Sportsman Fishing Club

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Sportsman Fishing Club"

Brice Fisher
5 years ago
Views:

Sportsman Fishing Club Enhancing the Environment and Fishing Experience at Shadow Lakes May 2016 Officers President - Tom Lydon Cell (630) 776-1625 tlydon44@gmail.

held the third Sunday of each month at the Shadow Lakes Amenity Center. Meetings begin at 9:00 am Free coffee and donuts are provided.

1 Sportsman Fishing Club Enhancing the Environment and Fishing Experience at Shadow Lakes May 2016 Officers President - Tom Lydon Cell (630) tlydon44@gmail.com Vice President and DNR Rep - Fred Cowell Treasurer - Jane Hill Secretary - Open IDNR - Fred Cowell Fund Raising - Betty Lydon The next meeting is Sunday May 15, , 2013 Club meetings are held the third Sunday of each month at the Shadow Lakes Amenity Center. Meetings begin at 9:00 am Free coffee and donuts are provided. Newsletter Peg McQuarters/Tom Lydon Website/Sue Kielnik Visit Us On The Web At: Club Mailing Address: Sportsman Fishing Club Shadow Lakes II W. Amenity Ctr. Dr. Wilmington, IL APRIL 2016 FINANCIAL REPORT CLUB BAL: $2, INCOME 495,00 EXPENSES TOTAL 2, ASSOC FUNDS 9, Cash positive month by $ March: $1,000 stocking deposit. $8, in Assoc. funds paid out. Purchase of EV ramp blankets, Assoc. will reimburse this expense. FAMILY PANFISH ROUND-UP JUNE 25TH UPCOMING EVENTS MAY 15TH WILL BE OUR NEXT CLUB MEETING 2016 CLUB MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS IN THE ASSOC OFFICE Please make checks out to: SPORTSMAN FISHING CLUB"-THANK YOU! MAY 14TH: COMMUNITY & LAKES CLEAN-UP SIGN-IN 9 AM AT PAVILION

FISHING ROUNDTABLE Reports from the weekend of April 21st was EXPLOSIVE! A number of very nice size LMBass were reported...13 to 15 fish with 6 that were 18 inches or better.

2 FISHING ROUNDTABLE Reports from the weekend of April 21st was EXPLOSIVE! A number of very nice size LMBass were reported...13 to 15 fish with 6 that were 18 inches or better. Weights were 3 to 6 pounds. We got 2 pictures of nice, healthy fish. Sunday, Mother's Day, three anglers on Hawk Lake caught over 45 LMBass, with a number over 17 and 18 inches. All were caught on Wacky Worms and Texas rigged 7 inch worms. They also spotted three Musky, with one over 40 inches. It appears that when water temps are just right in the canals and channels, fishing improves, THEN, another cold front hits and the fishing turns off. We really are having wild swings in our Spring weather this season. Hope it settles down soon. Lots of great early May reports now coming in as we go to press with this issue. As we said, this years' early season fishing has been up and down. When our waters warm up, we know some better fishing is coming. That pre-spawn feeding has started for some species. Your channels should be seeing more visits from LMBass, Crappie and Walleyes. Be sure to check your channels daily until you hit the exact conditions that may be bringing in the fish. We support "Catch Photo & Release" for future generations. BEST FISHING DAYS FROM ILLINOIS GAME & FISH SOLUNAR TABLES MAY 20-21, 29 & 30. JUNE 7TH, 22, 23, 24, 26 AND 26TH. ILLINOIS FREE FISHING DAYS ARE JUNE APRIL FISH OF THE MONTH In April, we had a large number of nice bass for our fish of the month contest. The winner was caught by Mike Vlna's son in law Chris. It is about 20 inches and over 5 pounds (estimated). A very healthy fish. Nice catch, Chris. FISH OF THE MONTH: Drop your pictures off at the Office for this year's contest! Our big fish winners in 2015 featured: Jan, a 20 inch Walleye through the ice. May a 23 inch, 7 lb+ Bass and then an 11 pound 3 ounce Striper. These were three of our best fish of 2015! Fish of the Month winners get their pictures on our bulletin board, in our newsletters and on our website. They also get a Bass-Pro fishing Cap. This contest, along with EVERY event we sponsor, is open to ALL Shadow Lakes residents and their family members, whether they are a Club member or not. The Fishing Club is a Shadow Lakes social community organization.

