Lake Shermverville -- Went there with the wife on Friday afternoon, just to do a scouting expedition. Air temp was close to 90, bluebird sky, and it was about 2 pm, arguably the worst possible fishing conditions imaginable.
Man-made lake (aren't most them in this area?) with a rimmed wall most of the way around. I parked in the lot off of Sanders Road and walked over to the southeast corner. There's a bridge over the west end and then a small pinched bay but I didn't walk down there to check it out. I don't think they allow boats or yaks. The north shore is all private homes and inaccessible (unless you live in one of them). There were a fair number of still fisherman sitting under the occasional trees that dot the park. Not much vegetation to speak of. From the southeast corner of the lake and up along the eastern end there were a lot of overhanging trees. The most promising spot looked to be along that bank so that's where I started. Water was very stained and silty looking. There's a few drainpipes on the east end so I wonder if this was still runoff from the last series of storms or maybe the lake is always like that. I used a black buzzbait with a dark horny toad trailer to start. Worked the bank, then fan casted around the whole area, including parallel to the south wall. I did see the occasional blowup and some baitfish close to shore. I swtiched to a watermelon wacky with a chartreuse tail. When I'd bring it up, I couldn't see it until it was just a few inches below the surface. Visibility was very low. Bottom in that area is not very weedy, I didn't have anything drag or catch. Spent about 40 minutes trying other lures (spinner bait and chatterbait) and then we left. I'm not sure if a dawn expedition might yield anything from that area but it looked promising.
Potwatomi Lake -- Went there about 9 am on the morning of July 4th. Nice looking little pond, very similar to some pond fishing videos I watched on YouTube by Flukemaster the night before. There were a few people working some laydowns on the west end. I headed to the east end so my wife could sit in the shade. Water visibility was very good, maybe 4-5 feet? Again, I started out with a buzzbait, worked my way around, then came back with a weedless rigged watermelon senko. A lot of mossy weeds. Did see the occasional blowup and even spotted a bass hunkered right in the shallows at my feet. So at the very least I know there's at least one bass in there. Tried dropping a ned rig in front of him. He didn't even flinch and showed no interest. The bluegill on the other hand would chase everything including my line itself. I've probably watched one too many videos on catching bass in ponds, but I wonder if Potawatomi might be a good candidate for a dawn trip.
So, no fish to speak of but I thought I would share some information about these two lakes in case anyone wanted to check them out some day.
One weird thing that did happen at both places is that I have apparently lost the ability to tie a decent fishing knot. I've been using an improved clinch knot for tying on hooks and lures since I was 12 years old. Everything from 4 lb test for trout and panfish up to 20 & 30 lb test for tuna and dorado in the Pacific. Never recall ever having a problem. At Shermerville I was heaving a brand new Cavitron buzzbait I just bought at Fish Tech in Morton Grove. I also had on a brand new Gamakatsu trailer hook and a brand new Zoom horny toad. After about 10 casts, I watched my buzzbait fly off the line and go sailing into the lake. The same thing happened this morning at Potawatomi with 1/8 oz Ned rig. I think I've been keeping my finger in the first loop to keep it big instead of just letting it close down normally before I pass the tag end through. I've had to drag the knot down to the eye with my thumbnail to cinch it properly and maybe I'm weakening the line and it's snapping on me or it's pulling out because I'm not tying it correctly. Very embarrassing to admit but it's driving me crazy. I just reviewed a video on the improved clinch and I know for sure that I'm doing it wrong by keeping my index finger in the first loop. For splicing fluoro or mono to braid I've been using either a double Uni knot or a GT knot. So far those have held fine, thank goodness.
Happy Fourth of July to everybody!
Lake Shermerville 3 by Steve, on Flickr
Lake Shermerville 2 by Steve, on Flickr
Lake Shermerville, Southeast corner, southern bank with trees by Steve, on Flickr
Lake Potawatomi looking west by Steve, on Flickr
Lake Potawatomi east and laydown by Steve, on Flickr
Potawatomi east end by Steve, on Flickr
Potawatomi Bluegill spawning beds by Steve, on Flickr
Potawatomi Bass in shallows, upper left corner of photo by Steve, on Flickr
