Lake Elizabeth - July 25, 2020

The schedule originally had us going to Lake Geneva today. However, Geneva has been crowded this summer and we were worried about the boat launches filling up, so we switched the outing to Lake Elizabeth. Eleven members fished the outing.

Many small fish were caught, but the following scored club points: 17 largemouth bass, 11 bluegills, 1 crappie and 1 perch for a total of 98 points. Big fish winner was Jeff Haug with a 15-1/2” largemouth bass. There was no discernible pattern—some boats did better on plastics while other did better on nightcrawlers. Some boats did better early and the bite died at about 9:00. Other boats caught more after 9:00 than they did before. The only common theme is most of the fish caught were short and skinny.

Our next outing is August 8 on Round Lake. Jason Cashmore, Al Silcroft, and Dave Busscher have done well pre-fishing Round Lake recently, which bodes well for the outing.

Brown's Lake - July 11, 2020

Eleven adventurous members fished the club’s first outing on Brown’s Lake in Burlington, WI this morning. The weather was beautiful and the fish were biting, so it was a fun outing. The lake was crowded with fishing boats early. Brown’s is a no wake lake until 10 am. After that, the powerboats came out and it got pretty choppy out there.

33 largemouth bass were caught that scored on the club’s points system. The largest was a 17.5-incher landed by Al Silcroft. Most of the bass were caught on plastics—nail worms, drop shots, and tube jigs. Many northern pike were also caught, but none reached the minimum 24” necessary to score points. Jeff Haug was dialed into the small northern and caught at least a dozen of them.

Our next outing is July 25 on Lake Geneva.

Lake Delavan - June 27, 2020

It’s been four long months since our last outing. Six members and a guest got skunked on Lake Delavan that cold day in February. Today, eight members returned to Lake Delavan and redeemed themselves. The weather was much nicer this time—sunny and warm with a light breeze. There was a lot of recreational boat traffic, but we can put up with it if the fish are biting!

Thirty fish were caught that scored club points, most of them largemouth bass. The biggest bass were smallmouth, though. Ken Haney and Jeff Sannes, fishing together, found the secret smallmouth spot. Ken caught an 18-incher and Jeff caught a whopping 20.5” smallmouth! Most bass were caught on plastics.

Northern pike were also biting. Several were caught, but only two scored points. Dave Busscher caught a 27-incher and Jason Cashmore caught a 30.25” pike that is currently leading for big fish of the year. There were a number of bite-offs, too, that we can only assume were monster fish!

Fishing Reports - First Half of June

Kerry Multz fished Green Lake with his two sons and said it was the toughest fishing he has ever seen there. A storm and cold front moved through the day they arrived, which couldn’t have been good for fishing conditions. They toughed it out, though, and managed to catch some fish.

Al Silcroft and Gregg Stockey pre-fished Lake Delavan for our upcoming outing there. Conditions were cold and windy, but they toughed it out and caught a few fish. Al thinks it bodes well for our June 27th outing.

Jason Cashmore is in northern Minnesota for ten days. So far he has been out twice on a secret little lake with giant northern pike and largemouth bass, but has been mostly catching pike in the 20-24” range. The biggest so far is 29.5”, but he remains hopeful.

Fishing Reports - Second Half of May

Club outings have had to be canceled, but club members have gotten out and done some fishing on their own. Fishing is allowed in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Since we can’t post outing reports, we will start posting reports individual members send in. Check back at the middle and end of every month for new reports.

Gregg Stockey has been fishing his home lake and has had success with panfish and bass. It only took him five minutes to catch enough 10-11” bluegill for dinner. The bass are shallow and he has caught a bunch, with two over 19”.

Lou DiNicola, who is riding out the pandemic with relatives in Georgia, got out on Lake Hartwell and did some striper fishing. They caught 14 5-8 lb stripers suspending live herring 30 feet down in 60 fow.

Jeff Haug and Dave Busscher have fished several lakes in SE Wisconsin recently. Unlike Gregg, they didn’t find the bass in shallow. They caught a few in 9 fow ranging from 13 to 18”.

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Our annual trip to Green Lake may have been canceled, but several members went on their own. Mike Hall said he had to work hard for the bite, but managed to catch a few nice bass. Art Krohnert, fishing from his kayak, also caught some nice bass.

Get out there, do some fishing, and let us know how you do!!

Lakes Delavan and Como - February 22, 2020

Six club members and one guest fished a disappointing outing on February 22. The original plan was to fish the southwest end of Lake Delavan. However, the first guys arrived almost an hour early to find the parking was already full and there were so many vehicles milling around the police had to show up. Time for Plan B.

