Trip Log - 2002

Back				Home

Trip Log - 2002
By William D. Anderson

<< 2001 Trip Log

Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Segmented photo album for dial-up users

Current Trip Log >>

1/04/2002

Illinois River

Ottawa, IL

Bright sunshine - Air Temp in the upper 30s with a Southwest wind gusting past 25 mph.

Water temp was 34 degrees with a lot of ice floating down river.

Results
Me :	1 Sauger
	1 Walleye
Techniques:
Vertical Jigging with a fathead and stinger hook. The jig/minnow combo was lowered straight down to the bottom then raised 2 to 4 inches every few seconds. Proper boat control was important in the wind and current in order to keep the line vertical.

Both fish were released.

After driving to the river and finding the ramps frozen, I fished a little from the bank and then began trying to chop the ice out using the wrong tool for the job. Lucky for me two other fishermen showed up with the proper tools and after a while we had the ramp open and were able to launch. I know the guys in the other boat caught at least 4 fish before I left.

Some of today's pictures: 1 2

1/09/2002

Illinois River

Ottawa, IL

Bright sunshine - Air Temp in the mid 50s with a Southwest wind gusting past 25 mph.

Water temp was 37.

Results
Me :	5 Sauger
	1 Walleye
Techniques:
Vertical Jigging with a fathead and stinger hook. The jig/minnow combo was lowered straight down to the bottom then raised 2 to 4 inches every few seconds. Proper boat control was important in the wind and current in order to keep the line vertical.

All fish were released.

Very windy day. I fished deeper water and did better today, but not as well as some others who were there. Two of the fish were decent.

Some of today's fish: 1 2 3

1/19/2002

Illinois River

Ottawa, IL

Mostly Sunny - Air Temp in the mid to upper 20s with a Southwest around 7mph.

Water temp was 37.

Results
Me :	4 Walleye
	1 Sauger
Partner:	0
Techniques:
Vertical Jigging with a fathead and stinger hook. The jig/minnow combo was lowered straight down to the bottom then raised 2 to 4 inches every few seconds. Proper boat control was important in the wind and current in order to keep the line vertical.

All fish were released.

The fish became active shortly before I had to leave. All of them were caught within 30 minutes of each other. The Walleye were small but the Sauger was a decent fish.

1/23/2002

Illinois River

Ottawa, IL

Cloudy with light drizzle - Air Temp in the mid to upper 40s with a Southwest around 5mph.

Water temp was 41.

Results
Me :	17 Walleye
	3 Sauger
Techniques:
Vertical Jigging with a fathead and stinger hook. The jig/minnow combo was lowered straight down to the bottom then raised 2 to 4 inches every few seconds. Proper boat control was important in the wind and current in order to keep the line vertical.

All fish were released.

All the walleye and one of the sauger were small but two of the sauger were nice fish. I also lost another big sauger at the boat. I was expecting the fish to be hitting later in the day but I caught them on every drift all day long until the sun began to set. A friend showed up and fished the last 20 minutes with me and we had a few light hits and stolen minnows, but didn't catch anything right before dark.

One of today's pictures: 1

2/1/2002

Illinois River

Ottawa, IL

Cloudy then sunny - Air Temp in the mid 20s rising to about freezing. Northwest around 15mph gusting past 25.

Water temp was 41.

Results
Me :	2 Walleye
Techniques:
Vertical Jigging with a fathead and stinger hook. The jig/minnow combo was lowered straight down to the bottom then raised 2 to 4 inches every few seconds. Proper boat control was important in the wind and current in order to keep the line vertical.

All fish were released.

Both fish were very small. The river was higher and moving faster due to recent rain and melting snow. Both fish were caught closer to shoreline structure that may have provided a break from the current. There was a lot of debris floating down the river and it was very murky.

2/7/2002

Powerton Lake

Manito, IL

Foggy then sunny - Air Temp in the mid 20s rising to the upper 30s. Northwest wind around 10mph.

