lake of Egypt – S. IL Trip – ReCap

Just wanted to say THANK YOU to the many folks who shared advise via the site and PM’s. Thought maybe some might enjoy a recap, as my dad (Loan-A-Ranger) and I would recommend the trip.

Lake of Egypt ~11 hours from LaCrosse, WI, just south of Marion, IL. There are 8 major bodies of water down there… with Lake of Egypt being one of the more famous for plentiful and sizable Largemouth…as well as having Kentucky Spotted Bass.

Prior to us showing up, the water 7 days earlier was ~68 degrees (of course spawning temperatures and we were excited!). Lake of Egypt is a power plant lake ~2300 acres. An impoundment type lake with fingers, etc. I’d say it is roughly 50% developed. Well, 5 days prior to us making the trip, a major cold front came through… we awoke to 33 degree air temps, misting, windy, and the water temps dropped to 53 degrees… tough. We managed 9 legal fish the first day, a few over 3 lbs. Probably would have weighed 8 fish @ ~20 lbs.

The second day was CLEAR BLUE skies and 34 degrees in the AM and quickly warmed to 56 degrees by 11 AM… beautiful day, but B-R-U-T-A-L fishing. We managed 5 fish, nothing worth writing home about. Though, within 5 casts of quitting for the trip, a 5/6+ lber NAILED my spinner 10 feet from the boat… she stayed on for a solid 5 seconds and spit it back at me… only myself and my father will dream about this and believe the story! It was a real wall hanger. Oh well… until next year!

Interestingly, the lake is owned by the ower company and they make the rules. 35 MPH limits, skiing and jet-skis are limited to a very small section of the lake, and no casting lures within 10 feet of the docks… tough one come summer!

I would recommend the lake, but weekday fishing would be recommended, as there are an abundance of bass tourneys and recreational fisherman on the lake on weekend (or so we’re told.)

Again, thanks for the tips and hints on places to stay and bodies of water to fish! (By the way, staying in Marion was the thing to do, and it places you ~10 minutes from Lake of Egypt and closer to Crab Orchard.)

Another one…

sounds like you had a great time thats what i like to hear
a wall hanger at 5 or 6 pounds damn you northerners are neglected lol i let an 8lber swim and have nothing worthy of the wall im shooting for a 10

as for next year go 3 weeks later and hit jacksonville and taylorville lakes look out there bigg and there not power plant lakes either took 22 to win our tourney on taylorville last year

when we was at jacksonville 8lbers were on beds just to windy to get them

Sooo….you discovered southern Illinois is a far cry from the ‘flatlands’, eh ? I went to school at SIU back in the early 70’s, my youngest daughter down there now. didja know that there are over 200 lakes in the Shawnee Nat’l Forest? Crab orchard is a great Crappie/bass lake…but Devil’s Kitchen, Little Grassy and the A-41 pond can be even better. then there is Cedar Lake south of Carbondale and Mermet and Gillespie NeW City Lake. If yyou ever wanna go back i can hook ya up. Two sponsors live down there, plus beaucoup buddies. another good source of info is http://[email protected] —click on illinois to pull up the sister magazine to Wisconsin Sportsman. Glad you enjoyed southern Illinois! The tough part is becoming an evangelist and telling fellow Cheeseheads there REALLY IS good fishin’ in Illinois!

So, we should head back in 2 weeks, eh? Hmmm…

Problem we saw with Little Grassy was the 10 HP limit. It seems a bunch of the lakes have that restriction… cannot even launch if your HP rating is > than what’s posted.

Yes, S. IL is a beautiful area… rolling hills, bluffs, sandstone, granite, plentiful large bodies of water… I had never been there, and I *will* go back.

Again, thanks to all for the help. Sounds like we will change things up for the 2005 trip.