3 2016 STOCKING UPDATES In late April, $3,800 worth of very large Perch, breeder Gills and some beautiful Catfish were stocked. Among the Catfish were 12 to 18 "ALBINO CATFISH". Some of these fish were 18 inches or bigger. I have already had a few excited calls and s saying folks were seeing the Albinos. At that time, the larger Crappie and Walleye we wanted were not in stock yet from Keystone Hatcheries. Again, many thanks to the Club members who come out to help and witness these stockings. LATE STOCKING NEWS: On April 30th, they called with over 300 lbs of 8 to 12 inch Crappie, that they would deliver without another delivery fee. Our larger Walleye will not be available until the Fall. This now ends our Spring stocking. SAD PERSONAL NOTES: On May 5th, the Club lost a long-time member and supporter; Frank "Frankie" Zabloudil. He passed away peacefully at home with his wife Carol and family with him. He was very proud of his Grandson Brian Belke, who started his fishing carrier with a giant SLKS Musky when he was 13 years old. Frank was able to see his three great Grand-children. He told me they were his reason for keeping up his prolonged fight against cancer. At his wake, another long-time Club supporter, Johnnie Kopecke had a fall and injury. He was transferred from Morris Hospital to Loyola Med Center. Please remember both of these great friends, gentlemen and their families in your prayers. MARCH 20th, 2016 MEETING - 31 MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE BUSINESS: TREASURER report, see above for March 2016 accounting summary. BOARD: Discussion on covered trailers stored on lots. Community clean-up now scheduled for May 14th. Boats may be returned to the common areas on April 1st. DNR update: Big Perch, Catfish, breeder Gills delivered, then a later shipment of 8 to 12 inch Crappie were dropped off with no delivery charge. Walleyes are too small, pushed to the Fall. OLD BUSINESS: -Lake Bottom Blankets installed at the EV boat ramp area April 15th. A white section shows where the blanket starts. Hope this helps Hawk Lake's boating season. -Gate fish boxes at 3 & 4A completed by John Kloth and anchored by our maintenance staff. -Both weeds boat are running and going out on the water early this year. -UV lures now in our raffles. NEW BUSINESS: - Club members who signed up to help clean up the community is now on May 14th due to rain on the original date. Members with boats in the water are needed for the Lakes clean-up. - Dead floating eelgrass is all over the lakes. This Spring and Summer, if you are on the canals and channels and see floating clumps of Water Lettuce, pick them up and throw them away off the water. They are invasive and can spread rapidly causing closed off waterways, etc. - See reminders on some of our new Summer events later in another articles in this newsletter. - We agreed to add larger Catfish to the rearing pond to reduce the number of smaller gills. - Far fewer boats are being returned to the Common areas this year. - An erosion meeting will be held today.

