Private Bass Lake - June 19, 2021

The Libertyville Fishing Club held an outing at our private bass lake last Saturday. Thirteen club members fished the outing on a perfect day. The bass were very active and we caught 40 largemouth for points, topped by Al Silcroft's 18-incher which won the big fish contest. Many bass just under the 13" scorable length were also caught. In addition to bass, we caught 8 bluegills and 1 perch that scored points. For this outing 3.1 points were scored per person per hour, which tops the 3.0 of the Round Lake outing for the best so far this year.

With the year halfway through, the same three guys are atop the leaderboards for both total points and the multi-species contest. Dave Busscher is leading in points with Al Silcroft right behind him. For multi-species Al has a solid lead and Dave is in second. Jeff Haug is nipping at their heels in 3rd place for both. Isaac Biggerstaff still leads the big fish contest with the 34” northern pike he pulled through the ice back in January.

Our next outing is July 10 at Brown's Lake, and we hope to see you there!



Round Lake - June 5, 2021

Eight club members fished Round Lake this morning. It was hot and at times breezy, but overall a beautiful morning on the water. The fishing was tough. We caught some, but it was a slow grind all morning. As usual for our club, most fish came on plastics—nail worms and wacky-rigged senkos. Nineteen largemouth bass, one northern pike, and one channel catfish were caught that counted for club points. That comes out to 3.0 points per person per hour, which is the best of any outing so far this year. The channel catfish was a 10-point 27-incher caught by Jeff Haug on a swimbait. Two of the bass were also 10-pointers: an 18.5” largemouth caught by Jason Cashmore and a 20-incher that won Ken Haney the big fish contest. Ken, fishing from his kayak, turned in an impressive five fish, 30 point outing result. Great job, Ken!

After the outing we had a nice picnic lunch in the park next to the boat launch. Everyone brought a sandwich and chairman Jason brought cold drinks, chips, and cookies. Fun times!

Our next outing is June 19 at our private bass lake.

Green Lake - May 22-23, 2021

This past weekend was our annual Jay Hall memorial trip to Green Lake. Twelve club members and three guests fished the outing with poor results. Historically, we have gone on this trip the weekend after Memorial Day and have done very well. This year, due to a change in our usual accommodations, we went the weekend before Memorial Day. It’s amazing the difference two weeks can make!

We scored 130 points on 1 largemouth, 14 smallmouth, 2 northerns, 1 bluegill, and 40 rock bass. Dave Busscher and Gregg Stockey tied for big fish with a pair of 16" smallmouth. Well done, guys!

Thanks to Jeff Haug for chairing the outing and to Matt Biggerstaff for a delicious dinner of smoked porked shoulder on Saturday!

Lake Michigan - May 8, 2021

Thirteen club members and one guest fished Lake Michigan this past Saturday. The weather at this outing is always an adventure, but this year we lucked out with a perfect, calm day. Most of us fished from boats and kayaks launched from Waukegan Harbor.

Nineteen trout and salmon were caught during the outing. Most were coho in the 19-21” range, but Jason Cashmore won the big fish prize with a 27-incher. Fisherman in one boat caught four brown trout, although only one came during the outing hours. Two guys had chinooks on but lost them.

Most fish were caught trolling in 30-35 feet of water. Both crankbaits and dodger/fly combos produced fish. The brown trout were all caught by one boat casting in front of the stacks. John Medved suggested that technique to his partners and it paid off.

While pulling the boats out we talked to fisherman at the launch who caught bigger fish out in 65'. They caught 2 lakers, 2 steelhead, 1 coho and lost a big chinook. Something to consider in the future—move deeper.

Our next outing is the annual Jay Hall Memorial Green Lake outing on May 22 and 23.

Fox Chain - April 24, 2021

We held our 7th outing of 2021 on the Fox Chain on April 24. Eight guys fished on a beautiful day with mixed results. We scored 85 points on 1 smallmouth, 12 walleyes (including Dave Busscher’s 24-incher which took the big fish prize), 1 northern pike (Mike Hall's 33-incher) and 1 channel catfish. Several large drum were also caught. Although they fight hard, they don’t count for points.

