Another Potawatomi Skunk 7-12-20

[cyanatic]

I'm not sure if posting about yet another skunk outing is helpful to anyone unless it helps warn them off a particular body of water.

I made an early morning outing to Potawatomi on Sunday. I like to support local brick and mortar businesses so I picked up a few items from Fish Tech in Morton Grove last week. Among them was a 1/4 oz buzzbait that Fish Tech told me is made in Antioch, IL (Rowdy Buzz Lures).

I got to Potawatomi about 6:30 am, slight wind with occasional gusts from the north/northwest, but it died down after a half hour or so and conditions remained fairly glassy. There's also a lot of tree cover so certain portions of the lake remained glassy even when the wind was blowing. I started off with the 1/4 Rowdy Buzz, white/chartreuse skirt. I approached the bank as quietly as I could and made my first casts parallel to the shallows at left and right just like they show on all those great YouTube videos I watch! I didn't catch anything, but I loved the way this lure cast and operated. The 1/4 oz size is a nice mid-range lure that's not as small and quiet as a Pond Magic, but not as large and noisy as a KVD Strike King. I spent an hour working my way around the entire lake so if nothing else I got plenty of casting practice. I worked close to any lay downs or sunken brush I came across. It looked like a gill made a half-hearted pass at the buzzbait but that was the closest I ever got to any action. I also started using a San Diego jam knot as an alternative to a Clinch or Palomar. Fairly easy to tie and it seemed to hold well.

On my way around the east end, I came across a guy who was still fishing. He had a lot to say about a certain group of people that he said keep absolutely everything that they pull out of the lake and who, according to him, sometimes even use nets. I'll leave it at that.

I'm not sure if it's stonewort or some other type of fine algae, but the bottom is thick with it. I switched to a ned rig but kept ending up with an algae trailer after the first bump off the bottom. I switched to a Texas rigged watermelon senko with a bullet head and a red bead (one of my go-to stickbaits) and still ended up dragging a ton of algae. So I tried swimming it to keep it above the weeds and algae. I finally switched to a spinnerbait and tried to keep it just above the algae. The visibility at Potawatomi is pretty far. I could see the flash of the willow blade under the surface from 30 ft away. All in all, I probably spent close to 2-1/2 to 3 hours working it. It's a shame such a nice looking little pond hasn't been giving up any fish.

I'm still keeping my fishing stoke going, though, and I will not give up. I'm fishing more now (and hopefully fishing smarter) than I have in a few years. I used to get down after a skunk, but I still approach every cast with confidence and believe that eventually, somewhere, I'm going to tie into a bass again. I know this isn't the best time of the year for fishing.

On my way out I noticed an opening in the trees that led to the DPR and I realized Dam #1 is right in the same area. I plan to check that out in the near future. I don't now if shore fishing is any good along that stretch but I'd like to find out. I've never spent much time fall or winter fishing, but I intend to so so this year.


Lake Potawatomi 7-12-20 - 3 by Steve, on Flickr


Lake Potawatomi 7-12-20 - 1 by Steve, on Flickr


Antioch IL buzz bait by Steve, on Flickr


Lake Potawatomi 7-12-20 - 2 by Steve, on Flickr

[Rambler]

Great write up - even if you got skunked. Keep at it - there are some nice fish there. First bass I caught there was on a paddletail Keitech. All the others were on buzzbaits & spinbaits.

BTW - there's poison ivy on several of the trees on the north side (your 2nd pic). So when you're fishing there watch yourself.

PS - Dam 1 is south of Dundee. I've caught pike there but not since they took the dam out.

[Grain]

It can be a tough pond - very warm, very shallow, perfectly clear, and chock full of delicious bluegills. Heavily pressured too, with, I imagine, serious amount of bucketheading. My best day there was 2 dinks, more often than not it's a skunk. River... you basically can only cast at 45 degrees upstream, otherwise you end up either in the shallows to the right or the tree to the left. However, I believe there is a logjam under the bridge, and I've seen some brave soul climb in there with a fishing pole. I, personally, was like "screw that". There are some other somewhat accessible spots along the river, but, IMO, you either need to choose a different season or have a serious disregard for poison ivy.

