For additional information, contact Riverside Hunting, Bait and Tackle at (309) 347-3793, or the IDNR’s Region 1 office at (815) 625-2968.

Lake Le-Aqua-Na
It’s the northern pike that raise the eyebrows of ice-fishermen on this small but powerful pike fishery. Lake Le-Aqua-Na only covers 43 acres, but there’s an estimated five pike per acre. Considering what willing biters they can be during the cold weather, that means plenty of good fishing.

The pike aren’t massive and average only about 3 pounds. However, there are fish taken that have reached 38 inches and tip the scales at 12 or 13 pounds.

Chubs and suckers up to 6 inches long dropped down through the hole and allowed to swim freely under a float are the best bait going. Jigging spoons and vibrating baits work well when the northerns are hitting, but you’ll still need to tie on a thin metal leader or risk losing both your fish and your bait.

Northern pike are considered a cool-water fish that remains active throughout the winter months when other predators, such as bass, slow down as their metabolism cools. Pike roam freely under the ice, often only inches deep as they take advantage of the overhead cover.

The lake lies three miles north of Lena, in Stephenson County.

For additional information, contact the IDNR’s Region 1 office at (815) 625-2968.

Decatur Lake

According to Mounce, ice-fishing in fisheries District 11 may only last a few days, but last year was an exception with good ice for several weeks.

Crappies may be on the outside edges of breaks or just outside of the shallower areas where they’re targeting baitfish that have retreated to deeper water. Using an electronic fish-finder through a hole or even directly through the ice can reveal if the spot you’re on is going to be productive.

Offering a crappie minnow is the best way to tempt these sometimes-cautious fish. Use the minnow on a bare hook. An ice fly tipped with a maggot or wax worm, tiny jigging spoons, and jigs tipped with a minnow are also effective.

The lake averages about 6 feet deep, a good depth for ice-fishing. Crappies, white bass and the occasional largemouth bass are available. The crappies are running up to a pound, the whites up to 2 pounds, and the bass are a bit on the small side, despite the 14-inch minimum-length restriction in place.

No ice-fishing discussion in Illinois is complete without mentioning the Fox Chain O’Lakes . . . well-known in ice-fishing circles, and the great bite has been a poorly kept secret in Chicago for years.

Decatur Lake covers 3,093 acres on the east side of Decatur, in Macon County.

For more information, call the IDNR’s Region 3 office at (217) 345-2420.

Lake Shelbyville
Lake Shelbyville is a Charleston-area lake that offers up a good crappie and walleye combination for ice-anglers, according to Mounce.

An IDNR survey completed in 2003 raised a few eyebrows. Biologists found walleyes up to 8 pounds, with a large number of fish in the 17- to 19-inch range, and some as long as 25 inches. The lake is considered an excellent walleye destination.

Taking walleyes from under the ice can be tricky. They’re easily spooked by dropped equipment and heavy steps on the ice and will move on a whim. Try to locate a confluence of bottom structure that the ‘eyes will be loosely relating to during the cold weather, but beware that they don’t hug bottom structure as they tend to in summer. For some reason, these normally schooling fish will scatter throughout the lake.