Submitted by Fisher X (ip 209.107.239.72)

Date Fished: 9/9/2007
Water Temperature: 74
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet

Lake Jacksonville, IL, Prefished on 7 Sept 07 , Club Tournament 9 Sept 07

The lake was 2 feet low. They had sprayed the lake twice this summer so the grass was not so thick-there were still some significant grassbeds but they were scattered about. Water temps ranged from 73-75F. Water was clear to stained (spinner bait visible 2 feet).

Prefishing: 7 Sept 07

A moderately strong pre-frontal S-SW wind was blowing (10-15mph). Cloudy, humid, light showers in the morning breaking away in the PM still with some scattered showers, high in the upper 80’s. I started fishing the wood but it took me a while to adjust to the low water. I used the tan jig with a green pump trailer (tips dipped). I use this bait a lot in the late summer and fall. It is an imitator of a hybrid bluegill/rockbass. You see these small hybrids suspended near wood in almost every lake and reservoir in Illinois in the late summer/early fall. At Lake Jacksonville they were visible around the wood in small schools. It took me about an hour to get my first bite (a short) and another half-hour to get my first keeper (3 lb plus). I continued on the wood, catching a four plus. Those fish were BURIED in the wood. I then moved to the pads. They wouldn’t touch a frog or Senko (or other topwaters). I started pitching the same jig in the pads and caught 2 more nice keepers (3 lbers). I watched a local using a crank on a nearby point (he sat 30 yds off the grassline). He caught 3 and lost a big one at the boat. As soon as he left I moved to the point and cranked up a 15 incher. I moved back to the point where I caught my bigfish last May and cranked up another 15 incher. Total: 6 keepers, 6 shorts. I would say my 5 best was around 13lbs. I decided that I would use this 3 prong strategy on tournament day: jigs on wood, jigs in pads, cranks on the grass. Locals really beat the hell out of the grasslines and I have very poor success on them so its my last resort pattern. The wood was being almost totally ignored. Those that did flip wood were just scratching the edges. The fish were tight and buried. In the pads, the fish were just inside the deep edge of the outer pad field.

Club Tournament: 9 Sept 07

It was very humid and foggy at take off-lower 60’s. The fog lifted at about 9:00 am to a blue bird day with a light N-NE wind. Temps warmed quickly to near 90F. I started on the wood and quickly boated a slime line keeper. But then it went dry with no more bites. After the fog lifted, I went to the pads and got a 3 with the jig. I cranked the grass points –my son landed a short and a crappie. Nothing else happed the rest of the day on the grass lines. I spent a great deal of time jigging those grasslines too. After giving the sun a chance to glue the fish to the wood, I moved back to the wood and got a nice 2 +. It was very slow fishing-alternating between the wood and the grass lines on the points. My son finally boated a 2-9 with a watermelon/red Senko. It was buried in wood too. I SAW a fish against a log and flipped to him but missed by 3 feet. The fish bolted but surprisingly circled back and ate my jig. It was an old skinny fish that would have been a 4 if it were healthy. I went back to the pads and nailed a 4 + but it got wrapped up in the pad stems and got off before I could get to it and net it. It would have been my limit fish. That was it four fish for me, one for my son. My 4 fish weighed 10-8 good enough for first. Second place was 9-8 (all jig fish). Big bass was 4-11. All our fish came from less than 3 feet of water-regardless of pattern (pads of wood). Everyone else fished the deeper grasslines and fared poorly. Overall it was a very slow and disappointing fishing day.

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