[ohoffm]

thanks for the post. I have not been back since the big fish kill a few winters back that decimated the lake. Before that, there was lots of nice bass in there. Looks like it still needs more time.

[Rambler]

Looks like it still needs more time.

Sorry to disagree. The die-off was probably 5 years back. I caught these last Spring (2019). I talked with a CCFP cop about it - one of the few I've met who's actually interested in doing their job - and he told me they're working to make it a great bass lake. Several stockings since the die-off.

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[Grain]

They are in there. Not a huge one at about 14.5" but that's not bad for this pond, I think. I also saw a significantly larger fish in the water.

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[Rambler]

One time when I was fishing there last year I ran into a guy from Phoenix. His wife works for Discover Card & they were in town for her job.

He caught several bass - the biggest was 3.8 lbs (he used my deliar to weigh it). He was totally freaked by "the great fishing in Illinois" & said he couldn't wait to come back.

I guess maybe the fishing in AZ ain't so good.

[cyanatic]

Rambler & Grain -- Those are some nice largemouth!

River... you basically can only cast at 45 degrees upstream, otherwise you end up either in the shallows to the right or the tree to the left. However, I believe there is a logjam under the bridge, and I've seen some brave soul climb in there with a fishing pole. I, personally, was like "screw that". There are some other somewhat accessible spots along the river, but, IMO, you either need to choose a different season or have a serious disregard for poison ivy.

Thanks for the info! I'm really thinking about keeping my fishing going as long as I can this year, so I may check out the DPR in the Fall. I checked out Google Maps and the road at the Dam entrance south of Potawatomi goes south a ways. It looks like there's a number of accessible spots but I have no idea if the fishing is any good around there. There's also the DPR access at the Big Bend Lake spillway, I know some guys have caught pike out of there.

He caught several bass - the biggest was 3.8 lbs (he used my deliar to weigh it). He was totally freaked by "the great fishing in Illinois" & said he couldn't wait to come back.

I guess maybe the fishing in AZ ain't so good.

I'd be pretty excited about a 3.8 bass, but I don't know if I'd call exactly call the fishing in our area "great". I knew a guy who lived in Phoenix. He used to go fishing at a large lake in the vicinity but I don't recall its' name. Pleasant, maybe? Not a whole lot of lakes in the desert so, yeah, maybe the sheer number of choices we have in Illinois makes it great to somebody from there.

[Grain]

I'm really thinking about keeping my fishing going as long as I can this year, so I may check out the DPR in the Fall.

That's what we were all thinking last year, and then the river decided to be 10 feet up until mid-November.

[cyanatic]

Rambler & Grain -- Those are some nice largemouth!

River... you basically can only cast at 45 degrees upstream, otherwise you end up either in the shallows to the right or the tree to the left. However, I believe there is a logjam under the bridge, and I've seen some brave soul climb in there with a fishing pole. I, personally, was like "screw that". There are some other somewhat accessible spots along the river, but, IMO, you either need to choose a different season or have a serious disregard for poison ivy.

Thanks for the info! I'm really thinking about keeping my fishing going as long as I can this year, so I may check out the DPR in the Fall. I checked out Google Maps and the road at the Dam entrance south of Potawatomi goes south a ways. It looks like there's a number of accessible spots but I have no idea if the fishing is any good around there. There's also the DPR access at the Big Bend Lake spillway, I know some guys have caught pike out of there.

He caught several bass - the biggest was 3.8 lbs (he used my deliar to weigh it). He was totally freaked by "the great fishing in Illinois" & said he couldn't wait to come back.

I guess maybe the fishing in AZ ain't so good.

I'd be pretty excited about a 3.8 bass, but I don't know if I'd exactly call the fishing in our area "great". I knew a guy who lived in Phoenix. He used to go fishing at a large lake in the vicinity but I don't recall its' name. Pleasant, maybe? Not a whole lot of lakes in the desert so, yeah, maybe the sheer number of choices we have in Illinois makes it great to somebody from there.

[badel36]

its not even worth going their I used to bike there every day all summer and I watched it get worse week by week fish the river with a chartreuse spinnerbait you'll catch more and better fish

[Rambler]

It tends to get really weedy as the summer goes on. But that just makes topwater more challenging.