- Let's Talk Fishing- interviewing the industry's biggest stars and brightest innovators. Jay loves to focus on southern inshore fishing as well as the freshwater scene. You can find the LIVE weekly podcasts and previous episodes on the Lets Talk Fishing Facebook page. Jay is an outdoor writer and lifelong angler with professional guiding experience. He has been writing, blogging and spreading the word about his passion since 1997 in many of your favorite fishing periodicals. Jay is an Illinois native who now makes his home in the Sportsman's Paradise of Louisiana.