Author: AJ Hauser | Midwest Bass Fishing

Largemouth Bass Fishing in Illinois typically starts to heat up when you begin noticing panfish and bass on their beds up shallow. Sometimes they will attack your bait… other times… not so much. Personally, I don’t like to target bass on beds. I feel that bothering largemouth bass doing the deed is disruptive… although I do succumb to the temptation from time to time.

I am human, after all.

Around my lakes, not all of the fish do the same thing at the same time. You can sometimes develop patterns between lakes – however – it seems like Lake A could have bass that are done spawning, while Lake B has bass that are in the middle of spawning – and these lakes might be just a few miles away from one another, slightly different in size and depth, and yet – the fish will be at different stages.

This will require further study, however, on this day I was able to land bass at Lake A using two unique presentations, and then hop over to Lake B, where I was able to target bass swimming out beyond the first drop off, behind the bedding bluegill.

Overall, it was a great day, and here are a few of the items I used to make it happen:

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Rapala Skitter Pop
Strike King Ocho Stickbait
Berkley Wacky Hooks
20lb Fluorocarbon
Trokar EWG Hooks
Grandebass Airtail Wiggler

Let’s get to grinding.
Godspeed, Patriots.

:::::VIEW THE FULL FISHING SEASON IN ORDER:::::

2 SOLID Presentations for Midwest Largemouth Bass Fishing

CONDITIONS:
Location: Northern Illinois
Time of Year: 3rd Week of May – Early Morning
Weather: Warming & Clear
Air Temperature: 54°F & Rising

Oh hey, check this out – if you are working on a rod repair, grab this free checklist – I guarantee it will help you out!

Let’s get better.

Crappie fishing in Illinois is not always something that people think about when they’re fishing the Midwest. However, if the bass aren’t biting – take a look around and see if you can see any signs that tell you it might be time to switch gears and do a little bit of crappie fishing.

On this afternoon I only had an hour to fish, and I started with a jerkbait. I was hunting Illinois largemouth… but… 30 minutes and zero fish later, I realized that I had been seeing panfish and crappie up in the super-shallow rip rap. Fortunately, I always have a Mule Jig with some Donkey Tails on me for just such an occasion. These are small swimbait style lures that have a bunch of cool little features that I talk about in this comprehensive review.

Long story shore, we took a tough day of fishing that could have ended poorly, and turned it into one heck of a (short and intense) afternoon!

:::::GEAR LINKS:::::
Lucky Craft USA Pointer 100 SP
Mitchell Pro Spinning Reel
Mule Fishing Supply Co: https://www.mulefishing.com/

Let’s keep grinding.

Godspeed, Patriots.

Illinois Crappie Fishing

CONDITIONS:
Location: Northern Illinois
Time of Year: 2nd Week of May – Late Afternoon
Weather: Hot & Clear
Air Temperature: 94°F

PRESENTATIONS:
Power Rig: Mitchell Pro Spinning Reel w/ Lucky Craft USA Pointer 100 SP and Strike King Ocho Stickbaits on Berkley Fusion 19 Weedless Wacky Hooks
Finesse Rig: Mule Jigs & Donkey Tails: https://www.mulefishing.com/

Oh hey, check this out – if you are working on a rod repair, grab this free checklist – I guarantee it will help you out!

Let’s get better.

Largemouth Bass Fishing in Illinois comes with a fair amount of curveballs. Muck, for one thing, can foul trebles in clear water if you’re bumping rocks. Unexpected algae blooms can pop up overnight – turning your crankbait pattern into a swimbait (or even topwater frog) pattern. Some ponds that LOOK great can be completely “turned off”, while other nearby ponds of similar size can be active.

Some might be prespawn, others postspawn. Some are hungry, some aren’t. Some will bite, some won’t.

The moral of the story?

Not every body of water will be doing the same thing at the same time – even if the are geographically close to one another and look similar.

The same can be true of creek arms and different areas within the same massive body of water. This is something we’ll explore more once we migrate from Illinois to Arkansas.

So if you want to catch more bass… you have to be versatile! You have to be ready to make adjustments on the fly, and alter your plans so that you can catch more fish when others would simply say the ‘ol standby throwaway line…

“I guess the fish ain’t biting today!”

Lies.

Get out there and MAKE ’em bite!

:::::GEAR LINKS:::::
Lucky Craft USA Pointer 100 SP
Strike King Ocho Stickbait
Berkley Fusion 19 Weedless Wacky Hooks
Mitchell Pro Spinning Reel

Let’s get to grinding.

Godspeed, Patriots.

