Fishermen always are on the prowl for new places to fish. Tell the truth. If you are somewhere in public and overhear a stranger talking about catching fish, you’ll stalk him until he drops the name of the place where he is getting them, right? It’s in our make-up.
Often, the best new places are ponds and lakes we drive past every day. We’ll drive long distances to find the next new honey hole when the best choice might actually be visible from the road on our commute to and from work.
It’s silly, but I think that we figure spots like I am talking about are too easy to hold fish. Well, I think that pretty much every single housing development pond, industrial park pond and public park pond hold fish, usually largemouth bass and bluegills. If a pond doesn’t have fish living in it, it shouldn’t take long with a rod and reel to determine that fact.
One category of waterway that thousands of fishermen seem to forget about are the ponds and lakes in our county forest preserve systems. We are fortunate to be able to reside within the boundaries under the control of the McHenry County Conservation District.
The District owns or manages more than 25,000 acres of open land, and a lot of it holds ponds, creeks and rivers. There are 34 sites that are open year-round. In my humble opinion, the MCCD sites that offer fishing are drastically underutilized.
MCCD does an excellent job in managing the waterways it controls for the benefit of those of us with a passion for catching fish. Compare McHenry to Kane County for example. Kane’s forest preserve properties that are fishable are along the Fox River. Kane does nothing to manage or help the river’s fishing opportunities. A few years back, Kane took over a lake on Jericho Road in Big Rock. They immediately slapped up “catch-and-release only” signs. That was the total extent of their fishery management program. Something like that would never happen here. MCCD would do something good for the lake, I am quite positive.
When I say that the MCCD waterways are underfished, I mean it. Many people think that forest preserve lakes and ponds must be overfished when they see the number of cars in the preserve’s parking lot. Few of the cars belong to fishermen. There are so many things to do at the preserves that fishing is a small part of the activities available.
So, where would be a few good places to fish in the waters under the auspices of MCCD? Brookdale on Route 14 in Woodstock contains three ponds. The main pond is 11 acres, and there are two smaller ponds of about 2 acres each. They are certainly not huge waterways, but they hold fish. You can walk around all three ponds casting a Senko-rigged wacky-style in less than two hours. I’ll bet you’ll hook a couple of bass during your outing.
You can give Dufield Pond on Country Club Road a try while you are out in Woodstock. This 7-acre pond gives up some decent bass and catfish every year. By the way, Dufield holds some northern pike, too.
Fel-Pro RRR on Crystal Lake Road in Cary is only 4 acres but yields a few decent bass occasionally. It definitely is worth a try. There is a smaller pond at Fel-Pro that is pretty good for bluegill action.
Hickory Grove is in Cary and contains a backwater pond off the Fox River. Northern pike come into this area in late winter, believe it or not. You can find some good crappie action here all season if you can locate where the weeds are in the dark water. There are some areas that hold downed trees that hold fish, too.
Speaking of riverfront fishing, MCCD has access to the Kishwaukee River at County Line Conservation Area in Marengo. Catfish, bass and northern pike can be caught from the shoreline. The Fox Bluff Conservation Area in Cary is a pretty site where you may be able to catch catfish, bass, pike and a muskie if you are extremely lucky.
I think the best spot in MCCD is The Hollows on Route 14 in Cary. The Hollows is home to Lake Atwood, a 22-acre gem. This is a great spot to take the kids because it isn’t hard to catch bluegill after bluegill on a small hook and piece of nightcrawler. Your kids won’t be learning patience, they’ll be catching fish. Bring your bass gear because there are nice largemouth available. Like all MCCD sites, you need to practice catch-and-release.
The Hollows also has a second, 12-acre lake on the property and also Little Atwood, a 2.5-acre lake, too. Don’t just fish the big one.
MCCD also has several other small ponds and lakes that are stocked and can be good fishing opportunities. You have Lyons Prairie and Marsh in Cary, Marengo Ridge Pond on Route 23 in Marengo, Pleasant Valley Pond in Woodstock, Rush Creek Pond in Harvard, Silver Creek Pond in Cary, Stickney Run Pond in McHenry and Winding Creek Pond in Hebron.
Moving water opportunities include areas where Nippersink can be approached in Wonder Lake, Ringwood and Spring Grove, also Picasaw Creek in Chemung.
Is that enough fishing opportunities for you? I should certainly hope so. Come on, get out there and see what the McHenry County Conservation District has to offer fishermen. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. MCCD does a great job with their properties. They are beautiful and, trust me, they do hold fish. For information, check out www.mccdistrict.org/rccms/fishing-in-mchenry-county/.
FISHING REPORT
Northern Illinois: Dave Kranz from Dave's Bait, Tackle and Taxidermy in Crystal Lake reports: "The dams at McHenry, Algonquin and Carpentersville are at flood stage and very dirty. Floating debris and high water make fishing tough. I would wait for the waters to recede and clean up. Safety first.
"The McHenry County Conservation District area, The Hollows, is a great place for kids to catch a lot of bluegills. Use a waxworm or redworm. Some trout and bass, as well as catfish, are catchable.
"Crystal Lake is home to Vulcan Lake at the Three Oaks Recreation Area. This clear gravel pit lake is catch-and-release. You also are not allowed to use minnows. Bass, northern pike and walleye can be caught here. Shore fishing is available, and boat rentals are available at 6:30 a.m. on weekends and after 3:30 in the afternoon through May 24. Spinnerbaits, stick baits and Defender jigs all work well here. For more info on northern Illinois fishing, call 815-455-2040 for an updated report.”
Fox Chain O' Lakes: Chris Taurisano of T-Bone Guide Service (www.tboneguideservice.com – 630-330-9090) sends word, "Fishing has improved this week despite the weather being very unpredictable. Walleyes and muskies are getting better every day. Small presentations are the best right now. Minnows or crawlers on a hook or jig work for the walleyes. Muskies are chasing baits that you'd normally throw for big bass. Panfish are going into spawn and will be in full swing soon."
Lake Michigan: The Lake Michigan Fishing Report is provided by Capt. Caleb Weiner of Migrator Charters: "Snow in April can put a damper on fishing. However, we came through with some good fishing over the past weekend. Numbers of coho and limits of lake trout and the occasional steelhead were caught over the weekend. We fished from 20 to 50 feet of water with steady action on lake trout and coho. The coho seemed to be better in 20 feet and the trout better in the 40-foot range; however, the trout were more plentiful overall. The best rods were a Luhr Jensen dodger with a yellow Spin-N-Glo with a yellow tail on the bottom for the trout along with a Moonshine RV Blue Flounder on a seven-color. The coho were after little red dodgers with two-tone peanut flies and aqua peanut flies on Dipsy Divers and planer boards. Sunday afternoon some bait moved into the area, and the limits of coho should follow soon. If you don't have your boat ready or just want to get out fishing, we have openings for weekday trips in May and a few weekend spots left. Don't miss out on the fast action. Give us a call at 224-234-3704 or check us out at www.migratorcharters.com."
NEWS AND NOTES
Morel mushroom hunting: My guru, Lake in the Hills' Mike Miller, is just back from turkey camp and sends word, "I'd say the mushrooms are a week or so off depending on our temps. They will be coming on quick, though. I've got a pretty busy schedule coming up, but maybe we can find a time to walk a few hillsides. I'll keep you up to date."
I am ready, Mike. I believe that this is the week to find them, and it is going to be one of the best seasons we’ve seen in a while.
• Steve Sarley writes about the outdoors for Shaw Media. Write to him at sarfishing@yahoo.com. Steve does a weekly podcast about fishing called “WeFishASA.” You can find it at www.wefishasa.com.