Results
Me :	6 Smallmouth
	1 Shad
Techniques:
Rapala Risto Raps, Fat Raps, Tail Dancers, Long Cast Minnows, and a Mepps Spinner. Moved along the rip rap'd shoreline fan casting.

All fish were released.

The Smallmouth were all caught casting parallel to shore with various crank baits. No hits casting straight out and nothing on the spinner. I saw some nice white bass and a big buffalo caught on live bait.

Some of today's pictures: 1 2

2/15/2002

Illinois River

Ottawa, IL

Partly sunny - Air Temp in the low 40s. West wind around 20mph gusting past 30.

Water temp was 41.

Results
Me :	4 Walleye
	4 Sauger
Techniques:
Vertical Jigging with a fathead and stinger hook. The jig/minnow combo was lowered straight down to the bottom then raised 2 to 4 inches every few seconds. Proper boat control was important in the wind and current in order to keep the line vertical.

All fish were released.

The walleye were all small. I had to switch to a heavy jig in order to fish vertically in that wind. It was blowing straight up river making it difficult to control the boat and fish at the same time.

Some of today's pictures: 1

2/25/2002

Illinois River

Ottawa, IL

Overcast - Air Temp in the upper 30s and falling. Northwest wind around 10mph occasionally gusting higher.

Water temp was 44.

Results
Me :	1 Walleye
Techniques:
Vertical Jigging with a fathead and stinger hook. The jig/minnow combo was lowered straight down to the bottom then raised 2 to 4 inches every few seconds. Proper boat control was important in the wind and current in order to keep the line vertical.

All fish were released.

The walleye was probably the smallest one of the year for me. The river was high and muddy.

2/28/2002

Powerton Lake

Manito, IL

Mostly sunny - Air Temp in the mid 20s rising to the upper 30s. Southwest wind around 10mph.

Water temp ranged from 62 to 47.

Results
Me :	3 Smallmouth
	1 Channel Catfish
Techniques:
Rapala Risto Raps, Fat Raps, Tail Dancers, Long Cast Minnows, and a Rooster Tail.

All fish were released.

All fish were all caught on silver/black Fat Raps tossed along the rip rap. The catfish was caught a little further out than the smallmouth.

Some of today's pictures: 1 2 3

10.

3/14/2002

Busse Lake / Salt Creek

Elk Grove Village, IL

Mostly sunny - Air Temp in the mid 50s.

East wind around 10mph.

Results
Me :	Nothing
Techniques:
Jigs, Minnows, Cranks, Plastics, Spinners, etc.,

I walked both sides of the creek from the main dam to the first overpass and tried every conceivable retrieve. I was told a couple walleye had been taken very early but that was it.

There were a lot of fish visible(9 species) in the warm water discharge from the treatment plant but they wouldn't even look at anything I offered including live bait.

11.

3/22/2002

LaSalle Lake

Marseilles, IL

Bright Sunshine - Air Temp in the low 20s rising to about 30. The wind chill was in the single digits most of the time.

West wind around 20mph gusting beyond 35.

Water temp was 52 to 68

Results
Me :	2 Smallmouth Bass
Techniques:
Cranks and Spinners

All fish were released.

This was by far the windiest day on this lake with the boat for me. They closed the ramps early in the afternoon.

Both Smallmouth were taken on a Bluegill colored Shad Rap. If there would have been less wind I would have caught more fish. Most of the time was spent trying to keep the boat out of the rocks.

Today's Pictures: 1 2 3

12.

3/27/2002

LaSalle Lake

Marseilles, IL

Bright Sunshine - Air Temp in the mid 20s rising to about 40.

Southeast wind increasing to around 10mph.

Water temp was 56 to 82

Results
Me :	34 Channel Catfish
	1 Buffalo
	5 Smallmouth Bass
	4 Largemouth Bass
Partner:	1 Bluegill
	7 Yellow Bass
	2 Smallmouth Bass
	5 Largemouth Bass
	16 Channel Catfish
Techniques:
Crank Baits, Blade Baits, and Spinners.

