April 14, 2016

Sangchris Lake: Bass excellent on spinnerbaits and chatterbaits. Catfish good on worms. Crappies are fair on jigs fairly shallow along rocks near dam. Lake Bloomington: Crappies good near and around brush on minnows and jigs. Bass and bluegills are slow. Clinton Lake: Bass are good on spinners, plastics and crankbaits in coves and at points

Crab Orchard: Crappie action has improved. Many fish have moved shallow and some nice fish have been caught. Minnows are the primary bait. Bluegill anglers are reporting good success around the rip rap and boat docks. Wax worms are the best bet. Bass action has been good. Catfish have slowed. Lake of Egypt: Bass good

Lake Michigan: The northern harbors like Waukegan have been hit and miss from Johnson’s and Government piers. The downtown harbors have been producing fish very well this early season. The powerliners have been doing well on both the coho and the browns with a few steelhead mixed in. Nightcrawlers and fathead minnows are the baits of choice. Casting crankbaits or spoons have also been putting

Banquets/Fundraisers April 15: Illinois Trap & Skeet Club NWTF Banquet, 5 p.m., Interstate Center, Bloomington. For more info call Rodney Graf, 309-261-4810. April 16: Cross Trail Outfitters of Illinois Banquet, 5:30 p.m., Fluid Events Center, Champaign. For more info call Eric St. Pierre, 217-480-2327. April 23: Illinois South WTU Banquet, 4 p.m., The Pavilion, Marion.

Region I – Capt. Laura Petreikis CPO Lazzell closed a Peoria County case involving a hunter found to be unlawfully hunting deer with a crossbow in Singing Woods Nature Preserve during the 2015 archery season. The Morton man was fined $250 for unlawfully hunting in the Nature Preserve and his illegally used crossbow was awarded

DOOR PENINSULA AND ALGOMA/KEWAUNEE AREA Brown trout action continues throughout the county on both sides of the peninsula. Generally, fishermen concentrate in water less than 20 feet, but on occasion, especially on the bay side, you can find pods of browns in some deeper water out to 50 feet. Mauler spoons, Rapalas, Thundersticks, and some smaller Husky Jerks have