April 5, 2006

Fishing at Shabbona

21 inches, 4 lb 14 oz

Today I hit Shabbona for the third time in 2006. Water temp was 48 to 50 degrees. Visibility 6 to 18 inches, depending on where you were, water coffee brown color. The center dock on the main launch is in now. They were burning off the prairie grass in the park today, but the wind kept the smoke out of my face. Got to the lake at 9:30 AM and fished until 6:30 PM.

I went out today planning to try for a muskie. No strikes, no follows. The muskie were active though. I saw 3 muskie boil up out of the water, and saw a few vicious thrashes, with shad flying in every direction.

After a few hours my patience ran out and I started bass fishing. It took a while to find some active fish, but I found them hanging around in 4 to 6 feet of water, in the areas that will form weedbeds. My shallow shad raps (Rapala SSR 7 and 9, shad pattern) were the baits of choice, worked with a fairly quick steady retrieve. They gave me 4 "keepers" at 21", 16", and a pair of 15's, along with  about 10 undersized fish. All of the bass, except the 16 incher, were pretty lean. They haven't started putting on the spring feedbag yet !!!

16"  15"  15"

Good Luck Everybody

See you on the water.

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