All fish were released.

Catfish were active all over the lake and they were hitting everything. A few of them were pretty big but most were very small. The warmer the water, the more catfish we caught. No big Bass today. The biggest Largemouth was about 2 lbs.

13.

3/31/2002

LaSalle Lake

Marseilles, IL

Mostly Sunny deteriorating to light to moderate rain. Air Temp in the mid 30s.

Shifting Northwest winds increasing to around 15mph and gusting beyond 25.

Water temp was 56 to 85

Results
Me :	21 Channel Catfish
	1 Smallmouth Bass
	2 Largemouth Bass
	1 Hybrid Striped Bass
	9 Yellow Bass
Techniques:
Crank Baits, Blade Baits, and Spinners.

All fish were released.

Catfish were active in the warmer water again. I ran into a school of nice yellow bass and managed to pull a hybrid striped bass out of the same area before it got too windy to stay there.

The weather cleared up after I got off the lake.

Some of today's pictures: 1 2

14.

4/04/2002

LaSalle Lake

Marseilles, IL

Cloudy with intermittent light snow flurries. Air Temp in the mid 30s.

North wind around 5mph.

Water temp was 52 to 86

Results
Me :	15 Channel Catfish
	2 Largemouth Bass
	1 Yellow Bass
Techniques:
Crank Baits and Blade Baits

All fish were released.

Another day for catfish. They were hitting everything including a willow leaf buzz bait that I saw one caught on. One of my catfish was a little over 30 inches with better than an 18 inch girth. The bass were all small.

15.

4/13/2002

Tampier Slough

Cook County, IL

Sunny with approaching clouds. Air Temp in the mid 60s.

South wind around 10mph.

Results
Me :	1 Carp
Techniques:
Crank Baits and Blade Baits

All fish were released.

Walked the north Shoreline for an hour and snagged a small carp.

16.

4/14/2002

LaSalle Lake

Marseilles, IL

Mostly Sunny. Air temp was 50 at launch rising to the upper 70s.

Southwest wind around 15mph.

Water temp was 58 to 86

Results
Me :	17 Channel Catfish
	3 Smallmouth Bass
	7 Yellow Bass
Partner:	1 Drum
	5 Yellow Bass
	2 Largemouth Bass
	7 Channel Catfish
	1 Shad
Techniques:
Crank Baits, Spinners, and Blade Baits

All fish were released.

Finally caught another decent bass in between all the catfish. A few of the catfish were quite large. The yellow bass were in the water just off the wind blown banks.

17.

4/20/2002

Braidwood Lake

Braidwood, IL

Cloudy. Air temp in the upper 40s. A very rare drop occasionally fell from the sky.

Northeast wind around 25mph.

Water temp was 72 to 86

Results
Me :	1 Channel Catfish
	3 Largemouth Bass
Partner:	1 Largemouth Bass
	2 Channel Catfish
Techniques:
Crank Baits and Blade Baits

All fish were released.

Went to LaSalle first thing and found that the ramps were closed so we went to Braidwood. LaSalle didn't look too bad but if the they were getting the winds that were being reported on the radio at the time we left Braidwood, the ramps would have been getting nailed pretty good. Braidwood didn't seem too bad, and we hit the entire lake. Only one bass was a keeper and the rest were small.

18.

4/22/2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Cloudy. Air temp in the low 40s. Occasional light drizzle.

Northwest wind around 10mph.

Water temp was 59 to 63

Results
Me :	1 Crappie
	2 Hybrid Striped Bass
	1 Smallmouth Bass
	2 Drum
Techniques:
Crank Baits and Blade Baits

All fish were released.

I spent then entire time casting the shoreline and caught a big crappie on a crank bait. The other fish weren't too big. At least the lake was fairly calm even though the red flag was posted for high wind and hazardous conditions.

