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Posts: 551
Location: Columbus, Georgia | Have any of you guys ever fished this lake?
There is some word about about Tigers being stocked there.
Can anyone confirm this? Are there enough there to consider fishing this lake on a regular basis?
Thanks.
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Posts: 70
| Don't know about the last two years, but this link shows the stocking from 2003-2008
http://illinimuskiesalliance.org/stocking.asp |
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Posts: 20248
Location: oswego, il | Water exchange rate for this lake is two days. Over half the lake is less than 4 feet deep and just a very small hole deeper than 10. They have never surveyed a fish in the lake. They no longer stock it. Try the river at best.
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Posts: 551
Location: Columbus, Georgia | Doesn't look good then ...
Thanks Guys. |
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Posts: 360
Location: Tinley Park. Fish Cen IL. Bass & Vilas Cty.Muskie | I was there in early October 2009. It is right outside of Danville(2 mile), nice 8,000 pop town. You did not have to buy a Lake permit after Oct. 1. Its a OK lake but the main lake is shallow(6-8ft) and dirty with a 10 mph wind. There was a realy nice deep pool 40 acre pool under roadby the dam and shad were staacked in there. It is suppose to have above average size to the bass but fishing was real slow for us the day we fished it, not worth a day 2- we headed to Newton for bass. Plenty of laydowns in the river and a half way decent lake. I would probably limit my out of way time to a hour to fish it but if you are going by it or coming home and want to fish another afternoon. My garbageman did well there one weekend for Bass(8-3lb+ to 4lb fish). I saw 8 boats fishing and nobody was fishing Muskies.???? Do a google search for fishing tackle and ask the baitshop guys what their opinion about the Lake. Top choices would be Shelbyville dam is a winter option along with Spring lake in March (25hp)>
Edited by basscaster 12/29/2010 9:28 AM
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Posts: 45
| What is the story on Lake Mingo? I have read that it has been stocked with Muskies too. Also, does anyone have any experience with Mill Creek Lake for muskies. |
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| Lake Mingo has been the site of extensive stocking for Project Green Gene, a study attempting to evaluate the best strain of muskies to stock in IL (ones with the most growth potential for IL's lat and long). Growth rates in the lake are quite high. However, recently lots of fish have been lost over the spillway and I believe there's now a separate (or additional) project looking at something related to muskies going over the spillway (survival? not sure).
Huge forage base. Half the lake is heavy standing timber, the other half classic reservoir (coves, flats, stump fields, points, deep water, rip rap). 9.9HP restriction, decent ramp, big parking lot, fee to use the lake ($10 maybe?).
Mill Creek is managed for trophy potential, around 0.5 fish/acre. Reminiscent of Kinkaid, with less muskies. Timber, main lake points, weed beds, coves, long weed lines, rip rap, docks, deep water... $16 launch fee. No HP restriction but there is a speed limit (45 mph I believe). |
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Posts: 45
| Green, Thanks for the info. |
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| Wouldn't spent too much time on Vermillion. Mingo would be a better option.You can find out about muskie lakes in Illinois plus get stocking info and other IDNR reports at www.illinoismuskies.com.
Duane
www.illinoismuskies.com
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Posts: 551
Location: Columbus, Georgia | Duane,
Thanks a lot for the link. I see that Mingo has a 10hp limit. Do they allow you to trim your motor up and use electric only?
Some lakes won't even let you launch when a larger motor is on the boat.
Thanks. |
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| i have seen little guys in lake vermilion this summer but they where small fries. but in mingo i had a couple of guys say they had caugh some 34-39 inchers late fall.i caught two last summer that was 37-39 inches. im going to try for them this week on the ice. |
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Posts: 45
| Can any of you guys recommend any other small lakes in mid-state Illinois. |
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| Bob,
McMaster (Snakeden Hollow) out by Galesburg is my favorite. Deep, clear, and great structure. Evergreen Lake by Bloomington is also pretty good. Its usually hit or miss, but late summer and early fall is usually a good bet. Prarie Lake in the Jim Edgar Panther Creek complex is coming along as well. Its a newer fishery but is definitely worth a couple trips. The other lake I fish in the area is Spring lake by Pekin for early ice-out action. I think we're pretty lucky with the amount of good fisheries we have in Central Illinois. Banner Marsh lakes, Johnson, Wheel, and Shovel are also worth fishing. Good luck. |
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Posts: 45
| Thanks Johny |
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Posts: 45
| Thanks Johny |
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| I do believe you can trim up your motor and fish with a trolling motor. They allow this on most of the lakes with a 10 hp limit. |
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| I agree with Johhny on lake choices. Spring Lake North is good not only at ice out but also during Spring and can be amazing in the Fall. It is a numbers lake. Evergreen has state record potential on every cast but it has been a tough lake the last 2 years. Prairie may become one of the best lakes in the state in the near future!!
Duane
www.illinoismuskies.com |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | My friend goes to U of I and is majoring in some sort of environmental science. He was involved in a project at Lake Mingo and showed me some pics of the nicer fish they pulled from the nets... judging from the pics it would be a nice lake to fish. |
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| Yeah I live in bartonville about 15 mins from banner marsh and have had really good luck there in the late spring and summer on top water. I have a canoe with a 3.5 h.p motor and fish for largemouth from that. This will be my first ice out with a boat and over the last season I've became basically obsessed with fishing. I've got 5 new baitcasters and over 50 new lures and a new tackle box, one of the bag ones with the tackle inserts with a shoulder strap. So I'm really anxious to go!! When do you guys think ice out will be? What is it on average because I cant find anything about when the ice melts on Google. I'm hoping mid march at the latest but idk. Any answers to that would be awesome. And do musky bite more actively during ice out? Would I need to wire up my lures?!? Thanks!! |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | Wire up lures? If that means use a leader, than yes. If you don't use a leader than you will get cut off. Not really what you want when you spend so much time trying to get a muskie to bite in the first place.
And yes ice should be out by mid-march probably a bit earlier IDK |
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Posts: 45
| Nick,
Besides the wire leader make sure you have a suitable net and release tools. Protection for you and the fish. |
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| lake vermillion is awesome for catfish i don't know who told you guys any different I have witnessed very large fish coming out of that lake I fish it on a daily basis |
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Lake Vermillion near Danville, IL