Lake Shelbyville Illinois Fishing Blog

Fished for crappie today for 4 hrs had 15 shorts and 22 over 10 nothing over 12 in. All our fish today were caught in 1 to 5 foot of water in the coves on wood structure. We are still using the 1/4 oz tubes and twisters. We had some females today that were spawning.

Fished for crappie today from 9am to 5pm with 3 plus me and kept 40 over 10 in and 20 under 10 in. We fished from point 3 south on the main lake points and caught most of the big fish 15 to 22 feet deep on wood structure, stumps and lay downs. We had some real nice fish, biggest was 13 in. We also found fish back in the coves in 2 to 5 feet on wood. All our fish were caught on 1/4 oz. tube jigs in all colors. The lake is still coming up and not that muddy on the south end water temp is in the upper 60’s. There were a lot of males on the banks so the spawn is about to start. Fishing tomorrow so I’ll let you know how we do.

Fished for crappie from 10am to 2pm and keep 24 over 10 in. and put all the rest back. We caught our fish on 1/4 oz. tube jigs in any color. We found fish deep 8 to 18 foot on the points main lake and in the coves. We stayed on the south end and tried to get out of the wind. The fishing is real good right now, and the water is coming up fast and a little stained water temp was mid to upper 60’s.

Fished to day with 3 plus me from 10am till 3pm and caught and released lots of nice crappie and bass. They were all caught on 1/4oz tube jigs in 2 to 12 feet of water on main lake and back in the coves. The fish were holding on any kind of wood structure.

Lake Shelbyville is a flood control lake, the water fluctuates and sometimes can be at a low pool level, so we offer a few words of advice.

When it is below summer pool you need to proceed with extreme caution. Even when the lake is normal or high, we always advise to use caution, or you may find yourself stuck on a sandbar. If you should be unfortunate enough to run your boat up on a sandbar, there is a few things you can do to save your motor and your money. We suggest getting out and pushing off if possible, or waiting for someone to come and pull you off. Don’t try to use your big motor to get off a sandbar. Because you will suck sand and/or silt into your water intakes which could do damage to your cooling system. If you try to get off with your big motor, you will definitely do damage to your prop and possibly your lower unit if you use your big motor. Running aground alone may not cause any severe damage, it is what you do afterwards that can cause the problems. The reason you don’t do damage getting on the sandbar is because when you are going forward when you hit something, your motor or your lower unit kicks up. If you find yourself in this situation, immediately shut your motor off to prevent any damage to your water intake. When you try to use your motor to get off the sandbar you are now forcing your lower unit and your prop into the sand to move your boat…. This is what you want to avoid.

Lake Shelbyville Illinois Fishing Report - UPDATED!!

Had 2 half day trips today and fished for whites with the 2 jig rig ( 2 -1/4 oz. lead heads and 3 in twisters and shads in all colors ). We found them shallow from the dam to point 5 and the sea gulls were on them. It was a good day with lots of wind from the south, east and we caught them all day. We had 75 in the morning and 78 in the after noon that we kept. Took the last hr in the afternoon to try for the buffalo’s and we had fun with most in the 10 to 20 lb range , but the biggest was a 32 ponder and they were caught on the 1 oz. Mann-o-Lure. in 15 to 18 ft. of water in Sand Creek.

Fished for 8hrs for whites and found them shallow with jigs and some deep with spoons, we kept 22 and them played with the buffalo’s just for the fun of it.

Fished 3hrs and broke a belt on the outboard cut our time short. We kept 28 whites and released some. All shallow on 2 Jig rigs from mid lake north.

Had a white bass trip today and found them shallow with the 2 jig rig caught lots and kept 39. The wind was 20 to 35 mph out of the north and it was cold , so we found our fish on the not so windy banks in the big coves.

Fished 8 hrs. for what ever would bite and released them all. We threw crank baits, top water, worms, spinners, jigs and the Mann-o-Lure to catch bass , whites, yellows, drum and buffalo. We fished from the dam to point 6 and most our fish came shallow, the the last hour we used the M-O-L to fish deep and we caught at leased 200 lbs of buffalo just for the fun.