19.

4/26/2002

Braidwood Lake

Braidwood, IL

Bright Sunshine. Air temp in the upper 40s and lower 50s.

Northeast wind around 10mph.

Water temp was 68 to 83

Results
Me :	9 Channel Catfish
	2 Largemouth Bass
	1 Bullhead
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

1 catfish was 3 lbs and one of the bass was 14 inches. The rest were all very small fish. I saw three different species of snakes in the water today. One of the snakes was very fat and had to be 4 feet long.

20.

4/30/2002

LaSalle Lake

Marseilles, IL

Clouds with light rain. Temps in the mid 50s.

Variable wind direction between 5 and 10mph. No gusts.

Water temp was 64 to 85

Results
Me :	11 Channel Catfish
	2 Largemouth Bass
	2 Smallmouth Bass
	1 Bluegill
	2 Buffalo
	6 Yellow Bass
Partner:	3 Largemouth Bass
	7 Channel Catfish
	3 Smallmouth Bass
	2 Hybrid Striped Bass
	3 Yellow Bass
	1 Buffalo
	1 Shad
Techniques:
Crank Baits, Blade Baits, & Spinners

All fish were released.

We snagged two big buffalo and another one of them hit a small shad rap. With the exception of a couple catfish and a couple of yellow bass, the fish were on the small side.

21.

5/03/2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Not a cloud in the sky.. Air temp in the mid 50s.

Northwest wind around 5mph shifting towards the west.

Water temp was 56 to 60.

Results
Me :	1 Walleye
	1 Drum
	2 Smallmouth Bass
Techniques:
Crank Baits and Blade Baits

All fish were released.

One of the Smallmouth was a keeper as was the Walleye. All fish were caught on cranks in the rocks.

22.

5/07/2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Overcast. Air temp in the mid 50s.

Northeast wind at 18mph gusting past 25.

Water temp was 62 to 64.

Results
Me :	3 Walleye
	3 Drum
	5 Smallmouth Bass
	5 Yellow Bass
	3 Hybrid Striped Bass
	3 Largemouth Bass
	4 Buffalo
Techniques:
Crank Baits cast parallel to the rocks

All fish were released.

I drifted along the rocks with the wind and I guess I picked the right bank today. My first cast resulted in a 12 inch smallmouth and they got bigger from there. I also hooked and lost a massive striped bass. It ran at will and there was nothing I could do but listen to my drag scream.

Some of today's pictures:

1 2 3 4 5

23.

5/10/2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Bright Sunshine Air temp in the mid 60s.

West wind at 15mph gusting past 25.

Water temp was 62 to 65.

Results
Me :	3 Walleye
	1 Drum
	3 Yellow Bass
	12 Hybrid Striped Bass
Techniques:
Crank Baits, Blade Baits, and Spinners cast parallel to the rocks

All fish were released.

The Walleyes and Yellow Bass were on one side of the lake and the stripers were on the other. Everything but the Yellows were caught on cranks. The Yellows hit rooster tails.

Getting under the bridge was tough with the chop on the water.

Some of today's pictures:

1 2 3 4

24.

5/24/2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Mostly Cloudy. Air temp in the mid 50s.

Northeast wind at 15mph gusting past 20.

Water temp was 60.

Results
Me :	3 Smallmouth Bass
	1 Drum
	1 Yellow Bass
	1 Hybrid Striped Bass
Techniques:
Crank Baits, Blade Baits, and Spinners cast parallel to the rocks

All fish were released.

After returning to the boat from parking my vehicle I noticed the boat was slowly sinking. The drain plug popped out. The auto float switch I have on my bilge pump saved the day. I only had 3 hours so I pounded one bank. The drum and one of the SM were big but the rest were so-so.

I was unable to get under the bridge due to the recent rains having raised the water level. They will not bring down the lake level until the rivers recede.