We drove to Community Park off of Hwy 50 on the northeast end of the lake. None of us had an ice fishing report for this end of the lake, but we walked about 200 yards down the shore to a spot where we have success in the summer and fall. Unfortunately, the fish either weren’t there or weren’t biting. Every one of us had tip-ups set out and was jigging for panfish. But, after almost two hours not one of us had a single bite, and we hadn’t seen anyone else around us catch a fish. Time for Plan C.

A ten minute drive later and we were parked on the north end of Lake Como. It’s shallow and weedy up there, so we had to walk quite a way to get to a decent area to fish. This is primarily a northern pike and largemouth bass lake, so we set out a full spread of tip-ups. The action at Como turned out to be a little better than Delavan, but not by much. Five flags went up, but only one small pike was iced. A very disappointing end to our ice season. Still, we found Lake Como to be interesting and several of us are thinking about fishing it again this summer.

The club’s next outing will be the spring walleye run at the end of March in the Fox River at DePere, WI. The fishing is usually excellent there, and it is one of our most anticipated trips of the year!

Eagle Lake - February 8, 2020

Nine club members and two guests fished Eagle Lake this morning. A local pub was having an ice fishing derby on the lake so it was CROWDED, but we managed to get a spread of tip-ups out. It was chilly at the start of the outing, but by late morning the sun was out and it was quite warm.

We fished the same area that four club members pre-fished last weekend, and got the same result: two northern pike caught. Jason Cashmore landed a fat 30-incher mid-morning that won him the outing big fish contest and puts him in the lead for big fish of the year. About an hour later Jeff Sannes caught a 26-incher that puts him in the lead for multi-species master. Both fish were caught on some of the shallowest tip-ups we had set.

Although only two fish were caught there were several other missed opportunities. A few times we had flags go up and, when the tip-up was checked, several feet of line had been taken out but the bait had been dropped. Lou DiNicola was using automatic fisherman and they went off with a fish clearly on the line, but it got off before Lou could get to the pole.

Two additional club members joined us later in the morning to visit and enjoy the sunshine. We packed up at noon and had lunch at Michael’s on the Lake, a restaurant right on Eagle Lake where we were fishing. Our next outing will be at Lake Delavan in two weeks (pending safe ice).

January 25, 2020 - Wooster Lake

Seven club members ice fished Wooster Lake on Saturday, January 25. The temperature was mild, but wet snow made it a little challenging for us. The fishing started out slow, but picked up later in the morning. Five largemouth bass ranging from 13.5” up to 17.5” were caught on tip-ups. Dave Busscher had an excellent outing—he caught the 17.5"-incher to win big fish for the outing, and he caught two more for 15 total points! A few guys spent some time jigging for panfish and four bluegill big enough to score points were caught, including a 9.25-incher caught by Gregg Stockey.

Our next outing will be at Eagle Lake on February 8. At that outing we mostly set out tip-ups for northern pike. If anyone is interested in joining us please click the Contact link in the menu and send us a message.

Best Fish of the Year

Now that the last outing of 2019 is over let’s look back at some noteworthy fish that were caught at outings throughout the year.

Largemouth Bass

At the Silver Lake outing on August 24th Carl Dillberg caught a fat 20” largemouth bass. It beat all other fish caught that day by 3.5” or more, and beat out all other bass throughout the year to be the best largemouth!

Carl Dillburg with his 20” Silver Lake largemouth bass.

Smallmouth Bass

The weather was rough and the fishing was disappointing for the July 13-14 outing on Sturgeon Bay. One bright spot of the outing was a beautiful 18.5” smallmouth bass caught by Al Silcroft.

Al Silcroft with his 18.5” Sturgeon Bay smallmouth bass.

Walleye

Despite some outings on good walleye water where fish in the upper 20s are possible, the biggest walleye caught this year was a 22"-incher that Jeff Sannes caught at the September Lake Delavan outing.

Jeff Sannes with his 22” Lake Delavan walleye.

Jeff Sannes with his 22” Lake Delavan walleye.

Northern Pike

This species was a tough call. Dave Busscher caught a 31.5” northern on Lake Delavan in June, but the win is going to the pike Gregg Stockey caught in December from a Lake Michigan harbor. Although only 30”, Gregg’s pike was fat and is probably the heaviest one caught this year.

Gregg Stockey with his 30” Lake Michigan northern pike.

Trout/Salmon

The third of five fish on this list caught from Lake Michigan is the 32” lake trout Jeff Sannes caught on the December 7 outing. He was fishing Milwaukee Harbor and caught the big laker on a jig-and-plastic combo. In addition to being his second entry on this list, this fishalso won Jeff the Big Fish award for the year!

Jeff Sannes with his 32” Lake Michigan lake trout.

