The day started off perfect. I met a great friend of mine in shorewood at about 4:30am (ironically we met about a year ago, same time frame, at Shabbona launching our boats). As we pull in to the park and get close to descending onto the lake, we were confronted by about 4 deer and a couple turkey. I’ve always kind of considered the spotting of wildlife a good omen for the day when fishing. The day did not disappoint. We knew going into the day that conditions were highly unfavorable and against us. Winds were out of the east and howling. Wind chills were probably in the mid 40’s all day. Gloves, neck warmers, and layers of clothes were a must.
We started in the North East bay and before I could tie my lure, I look up and John had already caught 3 bass. Thank goodness I didn’t bet for first fish. We then caught a few more and then started working our way around the lake. Our theory was to work the eastern shoreline because of the wind direction. As we get closer to the SouthWest bay I mention to John that I’ve never caught a fish in this area out of all the years I’ve been fishing the lake. 2 minutes later he reeled in a decent 3 pounder. Couple minutes later I hooked into a monster bass. Probably pushing 6-7 pounds. Had her hooked for about 30 seconds and let off on the pressure a little, waiting for net. Should’ve just hand landed her. Easy to say in hind sight. Lost it at boat side. Depressing. Oh well, that’s fishing. Things slowed down condiderably after 12:00 noon, so we decided to stop in and say hi to Clint and Denny. To our surprise, Jay Angel (former Shabbona guide – now lives in Alaska) was also in visiting. Also got a chance to see our good buddy Dan R. Great catching up with some great friends!! After about 30 minutes of shooting the breeze we were back at it.
Due to the frigidness we decided to tie on some plastics slowing our presentation. That turned out to be the ticket. Within our first few casts we hooked onto a nice 19.5 inch 4 pounder. 10 minutes later we caught another and missed a few. With the day approaching sunset we decided to pack it in and call it quits.
All in all, we caught about 15-20 fish. Not bad considering the conditions. Water temps 51-55 degrees. This coming week should be a doozy!!
– Mr. Wilson