Some of today's pictures:

1 2 3 4 5

25.

5/28/2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Mostly Cloudy. Air temp in the upper 70s and low 80s.

Southeast wind around 5mph.

Water temp was 62 warming to 70 in the shallows as the sun got higher in the sky.

Results
Me :	3 Smallmouth Bass
	3 Walleye
	2 White Bass
	1 Shad
	1 Yellow Bass
	15 Hybrid Striped Bass
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

Very little wind today. That made it very easy to control to boat, and also very easy for the bugs to fly around. They were nasty for a while. I pounded the banks and did very well today.

Some of today's pictures:

1 2 3 4 5

26.

6/1/2002

LaSalle Lake

Marseilles, IL

Sunny. Air temp in the upper 80s and low 90s.

Southwest wind around 5mph.

Water temp was 80 to 93

Results
Me :	22 Channel Catfish
	13 Smallmouth Bass
	12 Largemouth Bass
	5 Drum
	3 Shad
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

One LM and one SM were nice fish, all the other bass were very small. In contrast, only one of the drum was small and the others were decent fish up to 6 pounds. The catfish were still annoying.

27.

6/07/2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Bright Sunshine. Air temp in the upper 70s.

Southeast wind around 8mph.

Water temp was 66 warming to 71.

Results
Me :	3 Smallmouth Bass
	3 Walleye
	6 White Bass
	4 Hybrid Striped Bass
	1 Buffalo
	1 Crappie
	1 Largemouth Bass
	8 Drum
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

Good day on the lake even with the bright sunshine. I pounded the banks and did very well again today. I even caught my biggest walleye yet. I think that one of the reasons I did OK today is because I wasn't afraid to toss the lures into the moss that was growing on the rocks along the banks. The fish seemed to be holding tight to the slop.

Some of today's Pictures:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

28.

6/14/2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Bright Sunshine then Storms. Air temp in the mid 60s.

West wind around 10mph gusting beyond 20.

Water temp was 72 warming to 76.

Results
Me :	5 Smallmouth Bass
	1 Bluegill
	1 White Bass
	1 Hybrid Striped Bass
	8 Drum
Partner:	2 Smallmouth Bass
	6 Drum
	2 Hybrid Striped Bass
	1 Bluegill
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

The day started without a cloud in the sky and I later wound up being chased off the lake by thunder, rain, and hail. Before that we managed to catch some nice fish. The fish seemed a little further off the banks today than they were the past few weeks.

Some of today's Pictures:

1 2 3 4 5

29.

6/21/2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Bright Sunshine with some puffy clouds. Air temp in the mid 90s.

West wind around 5mph.

Water temp was 76 warming to 85.

Results
Me :	5 Smallmouth Bass
	1 Bluegill
	1 Yellow Bass
	1 Largemouth Bass
	20 Drum
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

Very hot and humid today. Because there was little wind, the bugs were ferocious.

Some of today's Pictures:

1 2 3 4

30.

6-28-2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Bright Sunshine. Air temp in the mid 80s.

Northwest wind around 5mph.

Water temp was 86 warming to 93.

Results
Me :	2 Smallmouth Bass
	2 Channel Catfish
	5 Drum
Partner:	1 Smallmouth Bass
	1 Drum
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

Warm and buggy with no wind. Fished from 6:00am till 11:00am with my son tossing crank baits at the bank. The 2 Catfish were two of the largest I've caught this year. I lost an even bigger one at the boat. One of the smallmouth was about 18 inches and the others were 15 and 14. The largest Drum was about 6 pounds. Between the two of us we lost about a dozen fish due to my failure to replace the standard hooks like I usually do.

Some of today's Pictures:

1 2

31.

7/07/2002

LaSalle Lake

Marseilles, IL

Sunny. Air temp in the upper 80s and low 90s.

Southeast wind around 5mph.

