[bobdyrcon]

Hey guys I was wondering if I could get some help from some of you. I am now a member of a club owned by Com Ed/Excelon. I put it on this forum due to you guys who fish Mazonia. It is just South of Heidecke on Dresden Rd. Anyhow......I have only fished there twice so far and I did OK but not as good as I thought I would after hearing how good it was from other guys. Many of them said they fish at night. I like enjoying the outdoors during the day myself. It is obviously very deep in sections as expected not to mention very clear. There are bass, walleye, crappie, gills, northern, cats and muskie in the lakes. Any suggestions or advice on catching fish in here. I fish mainly rivers and lakes with a lot of cover for bass. I guess I'm just looking for some help or maybe someone here has fished the lake. By the way it is called CECO Recreation Club.

[Esox Tracker]

The lakes are nice and like you mentioned very clear. I had the honor of fishing there once before and we did excellent. It was earlier in the season, possibly prespawn, can't really remember. We caught some very nice bass with tubes on the deeper breaking shorelines. Submerged wood held very many species. We could even see big cats cruising 25' below the surface. And the gills! Oh man the gills are amazing.
My go to color was chartruse/pumkin on the tubes rigged on 4lb test line.
If you're capable of trolling, I'd do so during the dog days with deep diving crankbaits for pike in the long 'alley'. They'll suspend over deep water in hot months.
I can't think of anymore but if I do, the info will be relayed ASAP.
Good luck.

John

[bobdyrcon]

ESOX,

Thank you for your response. There are (2) big lakes there...did you fish the main one by the beach/building?
I fished that lake and went all the way to the west and there is a beautiful bay there. Unbelievable scenery. I did forget to mention the gills' there. They are GIANT....They stocked hybrids in there along with redears. I did see a Muskie aroung 30" swimming under me. Caught decent bass trolling and a nice cat to boot! Again...Thank you!!

[Jay]

Good old CECO, yep I have fished there alot, although we used to go to the smaller lakes and boy did they produce some fish. We always did well throwing Cranks and Tubes. Its been a few years since I fished it, but if I remember correctly the biggest Bass I took from there was over 7 pounds, and my buddys Father had a few over 8 pounds, some Great Panfish there too, we used Crickets all the time for the Gills.

[Any Luc]

I spend much of my fishing time working strip pits.
One thing you might keep in mind when fishing these clear water lakes is to work them early and late on the sun filled days. I like the challenge of the clear, infertile waters but when the sun gets up you can expect the bite to toughen. This is when we pull the boat and relocate to more fertile, stained waters. By doing so, we can lengthen the bite period and it works most each and every time. So why not just start the day on the stained water? Sometimes I will if the pressure is high and the for certain the skies will be too but nothing beats working beautiful clear water and when I can, I do.
Fish relate to stuff most of the time in the clear water. It isn’t likely that the forage will be suspended in the middle of nowhere due to the fact that they have nothing to hide in and will find themselves being made a meal of in no time flat. So look to the weeds. If there are dense weed beds, work the edges and if the sky is high you may need to go right into the thick of it. Many of the strips have ledges and if you work these ledges either deliberately or by drifting, you’ll often find critters hiding amongst them.
I often work the sandgrass along the pits floor and pull spinners in the same fashion as I do when working walleye. If the wind has been blowing for a few days I’ll at times find those fish suspended in center basin and usually fifteen or better down. Leeches will take all species during the warm months if you are at all into live baiting. If it’s crappie you seek, I could help with your patterning their ice-out thru spawn movements. Basically, you will be looking for the warmest water and that is often the upper five foot where many never look.
If it’s the green fish you seek, I cannot be of help to you.

[bobdyrcon]

I love this website!!!! Thanks for the tips and past experiences. I heard that there are some monster bass in there. I also saw a picture of a very large musky posted up on the bulletin board......Thank you again for the posts.

[djm2475]

How can i get info on joining this club?I searched the net and found nothing,is it worth joining?

[bobdyrcon]

Sorry,you cannot join the club. It is for Com Ed employees only and can be passed down in the family once only.

[WalleyeSpike]

Fished all those strip pits back there..nice bass...big northerns..that was a while ago but there still there..

[WalleyeSpike]

If you know how to fish use a spinner or a crankbait if not use a slip bobber and a minnow.........

[AndyLinss]

Does anyone know the new phone number for CECO Recreation Club? It seems like the 815-476-9672 number is no longer in service.

Thanks.

[Bearsfan]

I'm not a member of CECO, but there are a few members on this site.

Any Luc wrote:

...If it’s the green fish you seek, I cannot be of help to you.

I too fish strip pits. Let me see if I can pick up where Any left off.

Regarding Bass...

My best bait for bass in the pits most of the season is a 6" Zoom Lizard. The Carolina rig and Texas rig both work well. I've gone pretty much exclusively to the Texas Rig because I was deep hooking too many fish with the Carolina Rig. Watermelon Seed and Pumpkin are my two favorite colors in the clear water. Sometimes I like to dye the tail with SpikeIt chartreuse garlic dye.

This time of year you can catch bass working the fingers and ledges, looking for bait busting the surface. Tie on a 3/4 oz Luhr Jensen Hammered Chrome Jiggin' Spoon. It casts a mile, so let it fly! Let it kick back and forth as it sinks to the bottom and get ready to set the hook. It seldom will make it to the bottom.

Good luck. We look forward to your reports.

[Chas E.]

Bearsfan wrote:

I'm not a member of CECO, but there are a few members on this site.

Any Luc wrote:

...If it’s the green fish you seek, I cannot be of help to you.

I too fish strip pits. Let me see if I can pick up where Any left off.

Regarding Bass...

My best bait for bass in the pits most of the season is a 6" Zoom Lizard. The Carolina rig and Texas rig both work well. I've gone pretty much exclusively to the Texas Rig because I was deep hooking too many fish with the Carolina Rig. Watermelon Seed and Pumpkin are my two favorite colors in the clear water. Sometimes I like to dye the tail with SpikeIt chartreuse garlic dye.

This time of year you can catch bass working the fingers and ledges, looking for bait busting the surface. Tie on a 3/4 oz Luhr Jensen Hammered Chrome Jiggin' Spoon. It casts a mile, so let it fly! Let it kick back and forth as it sinks to the bottom and get ready to set the hook. It seldom will make it to the bottom.

Good luck. We look forward to your reports.

Jeff, I think the guy is looking for the new phone #. The rest of the thread is from 5 years ago.

[Bearsfan]

Thanks Chas.

Sorry, don't know the new phone number.

[LiveBaitNinja]

well, if I can't join the club, my strip pit tactics are my own. (j/k, it's jealousy I will admit) All I can say is, standard procedure starts with, just drop a crawler or big roach 3'-5' down under a bobber in front of any available drop-off. Watched several people catch their first fish ever, in quarry pits. A few were trophies. Bass on spoons, pike taking bottom-rigged crawlers meant for cats... pits are great fun when they click.

[Solo101]

Ive fished Lincoln Lake a lot which is another strip mine lake in the area. Ive done good casting spinners and swim baits over weed beds near deep water and submerged timber. Picked up two pike over 32" and a 5lbs bass in one outing last spring doing this.