After a very long wait, Ivan and I finally got to go fishing together.  We decided to go three days in a row.  At first we thought we might go south and fish fish Pyramid State park and camp there.  On second thought, we really hadn’t put much thought into it and were not properly prepared.  We both agreed that a three day jaunt might not be long enough to travel so far and really enjoy ourselves.  A day traveling there, a day of fishing in unfamiliar water, and the final day of traveling back does not give one much time to do any serious fishing.  I thought we might need a full week to really explore the lakes there and learn the area with some time to spare.

So, we decided to stay close to home, well nearly.  On Thursday we did travel to Lincoln Trail State Park near Marshall.  We hadn’t fished there together for three years.  We remembered the clear water, the beautiful terrain, and the bluegill fishing was truly excellent.  NOT ANYMORE!  What a disappointment.  The water was dirty, it had been lowered, and you couldn’t see fish like we could before inside the coves.  We found that people had left trash around the lake in areas where the lake could be fished from shore.  That doesn’t say much for fishermen who leave a mess  where ever they go.  There were beer cans, paper towels, and various wrappers and empty worm cans.  What a disgrace.

We decided to leave earlier that we had planned.  The bass and bluegill fishing was definitely poor and the condition of the lake was not to our enjoyment.

The second day, Friday, we went to our local small lake at River bend.  Here the water is clear and deep even though the lake had been lowered approximately 5 feet.  Don’t ask me why because the lake was more fishable and attractive when it was full.  The county park had cut a trench to the river, (Sangamon) to let that much water out and I’m sure, a great many fish to boot.  Great planning and as cheaply as possible for sure.  I would have thought that someone would have thought of saving the fish by putting up a screen before letting out five feet of the lakes water, wouldn’t You?

However, the county did put in a beautiful dock with a large gazebo and ramp system with access for the handicapped.  The boat dock was also repaired. 

The fishing was fairly good.  Ivan and I both caught a few bass and some bluegill.  Most of the fish were  small with the largest bass weighing about 2 1/2 lbs.  They were all returned to the lake as quickly as possible.  The fish were cooperative in spurts.  We might catch four bass in quick time and then nothing for an hour.  Then another spurt of catching.  The day went that way but we really enjoyed the day and had a lot of fun trying.

On Saturday we went once again to The smaller lake in the park.  You can read about our fist foray to Shadow Lake in one of my earlier writings where I said,” It’s not for older guys”.  We were better prepared for our visit there this time, however.

As I had stated earlier, the lake is nearly inaccessible for fishing especially with a boat.  The shore is surrounded by steep drop offs… use your imagination.  There is one very difficult way to bring in a canoe and we had used it before but this time with a much smaller canoe.  I sold my 17’ Grumman and bought a 13’ golden Hawk fiberglass boat.  It weighs abut half as much  as the Grumman did.

The canoe being much smaller  would be easier to manage, right?  Well, it was but not as much as we would have liked.  Having been there before and learned by experience, we did have a much easier time of it.

But, UNLESS YOU ARE IN VERY GOOD HEALTH, don’t try it! 

We had a pretty good day of fishing, between us we caught about sixteen fish with the biggest nearly three lbs.  I did hook up with three other larger fish but they got off near the boat.  But, that’s O.K. because I had fun with them and they would have been returned to the lake immediately anyway.

Think positive but don’t over do it all you older guys, (I’m nearly 73 years YOUNG) and that’s the difference.  Ivan is nearly 64 years young.  We work at trying to stay healthy. 

Our fish were caught mainly with the Gary Yammato stick worm in green/light green, and the Excalibur crank bait, deep diver in silver, black back, and red gill stripe fished in a slow steady manner.   The bluegill were caught on a yellow Betts popper with rubber legs.

Tight lines

Jim

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