4 SPRING BASS FISHING WITH ARTIFICIAL FROG LURES It s nearly impossible to beat catching a bass on a topwater frog. Whether it s the bulging wake of a pursuing bass, the drag screeching, that hard hookset that buckles your knees or the strike itself, one thing is absolutely certain it is an explosive way to fish. While you can expect this popular technique to produce big catches throughout other seasons, spring months are the near-perfect time to capitalize on the territorial behavior of bass. There are several critical factors to consider: In the Spring the bass have two things on their minds as water temperatures begin to warm food and romance. Topwater frogs exploit these weaknesses quite effectively. Territorial When bass begin preparing for the spawn, they re going to flock to the bank and become ornery and territorial. Both the females and males exhibit very protective behavior when they start hanging around their nests. They will stop at nothing in order to defend their beds and a topwater frog has a unique ability to coax them into striking. It s not always a hunger strike this time of year. They simply want to eliminate a perceived threat. Feeding Although many of your springtime frog bites may stem from pure aggression, be careful not to overlook their need to feed. The spawning period can be grueling on a bass especially females resulting in an instinctual need to feed heavily and prepare their bodies for the rigors of the spawn. Topwater frogs can mimic substantial and nutrient-rich meals such as baby ducklings, small mice, bluegill, injured baitfish and of course, frogs. The magic temperature Watch for water temps in the degree range in the morning. At this point, the water is probably only dropping to 60 degrees overnight and warming into the 70s during the midday hours. This is the magic window all frog fishermen need to watch for. You can do it all day long and expect great results. Advantages of a topwater frog: Aside from the sheer excitement of an aggressive topwater strike, frogs offer several advantages that allow for efficiency and high-percentage presentations when targeting shallow, spring bass. Weedless Thick mats of vegetation may look impenetrable to the human eye, but that s certainly not what a bass sees. These areas are often filled with underwater tunnels that bass use for navigation and strategic ambush points. Efficiently dissecting these areas can be near-impossible with traditional topwater lures, but this is when topwater frogs are at their best. Anglers can cast them into the thickest grass or weed beds imaginable and avoid annoying snags and hang-ups. Strike zone optimization As the spawn nears, bass aren t always going to swim several feet to attack your offering, Rojas said. This often makes fast-moving presentations less desirable this time of year. Frogs, however, allow you to cast into very small, specific areas and stay in the most productive strike zone for a prolonged period. You can create a lot of commotion without moving that frog very far, which is a perfect strategy when you re targeting spring bass. Shape and color selection: Similar to most bass fishing baits, there are hundreds of potential shape and color combinations to consider when choosing a topwater frog. While it might seem overwhelming to some, Rojas has developed a two-pronged system that allows him to quickly choose the best frog for particular conditions. The first step of his process involves the body shape. Pointed nose If you fish around water willows and shallow grasses in 2 to 4 feet of water. Choose a pointed nose frog this shape allows the frog to come through cover very easily. Poppers A popping frog, sits a bit higher in the water, it comes through cover quite well and also has a louder, more aggressive action that can call bass from heavy cover.

5 Gliders Fishing a frog in fairly open water, use a gliding frog, with a pronounced gliding action as it walks back and forth. Use around wood docks, floating docks and bluegill beds. You can enjoy moderate success by simply casting and twitching a topwater frog. But in order to consistently catch shallow spring bass, pay close attention to your retrieves can pay enormous dividends. It isn t as complicated as you may believe it to be. There are 3 specific cadences depending on the area and mood of the bass. Locate em use this retrieve when exploring a body of water and searching for active bass, Work the frog very quickly with repetitive sharp, downward snaps of your rod tip. You may not catch every fish that bites when you re working it at such a frantic pace, but you need those bass to show themselves. Slow it down If you ve had a few bites in an area, take occasional pauses throughout your retrieve. You re still fishing quickly and efficiently, but the short pauses can give the bass a better opportunity to connect with your frog when they decide to strike. Dare em when you find an area with bass, slow down and put your total focus on each movement of your frog. Let the frogs soak and make it dance around key pieces of cover. Essentially, you are teasing them to eat it. Hookset mechanics: once a bass explodes on your frog, do you purposely hesitate for a half-second or set the hook right away? This question is always asked about frog hook-sets. You may end up pulling it away from them at times, but that s not always a bad thing. If they miss it, they ll usually eat it again. Don t get too upset if you miss a few times throughout the day. Just enjoy the EXPLOSIONS! REPEAT ARTICLE--FAMILY PANFISH ROUND-UP JUNE 25TH Our Bass tourney this year will be replaced by a family fun event - A PANFISH ROUND-UP! Here are the details for this event...it will run from dawn until 11:30 AM. Check-in at the Pavilion will be from 11:30 until Noon for family tallies. A FAMILY trophy will be issued to the family with the best catch averages as well as trophies for the biggest fish in the adult and junior groups. No boat needed; our shores are teaming with panfish. You do NOT need to keep your fish, just stroke count the numbers caught. An added bonus: should you want to keep your catch, bring in your panfish on ice or alive (must be over 6 inches), and a Club member Ron Midona will filet and debone your catch, put them on ice with your family name to take home for a very fresh fish fry, along with an easy cooking recipe. At Noon a hot-dog luncheon will be provided, with chips, drinks and desserts. Additional fishing prizes will be given out and a 50/50 raffle will be held. PLEASE sign up on the sheet on the Fishing Club bulletin board in the Amenity Center, just list your FAMILY LAST NAME, VILLAGE & LOT # AND THE NUMBER OF ANGLERS...this is mainly to help us determine how much food to prepare. A tracking form is on the rules sheet. We will have both beef and turkey hot dogs with all of the trimmings for Chicago dogs. There is no charge for this event, so get the family signed up and get your tackle ready. Your family may just become "THE SHADOW LAKES PANFISH FAMILY OF THE YEAR".