These were all beautiful fish, and we’re hoping to catch some even bigger ones in 2020!

December 7, 2019 - Lake Michigan

Six club members fished Lake Michigan for our last outing of 2019. The weather was cold and some locations had skim ice, but fortunately it wasn’t windy. Although this has historically been a Kenosha Harbor outing, members spread out in search of fish.

Gregg Stockey and Jason Cashmore fished a nearby harbor and were rewarded with good northern pike action. They each caught two pike, with the biggest being Gregg’s 30-incher. They didn’t get weights, but all four fish were fat and healthy.

Jeff Sannes and Ward Aldritch launched Jeff’s boat to chase offshore trout and salmon. Jeff landed a 32” lake trout and lost another at the boat that bent his hook straight. His 32-incher is the longest fish caught during a club outing all year!

November 2-3, 2019 - Lake Wisconsin

Our 18th scheduled outing of 2019 was at Lake Wisconsin this past weekend. Nine members fished through cold and windy conditions. Several of us took pictures of how ridiculous it looked hooking up our boat trailers Friday morning, and our family and friends told us we were crazy.

When we arrived at the lake we found the dock had been pulled from the boat launch and there was skim ice on the lake. However, once we got out and started fishing, the bite was on! Many legal walleye and sauger were caught pre-fishing on Friday, along with several fish in the 20-28” protected slot. Mike Stanek and Jason Cashmore both caught thick 25.5” walleye.

The great fishing on Friday had us confident and excited about Saturday. Unfortunately, a cold front moved through. The fish weren’t biting as well as they had Friday, and the weather was a bigger factor. Strong winds made boat control difficult, and there was even a brief storm that blanketed us with ice pellets. But, it takes more than that to stop us! We fished through it all and managed to catch some scoreable fish.

Sunday was cold, but the wind had calmed down and the fish were biting a little better than they had the day before. By the end of the outing at noon on Sunday we had caught 1 smallmouth bass, 15 walleye, 31 sauger, 1 northern pike, and 7 white bass that scored points. Although bigger fish were caught pre-fishing on Friday, the big fish contest was won with a 20.5” walleye Jeff Haug caught Saturday night. Most fish were caught using blade baits, jig and minnow, or live minnows on a crappie rig. Although none of our members trolled, there was a tournament on Saturday with many boats trolling and catching fish.

October 5, 2019 - Lake Geneva

Nine members and three guests fished Lake Geneva this past Saturday. The weather was cool and windy, and our expectations were high, but very few fish were boated. The big fish contest species for this outing was muskie, and a lot of effort went into targeting them. We tried the baits and locations recommended by guide Jon Winsor at our last meeting, but no one even got a follow from a muskie. Backup species for the big fish contest was northern pike, and two of those were caught. Jeff Haug caught a 20” pike on a live sucker, and Lou DiNicola caught a 28.5-incher on a jig and jerk minnow. Congratulations Lou.

In total, 5 largemouth bass, 1 northern pike, 3 pumpkinseeds, 1 rock bass, and 1 perch were caught for 3 points. That makes this our lowest-scoring outing since last winter! Geneva is a good lake, and we are obviously great fishermen, so we’ll blame it on the cold front moving through. There was a bass tournament going on and we didn’t see them boating many fish, either.

Our next outing is November 2nd and 3rd at Lake Wisconsin. Let’s hope the fish will be biting then!

September 14 or 21, 2019 - Lake Delavan

This outing was originally scheduled for the 14th. However, many club members were unavailable that day, so it was decided we could fish either the 14th or the 21st. Ten members fished the outing—five each day.

On the 14th water was very high due to flooding conditions from recent storms and there was a no wake rule in effect for the lake. Weather conditions were perfect, but the fish were hard to come by. Three fisherman didn’t catch anything. Jason Cashmore caught a 12.5” largemouth bass on a live sucker, but that isn’t big enough for points. Dave Busscher figured them out, though, and caught 9 largemouth for 30 points! He caught them all in 13-15 fow with a brown nail worm fished VERY slowly on bottom. His biggest was a 10-point, 19-incher.

The fish were picky again on the 21st, with only two members catching fish for points. Al Silcroft picked up 5 points catching a 30” northern pike on a crankbait. In another boat, Jeff Sannes was fishing with live suckers and earned 25 points with a 13.5” largemouth, a 22” walleye, and a 19.5” largemouth. The big fish species for this outing was black bass, so Jeff’s 19.5-incher barely beat out Dave’s 19-incher to win the pot.

Dave’s outstanding performance puts him at the top of the fisherman of the year contest with 238 points, bumping Jason into second place with 213 points. All three fisherman that caught fish added to their Multi-species Master totals. Dave is now in third place with 101”, Al moved into second with 105”, and Jeff is still in first with 108.5”. Congratulations and good job to all three of them!

