Matt England, England Expeditions Fishing Resolution 2018

from Adventure Sports Outdoors January 2018

MDC REPORTS MORE THAN 7,700 DEER HARVESTED DURING ANTLERLESS PORTION

HELPING CLIENTS CATCH MEMORIES ONE FISH AT A TIME Lake Shelbyville 217-520-3653 • www.englandexpenditions.com

Now that 2018 is upon us, lets make our New Year’s fishing resolutions!!! My advice to anyone looking for a fishing resolution is “Do the Little Things!!!” Besides that, my only other suggestion would be to visit Lake Shelbyville and enjoy yourself on a fantastic fishery. Along with a couple tips to avoid a future problem with your equipment, I am going to offer a couple winter season techniques for crappie, walleye, and sauger.

First, lets discuss some simple “Little Things” or a few tasks to help you avoid losing any fish, which could have been avoided. It is very important to make sure your fishing line is not only spooled with new line, but make sure it is not over spooled. Putting too much line on your reel is a common problem. Always do a practice cast in your yard before hitting the water to avoid lost time while fishing. I prefer to use 6lb. test High Visibility line on all my crappie reels. The High Visibility line has fantastic contrast against the darker lake water making any subtle movements of your line easier to see. Cleaning and oiling your reels will really enhance the performance of your reel. It will have a much longer lifespan and save you money in the long run. Refer to your owner’s manual that came with your reel if you have any issues getting started or for any other questions you may have. Pole maintenance is the easiest to do and one of the most important factors needed to catch whatever species you are fishing for. Make sure the tip section of your pole is in working order, because that is where your sensitivity is detected. The eyelets are very important. Make sure they are in perfect working order because it only takes one little knick to cause a weak spot in the line and give a fish the chance to break off and get away.

Crappie fishing on Lake Shelbyville in January can be very good and barring any significant ice, there is no reason you cannot catch some nice winter slabs! Wintertime crappie fishing can be even better than other times, because less people are fishing. First, lets discuss some places to find those winter slabs and those large schools of fish, also. Knowing where your structures are, such as a group of stumps, submerged trees, and even bridge columns, are places to start looking for those schools of crappie.

Once the fish are located I prefer to

WORLD-CLASS QUALITY HUNTS AROUND THE WORLD! TED TESTED! • TED ABUSED! • TED APPROVED!

Ted Nugent

Andy and Rex double limit!! Joe and Mike with some winter slabs

“Helping Clients Catch Memories One Fish at at Time”

Lake Shelbyville, IL

Shemane Nugent “Queen of the Forest”

MATT ENGLAND

January 2018

use either a 1/16 oz. or 1/32 oz. sized jig head. Along with a 1/16 oz. or 1/32 oz. jig head I like to use hair as opposed to the normal plastic tube bodies. Hair jigs have a much more natural action and the subtleties in the action is a game changer. Due to the crappies slower metabolism and less active feeding routines the use of smaller hair jigs will be the difference maker! Riprap shorelines with a gradual drop-off will be another place to find large schools. Once you find them be sure to fish in a slower presentation than you normally do at any other time of the year. Fishing in water from 10-20 feet deep with standing timber scattered throughout the mouths of coves will be places crappie will be found also. Once the depth is determined you can use your electronics to highlight that depth throughout your lake and that will be a great timesaver allowing more time to fish those areas. Crappie patterns on Lake Shelbyville have shown that winter crappie will live in bigger schools and stay on structures longer than any other time of year, also.

Winter walleye and sauger fishing on Lake Shelbyville in January is still a hot month to land a possible giant! First, as usual, walleye and sauger are always on the hunt for their next meal. Knowing that fact, it is important to fish areas that bait fish, will be attracted to. Fishing flats that lead into a channel drop-off are a fantastic place to cast several lures over. To start I use a ¼ oz. Big Dude vibration bait and control my depth with the speed of my retrieval. Crank baits are another great option to cast near rock piles, stumps, sunken creek beds, and even old roadbeds. Walleye and sauger use all of those as areas to ambush their next meal. Tipping a ¼ oz. lead head with a night crawler and slowly retrieving it off the bottom in 11-15 feet of water, near any bend of the river channel, is another successful strategy at this time of the year. This helps to catch not only good numbers of fish, but some nice size ones too. With this method I allow plenty of time to retrieve my jig and even stop my presentation at times for 2 or 3 seconds before I begin to start again. Use your lake map or your electronics to find and fish those “horseshoes.” These will be areas walleye and sauger visit regularly looking for an easy meal. Trolling crank baits along wind blown points will be an effective way to cover a lot of water. This helps to catch those walleye/sauger hunting those bait fish that have been pushed up along the shore. Once you have found a school of walleye/sauger you can begin to cast your favorite walleye lure for another way to catch them. Finding the walleye/sauger is harder than catching them, so once you find them know that you CAN CATCH THEM!!!

In closing, I will have a booth at the Fish and Feather Expo this month in Bloomington, Illinois on January 26, 27, 28. Please swing by and say hello!

We are now booking trips for the 2018 season. To book a trip with us you can visit www.englandexpeditions.com or call (217) 520-3653. CATCHING MEMORIES ONE FISH AT A TIME!!!