Contact: Chain-O-Lakes State Park, (815) 675-2385.

OTHER NORTHEAST LAKES
Greg Dickson's Triangle Bait Shop, located south of Antioch on Grass Lake Road, is just a stone's throw from three other northeast Illinois lakes certainly worth checking out this winter.

If you like pike fishing, it's hard to beat East Loon and West Loon lakes, which are 165 acres each and are connected. "Early in the season, the pike are more active in East Loon," Dickson said. "The last month of the season, anglers on West Loon do better."

Fishing is relatively simple. Just hang a roach or smelt under the ice along the outside weedline and wait. Best action is typically found at midday when the sun is shining.

Bluegills get the most attention on Deep Lake. Dickson said weed edges are the key to success here as well. "But for some reason, wigglers are a much better bait than wax worms in this deep, clear water."

Yellow bass -- once the scourge of the Fox Chain -- are still found in good numbers in 500-acre-plus Long Lake. "If the mud vein is fileted out, you can't tell 'em from crappies," Dickson said, "and you'll catch crappies as well as those yellow bass by jigging a little Cicada spoon."

Busse, Tampier and Milliken lakes are three other options close to home for anglers living in northeast Illinois.

SHABBONA LAKE
This 319-acre DeKalb County state park lake is by far the best lake in Illinois to put on a winter fishing clinic.

Shabbona has more structure, both natural and manmade, than any other lake in northern Illinois. Fish cribs, a roadbed, building foundations, deadfalls, rockpiles -- Shabbona has it all. And most of the fish are relating to some kind of structure all winter long.

If you're a technology junkie, this is where you want to spend your winter. Profoundly detailed topographic maps of the lake are available. Locate the structures with your GPS and Vexilar FL-18 flasher, drop down the underwater viewing camera and have your picture cell phone handy for some digital chop-busting when fins start flapping on the ice.

Most winter anglers chase bluegills on Shabbona, simply because almost all are worth keeping and are present in considerable numbers. Crappies are plentiful, and average about 8 inches. This heavily pressured lake also has a good bass population, with both largemouths and smallmouths present. Then there are the walleyes that are well in excess of the 14-pound state record.

If you're going after bass or walleyes, a No. 3 Jigging Rapala in blue/chrome or fire-tiger is hard to beat. Because they are pricey and getting snagged is part of the fish-catching equation, having a lure retriever handy is a good idea.

The very best days on Shabbona come with a rapidly falling barometer and snow. Fish tend to bite aggressively all day long.

Contacts: Big Jim's Bait, (815) 824-2415; www.shabbonalake.com.

NORTH-CENTRAL OPTIONS
Two lakes located in Rock Cut State Park -- Olson and Pierce -- are both good ice-fisheries, with crappies being the major winter draw. Pierce is only 160 acres, with Olson considerably smaller.

These Winnebago County lakes receive surprisingly light winter fishing pressure in spite of their location on the north side of metro Rockford. Recent DNR surveys show good numbers of walleyes in Pierce, with a fair population of 24- to 28-inch fish. However, these marble-eyes are notoriously finicky.

About 40 minutes south of Rockford, off Interstate 39, is Lake Sule, a small borrow-pit lake teeming with multiple year-classes of crappies. Sule has little structure for fish to relate to, and little rhyme or reason to these fishes' behavior. Some days they bite like crazy. Other days, this water is like a frozen Dead Sea. Roll the dice. Don't forget small minnows. And be sure to drop a line over the blips on electronics that indicate fish.

A LITTLE FARTHER WEST
Two more state lakes worthy of mention are 43-acre Le-Aqua-Na in Stephenson County and 77-acre Lake Carlton outside of Morrison in Morrison-Rockwood State Park in Whiteside County.