"This lake was built in 1974 and first opened to
fishing in 1977. The lake is 319 acres and the basin was
shaped and designed with Sport Fish Restoration funds.
Standing timber, stump fields, fish cribs, anchored trees,
rock piles, fish piers, a gravel road bridge, and a cement
block house provide some very interesting structures for
the angler. The shoreline is well-vegetated with a variety
of aquatic plants including water lily.
In addition to muskie, the lake's predator population
includes largemouth bass in substantial numbers, walleye,
smallmouth bass, and hybrid striped bass supplementally
stocked yearly. The prey population includes gizzard shad,
yellow perch, golden shiners, white suckers, brook silversides,
and carp.
The 2001 fishing season was very good for muskie anglers
with reports of over 400 muskies boated. The well-functioning
barrier net along with a collapse of the shad population
over winter (2000 - 2001) probably contributed to this
enormous catch.
The fishing outlook is very good for 2002 and indeed many
anglers continued fishing throughout December 2001 until
ice-up."
Illinois Deptartment
of Natural Resources |
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Photos,
Shabbona Lake
