[Slobasaurus]

Thought I'd start the forum on some Illinois Muskies seeing as we're officially into October and the water temps are starting to get prime for musky hunting on our local waters. What's your favorite lake within a 2.5 hour drive of Chicagee?

Hoping to join the elite few with a IL 50" sometime this fall! The waters I'll be targeting are Shab, Shelbyville and the Fox River. May even make a long weekend trip down to Kinkaid. I've done pretty good on Shelbyville (best @ 43") and Kinkaid (best @ 46").

And, of course, let's all be proponents of CPR- Catch Photo Release.

[Slobasaurus]

Just thought I'd throw a photo up of my biggest IL musky this year. She went 47". Caught in early November.



Looking forward to the Chicago Musky Expo in January!

[tuggs3]

nice fish! Can't say I did that well myself anywhere this year let alone IL.

[DANCES WITH FISH]

Nice fish anywhere, let alone Illinois! Great job!

[McChou]

Sweet fish! Did you get it on meat? without getting too specific is that a Northern IL fish or S. IL fish?

To answer your question from your first post ... I live closest to Shabbazoo so I fish it the most, but I think the chain has to be my favorite public body of water... Haven't tried the fox yet, that's something I look forward to doing next season hopefully!

[Slobasaurus]

Thanks guys.

McChou- I caught her on a bulldawg using a slow retrieve with twitches. We were soaking two 9in suckers though but didn't get any takers on the meat that day.

I still haven't ever been to Shabbazoo because I've heard it can be frustrating how crowded it gets. I've hit up Lac Suel though which is out that way (think I-88 & 39). Had a decent multispecies day using everything from jigs to rattle traps.

The Fox River is a tough nut to crack but there sure are some dandies in there. My biggest out of there is a mid thirties fish but I've seen pictures of 50+ inchers. I hooked up with a nice one on a bass rod and mepps #5 last year but it threw the bait when head thrashing at the surface about 10 ft from me. Would have liked to get a pic of that fish!

[McChou]

Haha - I've fished Lake Suel once ... didn't do anything (lost a small sucker - not sure how, never heard the clicker go off ... ) Did you find any skis in there? (I remember marking TONS of fish - but couldn't get any to eat)

I attended a fox river seminar a year or 2 ago - still haven't put any of the info to the test, but looking forward to trying it. I know some guys fish all through winter for them in the fox ... if anyone is itching to chuck from shore let me know as I could probably be talked into getting out (I've waded the fox in Feb before ... not my favorite thing to do, but sometimes you have to scratch the itch!)

[Slobasaurus]

McChou- I landed two undersized muskies on Lake Suel. Didn't measure either but both under 30". Caught on a bass-sized spinnerbait and rattletrap. I did witness a guy catch about 4-5 'skis that day on a red rattletrap but none were over 38 or so inches. For those that don't know- Lake Suel is quite small and you can pretty much see who's catching fish on any given day.

I hope to hit the fox from shore sometime in January if we get a warm spell of weather. Typically I target NW Indiana stream steelhead in the winter months though.

Good luck n good fishin'

[no limit]

I may fish Kinkaid New Years weekend. My biggest Il ski 45 " caught in Jan at Kinkaid.

[Chas E.]

Nice fish!!

[medinah13]

Fish Shabbona!! They got the spillway barrier project complete putting it in next spring I believe

[ToddM]

There is not a set date for the barrier as of yet. Hopefully it will come this spring. The funding is about there and should not be a problem. Support the clubs who donated their money to this project like Fox River Valley, Shabbona lake Club, Quad County Musky Hunters and the Midwest Musky Club. If you find increased success once the barrier is up, a no brainer, give back to these fine clubs.

[medinah13]

Def wish they would of gotten the barrier up sooner because I know for a fact some good fish have managed there way down there hopefully the creek is connected to some good river or body of water! And they dont lose any more fish!