One of the boats found fish early in 2-3 fow and caught a lot of fish in the first two hours of the outing. The other boats didn't do very well fishing other spots on the Chain. Mike Hall was pre-fishing with his tournament partner and the next day they scored 3rd out of 40 boats. Congratulations Mike!

Our next outing is Lake Michigan on May 8.

Fox River, Wilmot - April 10, 2021

Six members and one guest fished the Fox River near Wilmot, WI on Saturday. You never know how river conditions will be at this time of year. Usually the Fox is in flood stage, but this year it was very low. As a result, the migration of spawning walleyes from the Chain was not there. Weather conditions were cool and calm early. A light rain developed later in the morning.

Dave Busscher missed a huge white bass, then landed an 11-incher. Gregg Stockey caught an 11" smallmouth. Jeff Haug, who opted out of the big fish contest, would have won with a 16" walleye. Al Silcroft wrapped up scoring with a 13" white bass.

Hopefully we’ll get some spring rain soon that will put flow in the river and get the fish active.

Fox River, DePere - March 26, 2021

Our first open water outing of the year was at DePere, WI in the Fox River on March 26. Six club members and two guests fished the outing chasing walleyes. The weather was windy and cold but dry.

Pre-fishing on Wednesday and Thursday was much more productive size-wise, with 5 walleye in the 22-23" range caught. During the outing the members caught 17 walleye in the 15-17" range, while guest and former member Joe Baron got a 25-incher to take the big fish prize. It was great to see Joe Baron and his dad Don (also a former member) at the outing. Mike Hall put on a walleye fishing clinic with his blade bait, catching about 20 walleyes during the outing hours.

Fox Chain - February 27, 2021

Eight club members fished our final ice outing of this winter on Saturday the 27th. Many hours were spent pre-fishing the chain to locate walleye, but we were unsuccessful. So, for the outing we targeted panfish. We marked plenty on our flashers and saw them on underwater cameras, but it was a very slow bite. Only five fish (three crappies and two bluegill) were caught that scored points, with about the same amount of shorter fish caught.

The ice is over a foot thick, so even with the warmer weather coming up we hopefully have another week or two of ice fishing left. The bite usually picks up for late ice, so let’s get out there and pull some fish through the ice while we still can!

Nielsen's Channels - January 23, 2021

Our second outing of the year was this past Saturday at Nielsen’s Channels off the Fox River in Port Barrington. Seven club members and one guest fished in the cold conditions (0° at 7 am!). The bite was slow, possibly because we were there so late in the winter. It is a well-known first-ice location and has been getting fished hard for weeks. Although we eventually caught bluegills and crappies, most were small—only 7 were big enough to score club points (>7” for bluegill and >9” for crappie). Gregg Stockey won the big fish contest with a 9.5” crappie.

Although he scored no points at this outing, Isaac Biggerstaff held onto his points lead. Al Silcroft caught a 7” bluegill that puts him in first for the multi-species master. But, it’s early in the year and there are a lot of fish to be caught still! Our next outing is February 6 at Wooster Lake.

Lake Michigan - January 9, 2021

We had our first outing of 2021 today. Ten members and two guests fished a Lake Michigan harbor targeting big northern pike. The weather was pleasant but the ice was crowded. We dropped in our tip-ups and settled in for a long wait. Fortunately, Ward Aldrich brought delicious treats baked for us by his wife Ann that we enjoyed while waiting. After about three hours we iced our first fish—Al Silcroft caught a fat 31.5” northern. A short while later Al had another flag go up and he allowed Isaac Biggerstaff to land the fish—a 34” northern! Great job Al and Isaac.

Best Fish of 2020

It has been a weird year, to say the least! While lakes in Wisconsin and Minnesota saw record amounts of fishermen this year, we had to cancel, change, or reschedule many of our outings. In spite of that, we managed to do some fishing. Here is a look back at some of the noteworthy fish we caught on club outings.

