Chaminwood: Don't forget the helgies!

It was supposed to be a rainy day today but when I checked the radar late this morning it looked like there was a several hour window between storms so I hurriedly packed up the kayak and headed down to Lake Chaminwood preserve in Minooka.  Lake Chaminwood just recently opened to the public in the fall of 2012 and this was my first time to fish this lake. When I arrived the parking lot was almost full and there were probably 15-20 shore anglers.  There is no boat launch but you are allowed to carry in small boats, canoes, and kayaks.  The put in was muddy but it was a short distance from the parking lot so it wasn't too bad.  I decided to skip the portion of the lake with most the shore anglers and paddle under the pedestrian bridge to the larger part of the lake.

Lookin' Bassy!

Water clarity was probably 3'-4' and the shallow areas had large hydrilla like weeds growing up close to the surface.  Most of the shoreline is steep and brushy though and shore fishing on this portion of the lake is very limited.  Perfect for kayak fishing, however.  I started out out fishing some wacky rigged 5" senkos and super flukes but I couldn't even get a bite.  Out of desperation to get the skunk off I decided to get the ultralite out try some Crabby Bass helgies.  Unfortunately I quickly realized the heligies had been left in the car.  I scrounged around the few bags of plastics I had brought and managed to find one rigged up helgie and a small split shot.  It turned out the helgie was the ticket to getting the bass to bite.

Small Chaminwood bass on black with blue flake helgie

After landing 7 or 8 small bass and a nice bluegill on the helgie I had a good-sized bass break my line.  I had a choice to either make the long paddle back to my car to retrieve the helgies or keep fishing with other lures.  I didn't feel like losing any fishing time since it was starting to sprinkle so I decided to go with the next smallest plastic I had brought with me, some 4" senkos.  I didn't get nearly as many bites as I got on the helgie but I still managed several more bass.

First KayakWars worthy bass(16"+) for 2013

Healthy 15.5" Chaminwood bass

The pattern for today was to fish reed edges and under overhanging branches on steep banks.  It was a nice day to be out as I only got rained on for 10 minutes and the east winds never got too bad.  I talked to a couple shore anglers and it seemed they all had big fish stories from the lake. Hook straightening, giant mouthed tales are part of the allure of the deep quarry lakes we have in this area.  One of these days I hope to land one of these "monsters of the deep".

Fish Caught: Largemouth Bass - 12+

                      Bluegill - 1

                      Black Crappie - 1

Successful Baits: Crabby Bass helgie w/small split shot

                            4" Gary Yamamoto red shad laminate senko weightless

Weather: Cloudy, isolated showers, E winds 5-10 mph, mid-60's.

Water Temp: Unknown