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| I live near Chicago and I'm looking to take a day and fish coming up and would like to know what lakewwithin 3ish hours has the best chance for a 50"? |
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| Mad chain or Indiana |
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| Chain, Madison, Indiana, and central illinois.... Shab has put out some nice ones this year as well |
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Posts: 171
| Gotta drive a little farther, but...
Lake St. Clair
www.spencersanglingadv.com
...he did say BEST 
Edited by bshep 8/29/2013 2:26 AM
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| Out of bounds!!! Take it to the booth for review |
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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | bshep - 8/29/2013 1:52 AM
Gotta drive a little farther, but...
Lake St. Clair
www.spencersanglingadv.com
...he did say BEST :)
I gotta agree here.
Some "good" fishing within 2 hours of Chicago, but I wouldnt say you're really chasing a 50. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | I would definitely say not Madison.... not many 50s are caught each year here... A guy could go to St Claire and catch more in a couple days than are caught the entire season in Madison... |
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Posts: 93
| Only 4 1/2 hours away, go to Lake St. Clair, and call Spencer Berman. I've fished 3 times with him in the last year, and we always catch huge fish. We had a 54" in the boat in July. He's caught something like 40 fish over 50 inches this year. It's a gimme, and don't waste your time going anywhere else. |
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Posts: 619
| Sencer Berman if u want a 50. |
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| I understand why a person would hire a guide, but why is everyone so quick to suggest a guide? Muskie fishing is supposed to be challenging and figuring out the fish is a big part of the fun and makes you a better fisherman. If my only 50 was caught with a guide, I don't think it would be as rewarding.
LSC is a great place for a 50... Maybe better than anywhere else right now. Take your boat and start fishing it. Learn it. You will catch your own 50. You don't need Spencer or another guide to do it for you. |
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| I would love to go to lsc but I don't have a real big boat. I was thinking some smaller lake. |
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Posts: 177
| Guest is asking for a lake within a short distance to have the best shot at a 50.Some of us don't get to spend any considerable time on a body of water to figure them out so a guide is his best shot at a 50 and he'll learn a lot more in one day from a guide |
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| And I don't want to spend $500 for a guide for the day plus gas there and back |
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Posts: 553
Location: 15 miles east of Lake Kinkaid | None of us want to spend the gas $$ back and forth. But....if you want a legitimate chance at a giant that usually requires traveling (unless you live in the Detroit area, northern Minnesota, Green Bay, or Canada). |
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Location: Illinois | Go to Shabbona and jig the deep timber for your best shot at a 50" musky. The state record lurks in there. |
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Posts: 171
| Why would you not suggest a guide if you know of one? Especially to a "guest."
No one is 'telling you to get a guide' when they post a reference to one. That is all it is... a reference.
You have the power and abilities too do whatever it is you choose, but believe it or not, some people hire guides to spend a day out on the water with a new face... not only for the sole purpose of draining them for fishing information.
If you have a boat and are willing to drive 3 hours however, I would suggest driving an extra 2 if you have FIDDY'S on the mind. The link is there if you need help... as is this website and others.
Good stuff here as always |
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Posts: 171
| Also, on a calm day you can get away with ANY boat on Lake St. Clair. If the wind picks up on a smaller lake you could potentially have the same issues as you would on St. Clair... only St. Clair having the potential to be far worse. |
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Posts: 171
| Maybe this will be of some help. Unfortunately, there are contacts to guides on that website, but they can be ignored if you wish. The answer to your question is... no lake in Illinois gives you a better shot at a 50 over another. That is only my personal and honest opinion. I wish you luck, as I know it is possible to boat a 50 in Illinois in places not called the Fox Chain or Shabbona
www.illinoismuskies.com |
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| I suggest you don't go fishing for muskies anywhere around the chicagoland area right now, as water temps have risen to unsafe levels lately with the heat wave. Go catch a Bass. |
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Posts: 661
Location: Roscoe IL | Nelson,
Is the popcorn done yet? |
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Posts: 944
| I would not say Madison at all. 1- 3 a year come out if that and these waters get pounded 24 hrs a day 7 days a week by a lot of good fisherman.
