A little ice talk

I just put my boat in storage and am already gearing up for the ice season..I know I’ve got a long wait especially after a weekend like this one. I recently moved down south to N. Illinois and am a little lost as to where I’m going to go this winter. I’m only about an hour from Madison Chain. I was wondering if anyone sets up houses out there? I would really like to find a lake relatively close that I could set up “homebase” with a “permanent” house on the ice. Is this even possible in this part of the state??

Trapsht,

Whereabouts are you? If Geneva freezes, that can be good, as well as Delavan. I’ve seen permanants on both.

I’m in Rockford…Geneva and Delavan are pretty close also. I’ve heard that access is a problem at Delavan…true??

trapsht:

Another one that is close is Koshkonong…

In terms of access to lake, there should be no problem provided there is a public landing. If there is a spring in the immediate are of the landing, then access could be a problem, but shouldn’t otherwise.

In terms of permanent shanties, you just have to put them on later and take them off earlier… if you can at all… In a lot of years when I lived south, we put ’em on lat Dec. and took ’em off late Feb./early Mar.

The nice thing is usually there is less snow so as to be able to move permanent shacks easier, including off.

Mark

There are some perms on the Madison chain but I wouldn’t leave anything out there unsecured. So leaving a base up might not be such a good idea. The bigger lakes take a long time to freeze so as soon as you get one out there a month later it is time to pull it in. I am usually on some kind of bite up here and can point someone in the right direction if a PM is worded nicely.

Trapsht,

I lived in the Rockford area for 25 years. With regards to Delavan, a great spot is in the deep water in front of the Yacht Club. Slob fishermen ruined it, and you can’t park there anymore. The bar at the top of the hill has/had parking, if you ate lunch there. I used to park around the corner from the YC and “hoof it.” There is parking at the ramp and people fish out from the inlet.

Pierce Lake has alot of crappies, but they are really small. Shabbona is pretty close.

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trapsht:

Another one that is close is Koshkonong…

In terms of access to lake, there should be no problem provided there is a public landing. If there is a spring in the immediate are of the landing, then access could be a problem, but shouldn’t otherwise.

In terms of permanent shanties, you just have to put them on later and take them off earlier… if you can at all… In a lot of years when I lived south, we put ’em on lat Dec. and took ’em off late Feb./early Mar.

The nice thing is usually there is less snow so as to be able to move permanent shacks easier, including off.

Mark

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Second Mark on this, very nice walleye on the Big K. Mobility is key because these fish are wandering around the pond. Had some of my very best action ice fishing on this lake…keep moving…

I’vr actually tried Kosh once before, but couldn’t find water deeper than 5 ft. I don’t have a 4 wheeler and got sick of walking. Whiskerkev….I can be awfully nice in my PM’s…I’ll have to look you up later in the season.

Koshky is 5 feet everywhere. It can be a challenge to fish. Use tip ups, and put your bait withing 5 inches of the bottom and move away drill new holes a hundred yards away and stick and move until you find some flags. I’ve struck out a few times there and had one wonderful outing with 30 flags.