LARGEMOUTH BASS

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Fishing for Largemouth Bass in Illinois

Largemouth bass are sight feeders. After hatching, the bass fry feed largely upon tiny crustaceans called Cladocerans and Copepods. The primary food items of fingerling and adult bass are: insects, crayfish, frogs, and other fish, especially the gizzard shad. Young bass frequently school-up to feed but once they reach a size larger than a pound, they appear to be more solitary in nature.

Largemouth bass fishing is generally best from early April to mid-June and again from early September to mid-October when the water temperature ranges between 55 and 75 degrees. The best spots to fish in the spring or fall are shorelines, rock riprap or shallow, brushy or weedy areas that are utilized either for spawning or protective cover.

When daytime summer water temperatures approach the 80° mark, bass generally move to the deeper, cooler water along steep banks, in river and creek channels or old pond beds and spring seeps that also have protective cover. Plastic worms, spinner baits and the deep diving plugs are the best baits to use under these conditions. However, they will move from these areas into the shoreline shallows to feed during the early morning or late evening hours, which are prime times to fish. During the winter, largemouth bass can also be caught by using the ice fishing methods described briefly under crappie and bluegill.

Although it is impossible to describe all the ways to take bass (many books and magazine articles have been written on this subject), a few may be pointed out to hopefully increase your success. It is difficult to catch largemouth bass consistently, but they can be caught on a greater variety of baits and lures than practically any other fish. Casting with bait, spincast or spinning tackle is probably the most popular method of catching "Mr. Bigmouth".

During the spring, when most lakes have periods of murkiness, the single or tandem spinner baits, wobbling and flashing spoons with pork rinds, spinning lures and light colored sub-surface lures are the best artificials to use. Live bait fishermen use a 3 to 6 inch minnow or a fat nightcrawler with a cane or fiberglass pole, and only fish the stickups when the lake is murky.

In the summer, especially during the heat of the day, diving or deep running plugs and plastic worms are usually the most productive. If the water is clear, top water plunker, buzzer, crawler or diving baits fished along shoreline cover early in the morning or late in the evening, frequently yield limit catches. When bass are feeding on shad schools, any surface or sub-surface lure that imitates a crippled minnow is very effective. This is also the time to use a fly rod with large poppers, streamers, wet flies or hair bug lures. Other summertime fishermen use stout fiberglass poles with 25 to 50 pound test line and a weighted plastic worm, large jigs or shiners to take bass from their cool shady hideouts.

During the cooler fall months, largemouth bass generally feed from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. Again depending on water turbidity and temperatures, type of cover or time of day, one can frequently use any lure in the tackle box to catch a mess of bass.

The fisherman, who likes to use live bait such as crayfish, nightcrawlers or minnows, can frequently catch more bass than the man using a $75 rod and reel and the large boxes of artificial lures. These natural baits are usually fished around and over hanging banks, submerged brush, logs, stumps or on hard mud and sand bottoms. At other times, live baits are more effective if they are worked slowly over the bottom, or drifted with the wind or current into pockets, holes and riffles, or jigged over good cover.

Because of their temperamental moods, diverse habits and tendency to move from one area to another, catching bass can be a frustrating, mind boggling situation. To become a good bass fisherman, one must learn to be patient, adaptable and determined to be successful. Probably the best advice to give a budding bass fisherman is to learn all about the bass' habits and habitats, fish as frequently as possible, and go with someone who has developed a degree of expertise in catching this species.

BEST BAITS: plastic worms, jigs, spinners, crank baits, minnows, crayfish, night crawlers, and worms

BEST AREAS TO FISH: Baldwin Lake- 2,018 acres Banner Marsh - 1,200 acres Braidwood Lake- 2,308 acres Busse Lake - 560 acres Carlyle Lake - 24,580 acres Cedar Lake - 1,750 acres Clinton Lake - 5,000 acres Coffeen Lake - 1,100 acres Crab Orchard Lake - 6,965 acres Dawson Lake - 158 acres Dolan Lake - 71 acres East Fork Lake - 935 acres Evergreen Lake - 925 acres Ferne Clyffe Lake - 16 acres Fox Chain O'Lakes System - 7,110 acres Gillespie New City Lake - 207 acres Glen Shoals Lake - 1,200 acres Greenville New City Lake - 775 acres Harrisburg New City Reservoir - 209 acres Hennepin Canal, Pools 17, 20-25 Homer Lake - 81 acres Illinois River - 61 miles Johnson Sauk Trail - 58 acres Kinkaid Lake - 2,750 acres Lake Bloomington - 635 acres Lake Carlton - 77 acres Lake Centralia - 450 acres Lake Decatur -3,093 acres Lake George - 167 acres Lake Jacksonville - 476 acres Lake Lou Yaeger - 1,300 acres Lake Mattoon - 1,050 acres Lake Mingo - 170 acres Lake Murphysboro - 145 acres Lake of Egypt - 2,300 acres Lake Sara - 586 acres Lake Shelbyville - 11,100 acres

Lake Springfield - 4,234 acres Lake Taylorville - 1,286 acres Lake Vermilion - 900 acres LaSalle Lake - 2,035 acres Lincoln Trail Lake - 146 acres Long Lake - 56.6 acres (Kickapoo St. Park) Mazonia FWA Lakes and Ponds Mermet Lake - 452 acres Mill Creek Lake - 811 acres Mississippi River, Pool 12 Mississippi River, Pool 13 Mississippi River, Pool 18 Mississippi River, Pool 24 Monee Reservoir - 44 acres Newton Lake - 1,750 acres North Branch Chicago River Paris East Lake - 163 acres Peabody River King - Pit #3 Pittsfield Lake- 241 acres Raccoon Lake - 970 acres Rend Lake - 18,900 acres Sam Dale Lake - 194 acres Sam Parr Lake - 180 acres Sangchris Lake - 2,165 acres Shabbona Lake – 318 Skokie Lagoons - 226 acres Ohio River (Smithland Pool –Tributaries) Spring Lake - 277 acres Spring Lake North - 578 acres Spring Lake South - 610 acres Stephen Forbes Lake - 525 acres Sugar Creek Lake - 96 acres Turner Lake - 35 acres Walnut Point Lake - 59 acres Washington County Lake -248 acres Weldon Springs Lake - 29.4 acres Wolf Lake - 391 acres

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