Bode lake day two 4/12/12 the search for northerns

[Busse Jim]

It was so much fun the night before i had to go back,checked my fishing records and it 's been 14 years since i fished bode lakes and only 3 times and only catching 6 bass. this time i wanted to catch one of those bode lake- poplar creek northerns that i've heard of. since all the shoreline cover had been removed on the south lake(can't see how that is good for fishing) i decided to concentrate on the north lake today, i was going to cover the whole shoreline( only 6 acres). last night i noticed that you could cross over the creek by the outflow (only 6-8" deep by the old bridge concrete) thought it might be good to try for them mid day. so off i went.got to the north lake at 1:45 sunny skys, light winds that seemed to shift around se-sw. started throwing my -1 shallow , deep nothing. crossed the creek and followed the shore around to the north end where its the deepest , nothing. switched lures to a rattlin rapala still nothing. saw big carp along shore and turtles but no other activity. all the weeds seemed brown, tried a perch colored shallow runner, nothing, on the east side now and back to the -1 and finally got a bump but no fish just before the inflow, fished there for a bit nothing else. started working my way back switching lures again to a spinnerbait all the way around to the west side and just before the creek along shore a bass crushed it at the surface and fell off ,few more casts nothing,figured i'd give him a different look and tied on storm chugbug walked the dog across that spot and a smaller bass hit it, blew the hook set. then no takers, crossed back over the creek to end my day with a skunk, switched back to the -1 and on the south side of the creek on the first point i finally landed a bass 13" 1.1 lbs, yea no skunk!

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only took 3 hours cpr'd it and made 5 more casts to the same spot and hooked and landed my first bode lakes northern , a 18" 1.2 lber got new life in me and fished that small stretch of shore for 45 more mins. hooked 1 more small bass and lost it lifting it out of the water so in four hours i got 2 fish lost several but got my first bode lakes northern oh yea maybe the shooting star meteor i saw last night paid off!


18' 1.2 lb northern first of many to come though bigger

[JasonN]

Do we need to make you BodeJim now? Great stuff dude! Gonne feature this post on the WCF facebook page. Excellent! I'll join ya out there one evening next week.

[Busse Jim]

sounds like a plan! i'm in , though with the rains might not be able to cross the creek. and by the way good luck up at deep lake, LOAD THE BOAT!

[TheOzzmanDPG]

Bode...Fish...this must be the twilight zone. Bode, off of Bode rd? Sry, I live just up the street from Bode (Bartlet and Streamwood blvd) and I have been fishing there a few times. Most people have said that it has been overfished and there isn't anything in there and you pull out a northern(on my bucket list for this year). Way to prove them wrong...now where are my poles at, time to take a walk.

[krispydave]

Do we need to make you BodeJim now?

seriously!

[JasonN]

I've heard from reliable sources (who don't post on message boards), that Bode does indeed have a good fishery. I just don't get out there enough to chime in. With the days getting longer and the summer at out front door, I will be visiting more. Been wanting to add it to the site for a long time.

[nbBasshunter]

Bode, SERIOUSLY? It sure has been a strange year thus far seeing reports from the unlikeliest places like Big Bend and Bode not to mention a whole bunch from Busse. Perhaps I should start fishing Belleau now. Jim, I think you're just plain dang good.

[TheOzzmanDPG]

Anyone think it is worth wading the creek at all? Either north or going back west on the way out of bode. I have never really walked it so I was just wondering opinions.

[cb-fishes]

Anyone think it is worth wading the creek at all? Either north or going back west on the way out of bode. I have never really walked it so I was just wondering opinions.

I've kayak-fished the creek before it enters Bode, and it does indeed hold fish... but all carp as far as I can tell! And skinny ones too...

I did catch a nice smallie right by the creek mouth on the west side, I guess it swam 9 miles up stream to get into Bode. Haven't fished the creek just west of there, but I hear Poplar creek where it meets up with the Fox is a sweet spot.

Nice work Jim! You are a master angler- pulling fish after fish out of thin air!

[TheOzzmanDPG]

Know of any parking in that area by the fox? Looks like an interesting spot on google maps.

[pikekid96]

nice!