Largemouth Bass

The average size of largemouth bass caught during outings was down for us this year. Although several 19+” fish were caught pre-fishing, on the actual outings the biggest fish were often 17”. The only largemouth bigger than that was a 17.5-incher caught by Al Silcroft on Brown’s Lake in July. This fish shows why they are nicknamed ‘bucketmouth’!

Smallmouth Bass

They say when one door closes, another opens. I guess when the big largemouth bass door closed on us this year we walked through the door that opened, and turns out it led to big smallmouth bass. Believe it or not, we caught multiple smallmouth bass that topped our biggest largemouth this year! The biggest was a 20.5-incher Jeff Sannes caught on Lake Delavan in June. If Jeff ever asks you to go bass fishing on Delavan, you say “YES!”

Walleye

It was a very slow walleye year for us. To be fair, we had to cancel some good walleye outings. But, we still fished good walleye water like the Fox Chain and Lake Wisconsin. In spite of few walleye being caught, one was a beauty. Jeff Sannes landed this 25-3/4” fatty at the October outing on the Fox Chain. Another great fish, Jeff!

Northern Pike

This fat 30” Eagle Lake northern pike caught by Jason Cashmore is the most noteworthy pike of the year. Although Jason caught a slightly longer fish In June on Lake Delavan, it didn’t come close to the girth of this fish. Plus, it’s always extra fun to catch them through the ice!

Sturgeon

Some years there is a surprise fish caught at an outing. In 2018 it was a 44” flathead catfish. In 2012 it was a 44” musky. This year, Jason Cashmore caught a 33-3/4” sturgeon at Lake Wisconsin in November! Jason was fishing the main channel, and mostly catching sauger. Jason had caught a lot of drum throughout the day, so when he hooked something heavy and stubborn he was thinking big drum, but hoping big walleye. After a five minute battle he got it to the surface and saw it was a sturgeon! It was Jason’s first sturgeon, so he was pretty excited about the catch.

Lake Michigan - December 5, 2020

Our last outing of the year was this past Saturday. It was a Lake Michigan outing and members were allowed to fish any Lake Michigan waters from Chicago to Milwaukee. Eight club members fished from the docks at North Point Marina and two brave members went out of Milwaukee harbor in a boat.

Those of us at North Point Marina were mainly targeting northern pike, with a little effort towards panfish as well. Two pike were caught, but they were under the minimum 24” for club points. One perch was caught as well, but it was also too small to score points. The two adventurers in Milwaukee harbor were met with rough conditions, and their daring was unfortunately not rewarded with any fish. At least we all got to see a beautiful sunrise!

Lake Wisconsin - November 8, 2020

Ordinarily, this is a weekend outing that many club members fish. This year, due to the pandemic, it was made into a day outing and only six members fished it. Conditions were windy, but it was unseasonably warm and the fish were biting.

Sauger outnumbered the walleye this year, and as always there were a lot of short fish caught. One walleye and 14 sauger were big enough to score club points. Gregg Stockey caught nine of those sauger, but per club rules could only count a maximum of five. Gregg caught most of his fish using a jig and a minnow. The outing’s big fish contest was for walleye or sauger and Jason Cashmore won with a 15.5” sauger. That fish and a 15-incher caught by Gregg were the only two legal sauger caught. (On Lake Wisconsin walleye and sauger must be larger than 15” but less than 20” to keep.) No legal walleye were caught. Jason caught some fish with a jig and minnow, but also caught quite a few on a silver blade bait, including a white bass, a crappie, and a yellow bass.

There were some surprise catches. Jeff Haug caught a smallmouth bass, Gregg Stockey caught a 22” sturgeon, and Jason Cashmore caught a 33-3/4” sturgeon. Both the sturgeon were caught on a jig and minnow in the late afternoon. Jason’s sturgeon is now the leading fish for the club’s big fish of the year award.