6 SIMPLE SPRING PANFISHING! Spring is an awesome time of the year for those of us who love to fish for panfish. The new season offers dynamite shallow water action for bluegill and crappie. An added bonus is that this fishing is pretty simple, both in terms of finding fish and the methods used to land them. Spring panfish make shallow water migrations to feed and later to spawn. One good thing about this fishing is that some of the shallow areas they migrate to are easily accessible by shore anglers. Channels, canals, and shallow bays warm quickly in the spring drawing gills and crappie. Anglers choosing to fish from a boat, however, have the added advantage of being able to hit several shallow spots on the same lake. This can be advantageous as those areas warming the quickest will usually draw the first waves of fish, so checking various locations will up an angler s odds for finding active fish. Another factor is that the peak bite in some of these spots is often at dawn and right before dark, meaning a quick end-of-the day trip can often be very productive. Ultralight rods and reels make catching pan-fish more fun and challenging. Now locating spring panfish is usually a pretty simple affair, but so is the presentation that catches these fish. A small jig fished below a slip-bobber tipped with a crappie minnow is a favorite when crappie are the target. A pink/white or glow green 1/32-ounce jig tipped with a small, but very lively crappie minnow is my favorite crappie set-up. Jigs with tinsel tails that give off a fish scale flash can really attract fish. A small split shot added about a foot above the jig completes the system. Pink/white color jig combination for daytime fishing, switching to the glow green color during low light conditions. As stated earlier, a key to this simple set-up is the use of very lively bait. A compact, insulated container with an aerator does a great job of keeping minnows fresh. Slip Bobbers are the next tool to add to your rigs. So what's a slip bobber? Well, a slip bobber is a bobber that slides freely up and down your fishing line. For any bobber to work there must be a way to hold the bobber at a certain spot on the fishing line. To use the clip on type bobbers, you simply clip the bobber above the hook at the depth that you want your bait to be under water. This is fine but it limits your ability to cast. It also makes it extremely hard to fish any deeper than about 6 feet. Here's where the slip bobber out shines the clip on bobber. The slip bobber allows you to cast just about as far as you normally would. You can also fish as deep as you want. I have used slip bobbers to catch Crappie 30 feet deep in 40 feet of water. Rigging up a slip bobber takes a little more time than using a clip on bobber but it's well worth the little bit of extra effort. Clip on bobbers have a clip to hold the line. Slip bobbers have a hole thru them so that they can slide up and down the fishing line. There is usually a small knot tied on the fishing line to stop the bobber from sliding up the line. The line used to tie the knot is usually made of string. I use dental floss. Next, a small bead with a hole thru the center is slid on to the line. The knot should be big enough to stop the bead from sliding past the knot, but small enough to pass through the rod guides easily. Now the bobber is slid on the line and the hook is tied to the end of the line. I usually place a slip shot on my line between my hook and the bobber. The split shot keeps the bobber off the hook while casting. You'll find that you will be able to use a slip bobber in a lot more situations than you could with the clip on bobber. You can use slip bobbers to precisely hold you bait just off the bottom no matter how deep the water is. Good luck! The final component of this presentation involves the use of lighter line that allows small baits to be fished naturally. Two to four pound mono is best. Thinner lines simply means more bites. Bluegills spawn after species that largemouth bass and crappies do. Bluegill prefer the water temperature to be warmer than many types of fish before they begin to become active, meaning late May and into June the bluegill

