RiverRat242
03-05-2009, 01:37 PM
So I plan on doing some late evening/early night fishing tomorrow on the Illinois River - I've fished this stretch near a dam quite a bit and know it pretty well. I've posted a crude map of the area below; take a look and let me know where you would try for night walleye or sauger and what tactic you would use in ~35°F water. I'll provide some more details of the area below the picture.
The red line near the top indicates the no-go zone near the dam. There is a wing dam which has a lot of current on the face and creates a nice tail water, about a 6' deep pool with a swirling current. There are a couple low islands that are rocky and in high water are covered; they also funnel the current as indicated on the map.
Down further is an island one side of the island is shallow, while the other side of the island there is a step drop down where the depth goes from 3ft to 15ft in about a 20 yard span, each drop off being about 3-4ft which then joins the main channel at about 17ft-20ft. Both sides of the island shore consist of rip-rap.
The island that separates the dam side and the lock side extends out about 50yds from the end and averages 3ft in depth, consisting of sandy bottom with scattered rocks. The lock side is about 17ft deep average and has very little current.
SO where would you fish and what would you do? I’ll take your suggestions and put them to work tomorrow night and we will see what happens.
RR
Artwork by Billy, Age 5
The red line near the top indicates the no-go zone near the dam. There is a wing dam which has a lot of current on the face and creates a nice tail water, about a 6' deep pool with a swirling current. There are a couple low islands that are rocky and in high water are covered; they also funnel the current as indicated on the map.
Down further is an island one side of the island is shallow, while the other side of the island there is a step drop down where the depth goes from 3ft to 15ft in about a 20 yard span, each drop off being about 3-4ft which then joins the main channel at about 17ft-20ft. Both sides of the island shore consist of rip-rap.
The island that separates the dam side and the lock side extends out about 50yds from the end and averages 3ft in depth, consisting of sandy bottom with scattered rocks. The lock side is about 17ft deep average and has very little current.
SO where would you fish and what would you do? I’ll take your suggestions and put them to work tomorrow night and we will see what happens.
RR
Artwork by Billy, Age 5