Water temp was 91 to 102

Results
Me :	17 Channel Catfish
	2 Smallmouth Bass
	5 Drum
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

The temp at the ramp was 91when I launched at 6:00am but when I pulled the boat out at 1:00pm it was 98. I also caught my first Smallmouth in 100 degree water today. A few of the catfish were caught in water as warm as 101 at the surface. There were a lot of dead hybrid striped bass floating in the water.

Picture from today

32.

7-11-2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Mostly Sunny. Air temp in the upper 70s and low 80s.

East wind around 15mph.

Water temp was 80 warming to 86.

Results
Me :	2 Smallmouth Bass
	2 Channel Catfish
	7 Drum
	3 Bluegills
	3 Buffalo
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

I caught one of my biggest fish of the year today - a 20 lb buffalo. He hit a crank bait worked slowly along the bank. I caught one other big buffalo and snagged a third. Most of the fish I caught today were large for their species - all on crank baits.

Some of today's Pictures:

1 2

33.

7-18-2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Mostly Sunny. Air temp in the low 90s.

Southwest wind around 5mph increasing to 10mph.

Water temp was 86 warming to 88.

Results
Me :	2 Smallmouth Bass
	1 Channel Catfish
	6 Drum
	1 Largemouth Bass
	1 Hybrid Striped Bass
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

I caught my biggest Hybrid of the year today. All but one of the drum were small. I lost a big smallmouth at the boat and he took the lure with him. The shad have hatched and that will make things a little slower for a while.

34.

7-21-2002

Monee Reservoir

Monee, IL

Mostly Sunny. Air temp in the upper 90s with high humidity.

Southwest wind around 15mph.

Results
Me :	4 Largemouth Bass
Partner	3 Largemouth Bass
Techniques:
Crank Baits, Spinners, Topwaters

All fish were released.

Very hot and humid. The weeds that were in this lake in the past appear to have been killed off. That may be why the thousands of Bullfrogs that used to be there were almost non-existent. All the fish were caught on cranks but a large one was lost at the boat on a spinner and I lost a good one on a weedless topwater. 3 of the 7 we got in the boat were decent fish.

35.

7-26-2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Mostly Sunny then a nasty thunderstorm. Air temp in the mid 80s.

Variable winds at varying speeds..

Water temp was in the upper 80s..

Results
Me	1 Hybrid Striped Bass
Partner1	3 Hybrid Striped Bass
Partner2	3 Hybrid Striped Bass
Techniques:
Crank Baits, topwater, jigs, blades, spinners

All fish were released.

We chased the stripers until the storm came. After it passed we actually started catching them.

36.

8-04-2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Mostly Sunny. Air temp approaching 100.

Southwest winds at 8mph.

Water temp was in the upper 86 to 92.

Results
Me	3 Smallmouth Bass
	5 Drum
Techniques:
Crank Baits, topwater

All fish were released.

Bass fishing is still tough due to the amount of bait fish that are available. I didn't have any luck with the Stripers either. I saw them come up a couple times but they didn't stick around more than a few seconds.

37.

8-06-2002

Heidecke Lake

Morris, IL

Mostly Sunny. Air temp in the low 80s.

Northeast winds around 15mph.

Water temp was 82 to 87.

Results
Me	1 Largemouth Bass
	9 Drum
	1 Green Sunfish
Techniques:
Crank Baits

All fish were released.

Perfect post cold front conditions. Blue Sky, Northeast Wind, and 15 degrees cooler than yesterday. The lures that were working the last few times out didn't even get a look today. Once I found the one they wante

Complete Photo Album	Photos by Species	Rough Weather	Outdoor Photos	Structure Library	Site Map
Trip Photos	Guest Book	Links	Articles	Submit Comments	Interactive Lake Maps
2005 Trip Log	Wildlife Carvings		Home	Fish Facts	Tips
Current Trip Log	2004 Trip Log	2003 Trip Log	2002 Trip Log	2001 Trip Log	About Us