7 bite will be at its best. Look for bluegill in lakes near the shore, where they dig out shallow beds in the gravel to use as "nests" in the shallows, usually in much less than 6 to 8 feet of water. The bluegills will overpopulate such areas, especially if there is any cover provided by such things as weed beds. Move around along the shore or in your boat until you find a bunch of bluegills rather than waste time hoping that some come to you. Baits: Among the best baits for bluegill are night crawlers and earthworms, as well as leeches and red worms. Wax worms will also entice a bluegill to bite, as will crickets, corn and even bits of bacon. Artificial lures should have small hooks due to the smallish size of a bluegill's mouth. Smaller spinning baits, artificial flies, tiny crank baits, poppers and jigs will all work when the bluegills are spawning CLUB SUMMER EVENT REMINDERS GOLF CART SCAVENGER FISH HUNT JULY 9TH A fun family event on wheels. The hunt; following clues to find and "LAND" fish with point values; detours, roadblocks, prizes, raffles, lunch in the Pavilion will round out this fun event. ALL-RESORT FISH FRY AUGUST 13TH We are bringing back this very popular event. A 50/50 raffle will cover the costs of the fish fry and add the additional funds raised to our stocking in hope of having a record fish stocking year in More details will be announced this Summer. KID'S DERBY & "STARWARS" EVENT SEPTEMBER 4TH This year's Kids Derby will have a "STARWARS" theme. We will be visited by several "STORM-TROOPERS" and possibly even "DARTH VADER". Watch for more details. TIPS AND TIDBITS TWO OPEN HOUSES: Scheduled for this Summer. Be sure to be out here to show your property on June 5th and August 21st, 12 Noon to 4 PM. ASSOCATION DUES RAFFLE: The Association is holding another raffle for dues. Tickets are on sale in the Office. Last year the Kopeckes won the $1,800 prize of free dues for a year. WEED CONTROL BLANKETS: These blankets can be bought and used by homeowners to control weeds. Order one at: lakebottomblanket.com GO FUND ME ACCOUNT FOR BABY KENDRA: Regrettably Baby Kendra lost her struggle and passed away May 6th at Lurie children s Hospital. Kendra was Ken Watt's first grandchild. Details remain on her GOFUNDME.COM webpage. Donations will help her family during very difficult times. WILMINGTON VFW FIRE: a major fire damaged a portion of the VFW hall, repairs are under way, but the Club is closed for now. WEED BOAT TRAILER NEEDED: The Assoc is still looking to buy or borrow a pontoon trailer for the new pontoon weed cutter. It costs $50 every time that boat has to be moved. The larger boat also costs to be moved from lake to lake. They want a center mount trailer. Contact the office if you want to discuss this further or have a trailer available. COOK BOOK: Some Shadow Lakes ladies have started to collect recipes to possibly publish a cookbook with our greatest cooks highlighted. Place your recipes in the box in the Office. Include your name, village and lot number. WE HAVE SOME GREAT COOKS - SHARE YOUR BEST KEPT SECRET RECIPES. TURN IN THOSE GREAT HOLIDAY DISHES YOU ENJOYED THIS PAST SEASON! The group has almost 250 recipes so far.

8 The Sportsman Fishing Club W. Amenity Center Drive Wilmington IL Sportsman Fishing Club Membership Application for 2016 $35.00 for Individual or Family Household Please provide the following information for Club records and newsletter mailing purposes: Date: Renew: New Member : Name(s): Lot #:: Home Address: City: State: Zip: Home Phone: ( ) Shadow Lakes Phone: ( ) address (only needed if you wish to receive the Club Newsletter by ) I will view Newsletter on Web Site Please mail newsletter Membership dues cover the calendar year 2015 Bring this form to the next meeting and make check payable to: The Sportsman Fishing Club Mail to: Sportsman Fishing Club, W. Amenity Center Drive, Wilmington, IL Drop off the application and payment in the Association office

Sportsman Fishing Club

Sportsman Fishing Club Enhancing the Environment and Fishing Experience at Shadow Lakes 1984-2016 July 2016 24 Years Officers President - Tom Lydon Cell (630) 776-1625 tlydon44@gmail.com Vice President