Illinois Fishing: More Versatility = More Prespawn Fish

CONDITIONS:
Location: Northern Illinois
Time of Year: 2nd Week of May – Late Morning
Weather: Clear & Warm
Air Temperature: 75°F

PRESENTATIONS:
Power Rig: Baitcaster w/ Z-Man CrossEyeZ Chatterbait w/ Z-Man RaZor ShadZ Trailer
Finesse Rig: Mitchell Pro Spinning Reel w/ Lucky Craft USA Pointer 100 SP and Strike King Ocho Stickbaits on Berkley Fusion 19 Weedless Wacky Hooks

Oh hey, check this out – if you are working on a rod repair, grab this free checklist – I guarantee it will help you out!

Let’s get better.

Largemouth Bass Fishing can be tough in cold conditions early in the fishing season – especially in Illinois. Some guys like to drag jigs… others like to pull a Carolina rig… but in my case, we have to navigate the rocks and the leftover MUCK. On smaller lakes, it can be difficult to develop any sort of pattern… but… can you develop a pattern on smaller lakes?

Sure you can.

Today we’ll be fishing a certain KIND of lake with a certain kind of structure, with a jigworm, a chatterbait, and a jerkbait. I have never actually caught a largemouth bass on a jerkbait… but that ends today!

I’ve had a Lucky Craft SK 80 (Stacey King) Jerkbait in Ghost Olive Green Shiner. Absolutely killer looking little bait. Nowadays I think I’ll have to look into the Lucky Craft Pointers as this bait has been discontinued… but it finally produced a big ‘ol chonk for me.

The jigworm was a stout little combo – half of a Lunkerhunt Lunker Stick on a Mustad Grip Pin Jig. I love these jigs because they are a little more stout and don’t bend as easily as lightwire hooks – some of which bent straight on mean ‘ol Mr. Smalljaw last year and cost me a few quality fish.

:::::GEAR LINKS:::::
Mustad Grip Pin Jig
Lunkerhunt Lunker Sticks
Lucky Craft USA Pointer 100 SP
Z-Man CrossEyeZ Chatterbait
Z-Man RaZor ShadZ

So let’s get out there and fish some cold water, and see if we can put together a bit of an early season pattern that will help us put more fish in the boat! … er… on the shore!

Quick little update on the homefront as well in this one as we continue to work and save up so that we can sell, move south, get a boat and a slip and get to learning all about Bull Shoals, Arkansas.

Let’s get to grinding.

Godspeed, Patriots.

Patterning Small Lakes for Early Season Largemouth Bass (Jerkbait + Jigworm)

CONDITIONS:
Location: Northern Illinois
Time of Year: First Week of May – Afternoon
Weather: Cold Overcast w/ Drizzle
Air Temperature: 50°F

PRESENTATIONS:
Power Rig: Baitcaster w/ Z-Man CrossEyeZ Chatterbait w/ Z-Man RaZor ShadZ Trailer (both Fire Craw color) and Lucky Craft USA Pointer 100 SP
Finesse Rig: Spinning Rod w/ 1/16 oz Mustad Jig (alt: Berkley Weedless Wacky Hook) & Lunkerhunt Lunker Stick

Oh hey, check this out – if you are working on a rod repair, grab this free checklist – I guarantee it will help you out!

Let’s get better.

Largemouth Bass Fishermen love chatterbaits. They are very popular in certain situations, and popular in the early spring. Here in Illinois I haven’t had much luck bass fishing with them – but I’ve decided the best way to gain more confidence in this type of bait, is to put in some work.

Monsterbass recently sent me a Z-Man CrozzEyeZ in Fire Craw, with some Z-Man Razor ShadZ for trailers. The combo pairs well together, but it is difficult to get the trailer on the chatterbait because of the stretchiness of the material.

That said, once it is seated properly the two Z-Man products make for an effective little combo that should work well for Illinois bass fishing…

Let’s get to fishing, and I’ll tell you a bit more about the goals here on this channel as we go. Illinois fishing for now… but soon… Arkansas…

It’s go time.

Godspeed, Patriots.

Early Spring Chatterbait Bass Fishing (Z-Man CrossEyeZ in Fire Craw)

CONDITIONS:
Location: Northern Illinois
Time of Year: Last Week of April – Late Morning
Weather: Overcast & Chilly w/ Slight Breeze
Air Temperature: 50°F

PRESENTATIONS:
Power Rig: Baitcaster w/ Z-Man CrossEyeZ Chatterbait w/ Z-Man RaZor ShadZ Trailer (both Fire Craw color)
Finesse Rig: Spinning Rod w/ 1/16 oz Mustad Jig (alt: Berkley Weedless Wacky Hook) & Lunkerhunt Lunker Stick

Oh hey, check this out – if you are working on a rod repair, grab this free checklist – I guarantee it will help you out!

My friend Matt over at Barb Catch Fishing has a good article on The 5 Best Pre-Spawn Bass Lures.

Let’s get better.