NEWTON LAKE
If there’s a spot in your den just achin’ for a trophy bass mount, this Jasper County cooling lake may be the shortest distance to a heavily stretched string in the Land of Lincoln.

March and April are the best times to fish these waters with shad patterns very effective. If I only had one bait to throw, I would throw a green pumpkin pepper, Chompers-skirted hula grub on a 1/8-ounce stand-up jighead near some wood -- especially the two stumps paralleling the shore.

There is a popular saying among anglers -- “I’ve never lost a little fish. The bass that broke my line and my heart three years ago was no little fish.”

A three-fish daily, 18-inch minimum is in place as is a 25-horsepower limit on motors. Catching 50 fish in an average day is not out of the question and several may be in excess of 4 pounds. If you catch one heavier than 10 pounds, subtract an eighth-ounce for the weight of that rusty stand-up jighead.

For further information about Newton Lake, call (618) 783-3478.

COFFEEN LAKE
Like many of our top spring bass waters, this 1,000-acre Montgomery County gem near Hillsboro is a cooling lake. Like other cooling lakes, you’ll find the best fishing is in the warmest water this time of year.

IDNR fisheries biologist Jeff Pontnack rated this water as “one of the best in the state for producing good catches of 2- to 4-pound bass.”

Coffeen is brimming with cookie cutter 15- and 16-inch fish that aggressively chase different presentations.

Coffeen is an early-season lake, so you may be better off fishing elsewhere after May 1, but those Coffeen bass will keep you busy between now and Mother’s Day. For more information, call (217) 537-3351.

HENNEPIN-HOOPER LAKE
Outstanding public bass waters north of Peoria are rare, but a new fishery near Princeton is semi-public and anyone is welcome to fish every Friday and Saturday.

The rest of the week requires an annual membership costing $300.

If you come to Hennepin-Hooper, a reclaimed drainage lake under private management, leave your deep-running crankbaits at home -- the average depth is 3 feet with a very soft bottom.

Because the water is so shallow, weed growth becomes a factor by the time the lake opens May 1, boats are restricted to electric trolling motors only.

Three hundred dollars may seem a pretty steep price to chase bass, but in northern Illinois, premium bass fishing has a price. This semi-private water is still less expensive than buying property at either Apple Canyon or Galena Territories in Jo Daviess County where only property owners and their guests may access two lakes that are as good or better than any other bass fisheries in the state.

For more information about Hennepin-Hooper Lake, call the Princeton Chamber of Commerce at (815) 875-2616.