We have only one more outing scheduled for this year—Lake Michigan in December. Historically, members have mostly shore-fished for salmon at Kenosha harbor for that outing, but this year we are planning to fish for northern pike at North Point Marina. Can someone catch a 34+” pike to nab big fish of the year? Join us for the outing and find out!

Member Fishing Reports - First Half of September

New club members Matt and Isaac Biggerstaff have been fishing Waukegan Harbor several times recently. Matt landed a 19.5” smallmouth bass casting from the pier. He estimated it to be 5-6 pounds and said it is a new PB for him! On a separate occasion they were trolling in their tandem kayak and Isaac caught a 34", 14 pound king salmon. It dragged their kayak around for a bit before they could land it! Great fish, guys.

Gregg Stockey caught a 37” northern pike while fishing a private lake for panfish. He was using a 1/16 oz crappie jig, so it must have been quite a surprise! Gregg has also been fishing his home lake. He says the bass fishing has been slow, but he expects it to pick up soon.

Lake Geneva - September 12, 2020

Fishing has been slow and the weather forecast was for pouring rain, so almost everyone decided to sit this one out. In fact, only two brave and hardy souls fished the outing: the two Jeffs. And, they were rewarded for their toughness. The weather wasn’t as bad as predicted, fish were caught, and contest standings changed.

Jeff Haug caught five largemouth bass casting plastics, the biggest being 17”. He scored 25 points to move him into first place. Jeff Sannes tried trolling large muskie baits, but didn’t get any bites. He switched over to panfish and caught a 8.5” pumpkinseed that puts him in first place for the multi-species master. Way to go, guys!!

Our next meeting is next week Tuesday at 7 pm at the Century Park pavilion next to the Big Bear Lake fishing pier.

Our next outing is Forest Lake on Saturday, September 26.

Silver Lake - August 22, 2020

Nine members and two guests fished the the Silver Lake outing this past Saturday. Four boats launched from the marina on the south end of the lake and two kayaks launched from the public ramp on the west side. The day started out cool and calm, but ended up hot and windy.

We caught 18 largemouth bass, 11 bluegills, and 4 rock bass that qualified for a total of 105 points according to the club's scoring system.  Live bait was a producer, with the panfish being caught on worms and quite a few bass caught on minnows. A lot of bass were caught that were under the 13” minimum size for points. Jason Cashmore won big fish with a 17" largemouth.

Our next outing is Lake Geneva on September 12.

Round Lake - August 8, 2020

Nine members and two guests fished our first outing at Round Lake. Fish were caught, but it was a little slower than it had been pre-fishing. It was a warm and very breezy day, and boat control was quite difficult.

Fifteen largemouth bass, one smallmouth bass, one crappie, and one pumpkinseed were caught that scored club points. That comes out to an average of 9.1 points per fisherman. Jeff Haug won big fish of the outing with twin 17” largemouth bass he caught in the last half hour. Most of the largemouth we caught were small, though. Jason Cashmore caught a 15.5” smallmouth off a rock pile. Wacky-rigged senkos and nail worms in natural colors produced best.

Our next outing is Saturday, August 22 at Silver Lake.

Member Fishing Reports - July

Lou DiNicola has been catching multiple species in his neighborhood lake. A highlight was a 29”, 15 lb. channel catfish. It gave him a 15 minute battle on an ultralight rod with 6 lb test line!

Jason Cashmore has been fishing Round Lake to gather info for the August 8 outing. He fished with Al Silcroft on the 18th and Dave Busscher on the 27th. They caught quite a few bass, mostly on plastics. The water was clear on the 18th and natural colors worked best. On the 27th the water was a little murky after some rain, and both natural and bright colors worked. Most of the bass were in the 14-16” range, but some nice ones were boated: Al caught a 19” largemouth and Dave caught a 20”, 5-pounder. Jason caught a 16” smallmouth, so we know they are in there to be caught, too.

Ken Haney has been fishing his neighborhood lake in his kayak and caught a beautiful 19” largemouth bass.

The fish are biting, so get out there and catch some! Share your results with the webmaster and you’ll be included in the next report.

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.