Central Illinois Fishing Report – October 19th, 2012

Lake Springfield

Crappies biting in 10-12 feet of water on minnows. Some bass being caught on spinners. Flathead and channel catfish biting on nightcrawlers.

Lake Sara (Effingham)

The crappie bite has been hot. The bait of choice is small jigs tipped with wax worms or spikes under floats. Skipping under the deeper docks or finding the submerged timber and green weeds.

Evergreen Lake

Crappies are found in 6 and 18 feet of water and running between 6 and 11 inches long. Minnows and slip bobbers accounted for a majority of the catches.

Newton Lake

Some nice bass caught on topwaters. Bluegills biting on worms.

Dawson Lake

Crappies in the 9- to 11- inch range, good action on wax worms and minnows. Catfish are good, using livers, nightcrawlers and stinkbaits. Bass and walleyes are slow.

Sangchris Lake

Bass biting on plastics and spinners. Topwaters working in evenings. Crappies fair on jigs and minnows near structures. Catfish good on stinkbaits.

Clinton Lake

Bass good on spinners and plastic worms. Crappies good on minnows. Lots of catfish out of boats, while fair action from bank-fishing near DeWitt Bridge on shad, nightcrawlers and dipbaits. Some white bass are fair, hitting bladebaits.

Spring Lake

Bluegills are slow on wax worms. Catfish are fair on dipbaits, crawlers and shad. Crappies are slow.