Lake Geneva musky guide Jon Winsor will be the guest at our September 17 meeting

The Libertyville Fishing Club is proud to be hosting top musky guide Jon Winsor of Toothy Critters Guide Service at our September 17 meeting to be held at the Libertyville Township Center, 359 Merrill Ct. in Libertyville. The meeting starts at 7:30 pm.

Lake Geneva is now classified as an A1 musky fishery by the Wisconsin DNR. The lake has been stocked with musky starting in 2010. Due to the plentiful cisco and panfish population in Lake Geneva, the musky growth rate has far exceeded expectations. While we stress catch and release, the minimum size limit has been raised to 50 inches. We expect to learn a lot from Jon and all are invited.

August 24, 2019 - Silver Lake

The Libertyville Fishing Club held its 15th outing for 2019 at Silver Lake on 8/24/19. Eleven members fished the outing. It was a calm, quiet morning and started with another beautiful sunrise. Although it started out calm, the wind picked up considerably by mid morning, making boat control difficult.

The bite was on immediately, and most boats caught lots of fish, but very few were big enough to score points. Both plastics and live minnows caught bass. Gregg Stockey and Yo Ying Chen both caught 16.5-inchers, but Carl Dilberg caught a 20" beauty.

The big fish contest species for this outing was muskie/northern, and many of us spent time targeting them. There were several stories at lunch of big pike that followed a bait to the boat or bit through someone’s line. Although several small pike were caught, nobody caught one big enough for points. Bass was backup for big fish, so Carl Dilberg won.

Overall 12 largemouth, 2 bluegill, and 1 rock bass large enough for points were caught for a total of 68 points. Congratulations to Carl for big fish and to Yo Ying who led everyone with 16 points!

August 10, 2019 - Pleasant Lake

The Libertyville Fishing Club held its 14th outing for 2019 at Pleasant Lake on 8/10/19. Nine members fished the outing in beautiful weather.

Nail worms, wacky rigs, and jigs tipped with various plastics took over a hundred largemouth bass, but they were mostly in the 12 inch range. We caught 16 bass that scored the minimum of 13 inches, with Ward Aldritch and Dave Busscher splitting big fish honors with 14 inchers. We also caught two walleye and one crappie for a total of 91 points..

We saw minnows in the lake, but weeds were very short with no moss on the bottom. The lake is crystal clear and may be infertile. For whatever reason, the bass population seems to be stunted.

Fishing very deep (20 fow) and letting your lure slowly hop the clean bottom was a very productive method, though some boats caught fish in shallower water. The little bass seemed to be everywhere. What they lacked in size they more than made up for with action, and a great time was had by all.

The fish were so small it turns out nobody took any pictures of them! But Gregg Stockey took a few pictures of the beautiful sunrise we were treated to while launching the boats.

The fish were so small it turns out nobody took any pictures of them! But Gregg Stockey took a few pictures of the beautiful sunrise we were treated to while launching the boats.

July 27, 2019 - Lake Geneva

The Libertyville Fishing Club held its 13th outing for 2019 at Lake Geneva on July 27. Ten members and one guest fished the outing. The weather was overcast and very windy, but fishable.

Nail worms and wacky rigs took bass, while live bait took panfish. The key was depth—you had to stay in the 10-14 FOW range for the best action. The big fish species was smallmouth, and Jason Cashmore caught a 15-incher to take the big fish prize. One smallmouth, 13 largemouth, 14 bluegills, 15 rock bass, and 2 perch of scoreable size were caught for a total of 101 points. Many smaller panfish were caught also, as well as several short northerns.

Lake Geneva is becoming known for its muskies. Jeff Sannes and his guest threw musky baits all morning all over the lake but didn't raise a fish. A number of other boats were observed chucking for muskies as well. We have Jon Winsor (one of the top Lake Geneva musky guides) scheduled to speak at the September 17 meeting to give us tips for our Lake Geneva outing on October 5.

We have had more productive outings at Geneva, but this is dog days fishing, and a great time was had by all.

Member Mike Tarnow with a Lake Geneva largemouth.

Member Mike Tarnow with a Lake Geneva largemouth.

Member Jason Cashmore with a Lake Geneva smallmouth bass.

Member Jason Cashmore with a Lake Geneva smallmouth bass.

Member Jeff Haug with a Lake Geneva largemouth bass.

Member Jeff Haug with a Lake Geneva largemouth bass.

Member Dave Busscher with a Lake Geneva largemouth bass.

Member Dave Busscher with a Lake Geneva largemouth bass.