I have only had 4 in my boat in Madison ever- 50.25", 50.5", 52", 52"
I fish 160 days a year. Get a fair amount of 44-48" but don't see many that are bigger.
Most don't get to 50" here.
Jeff Hanson
madisonmuskyguide.com
Edited by Jeff Hanson 8/29/2013 11:37 AM
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Posts: 72
| It is a tough call because most of the Illinois lakes and Indiana lakes have a few fifties in them but not a lot of them. I guess I would say Tippecanoe lake , Barbee chain right behind it . |
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Posts: 1916
Location: Greenfield, WI | Pewaukee Lake |
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Posts: 20219
Location: oswego, il | The question was 3hrs from Chicago and a shot at a 50. Your "shot" at a 50 is quite remote. Pick a lake and fish it.
I live in the west suburbs and lsc is a solid 6 hour drive for me. Your not getting to lsc from the il/in border in 4.5 unless your going 80mph.
Edited by ToddM 8/29/2013 1:59 PM
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Location: Des Moines IA | muskellunged - 8/29/2013 8:41 AM Go to Shabbona and jig the deep timber for your best shot at a 50" musky. The state record lurks in there. Agreed. Pounders in the deep timber, if that doesn't work, Jig deep. They are in there. |
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| Okauchee |
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Posts: 84
Location: Knot on the WATER | All, yes a guide is a relief of agony, for some, and a choice to have to learn and prosper. But for some its the hunt for big fish that is saturated in deep in all of us musky fisherman, some more than others. But a sure proof for a hunt with no help, mainly Muskie first and articles, heres a video of our first day on LSC, never fished , sure we had a few pointers, but this what excites most of us, seek and flourish, and learn from the past donts in the field. Looking forward again since we only had 1.5 days out there. 14 for 19, casting..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JhDMaBDQVU |
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Posts: 171
| ToddM - 8/29/2013 1:53 PM
The question was 3hrs from Chicago and a shot at a 50. Your "shot" at a 50 is quite remote. Pick a lake and fish it.
I live in the west suburbs and lsc is a solid 6 hour drive for me. Your not getting to lsc from the il/in border in 4.5 unless your going 80mph.
Your/our location is an unfortunate one for us if we want to make it to LSC in decent time... but, if you live in Chicago or on the border of Illinois and Indiana, you absolutely can make it to LSC in 4.5 hours... 5 if you are farther from the border and depending on traffic. Thats only an hour or so longer drive than most of the lakes in Central Illinois.
You really only have 4 choices in Illinois where 50"s are even caught if you want to stick to a 3 hour trip and not drive an extra couple... maybe 1-2 50"s per year are caught out of thousands of fishermen from each of those 4 bodies of water. The other lakes in Illinois where you may have a shot are the same distance or farther away than Lake St. Clair.
Your next closest place would be Southern Wisconsin. Pewaukee and Ocauchee gives you a shot... but none of these lakes are considered 'trophy' waters and you really have the same shot at a 50" in Central Illinois as you do in Southern Wisconsin, so we gotta agree with Todd M on this one... You really do just have to pick a lake and fish it, which is the fun part.
Edited by bshep 8/29/2013 10:14 PM
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Posts: 22
Location: Gods Country | I second on Okauchee. |
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Posts: 218
| Pewaukee definitely does produce 50" class fish and certainly within your driving parameter. Surprised that so many are telling you to drive quite a bit further to St. Clair when Green Bay is closer and clearly producing good numbers of 50" fish. On the other hand there are good lakes within your three hour range that may not be as likely to produce a 50" fish but you can certainly have some fun and if you bump into a 50" so much the better. |
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