I urge anyone planning a trip to Shabbona lake to change their mind and go some where else. I was there this past weekend because of the name...." Muskie Capitol of Illinois". Don't get me started on the problems of using that name!
2 friends and I got on the water at 4 pm on Friday. We counted 43 boats on the lake when we started. For a 318 acre lake lets say it was a little busy. There were boats at ALL of the "hot spots" marked on the lake map. Which meant that if you wanted to fish any of those spots you have to wait for the boat already there and having no luck to move to another spot so you can slide in and have no luck there as well. What we caught and the most that we saw anyone else catch on friday was what seems to be the standard, tiny 3-5 in. sunfish and an ocassional tiny crappie. Oh I forgot, I did think I had a snag once and ended up that I hooked a fishing pool sitting on the bottom of the lake. That was our biggest catch by far.
Saturday we got on the lake at 7 am. At 9 am we crusied around the lake and counted, yes get this, 67 boats! Thats right, 67 boats. That meant that almost evey sunken tree , brush pile, fish crib, point, rock pile and so on had at least one boat at it. If you are looking to troll around the shore or through any of the in lake trees....YOU CAN'T! and if you do find a spot to anchor up and try your luck you are almost garunteed to have another boat pull up and anchor 30 feet from you. Flat out this lake is a joke.
As for the guides on the lake, i can see no point in ever hiring any of them. With 60+ boats on this tiny lake you have to go to the open spot, and can rarely ever get to the spot that you want with out a boat being there 5 mins before you. On saturday we saw a couple of the local guides on the water. One of them, I couldn't read the side of his boat so i don't know which one for sure followed our boat around for 2 hours and anchored up within 40 feet of us after we were already there 7 times. The lake is so small that you could try every hot spot on the map in a day. Which to me makes a guide useless. Also they have high school kids working both of the bait shops on the lake who were very rude, arrogant and not helpful at all!!
So if anyone who has not been to Shabbona lake and is considering it for a weekend trip with the hope of catching a Muskie or walleye. DON'T!! I have been to over a hundred lakes in the midwest, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas, South Dakota, etc. And Shabbona lake was the worst experince I have ever had. Way too many boats for the size of the lake and we never saw or heard of anyone catching a Muskie or Walleye while we were there.
In conclusion Shabbona Lake, on the weekends atleast is a JOKE!! Don't waste your time or money.
May all your casts at Shabbona snag on a tree and snap your line!
Kevin
2 friends and I got on the water at 4 pm on Friday. We counted 43 boats on the lake when we started. For a 318 acre lake lets say it was a little busy. There were boats at ALL of the "hot spots" marked on the lake map. Which meant that if you wanted to fish any of those spots you have to wait for the boat already there and having no luck to move to another spot so you can slide in and have no luck there as well. What we caught and the most that we saw anyone else catch on friday was what seems to be the standard, tiny 3-5 in. sunfish and an ocassional tiny crappie. Oh I forgot, I did think I had a snag once and ended up that I hooked a fishing pool sitting on the bottom of the lake. That was our biggest catch by far.
Saturday we got on the lake at 7 am. At 9 am we crusied around the lake and counted, yes get this, 67 boats! Thats right, 67 boats. That meant that almost evey sunken tree , brush pile, fish crib, point, rock pile and so on had at least one boat at it. If you are looking to troll around the shore or through any of the in lake trees....YOU CAN'T! and if you do find a spot to anchor up and try your luck you are almost garunteed to have another boat pull up and anchor 30 feet from you. Flat out this lake is a joke.
As for the guides on the lake, i can see no point in ever hiring any of them. With 60+ boats on this tiny lake you have to go to the open spot, and can rarely ever get to the spot that you want with out a boat being there 5 mins before you. On saturday we saw a couple of the local guides on the water. One of them, I couldn't read the side of his boat so i don't know which one for sure followed our boat around for 2 hours and anchored up within 40 feet of us after we were already there 7 times. The lake is so small that you could try every hot spot on the map in a day. Which to me makes a guide useless. Also they have high school kids working both of the bait shops on the lake who were very rude, arrogant and not helpful at all!!
So if anyone who has not been to Shabbona lake and is considering it for a weekend trip with the hope of catching a Muskie or walleye. DON'T!! I have been to over a hundred lakes in the midwest, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas, South Dakota, etc. And Shabbona lake was the worst experince I have ever had. Way too many boats for the size of the lake and we never saw or heard of anyone catching a Muskie or Walleye while we were there.
In conclusion Shabbona Lake, on the weekends atleast is a JOKE!! Don't waste your time or money.
May all your casts at Shabbona snag on a tree and snap your line!
Kevin
