Hy ya, I am a newbie to the site and it looks like a neat place to be.

I am curious if the southern lakes in ILL. freeze enough for ice fishing. We now this week have good ice in the making here in the Quad City area.

I love to fish for Bluegills and Crappie either in open water or through the ice. Schoe

Sometimes yes it can freeze enough to walk across, but I have never seen these lakes completely freeze and I woudl be leary of walking across the ice on some of these lakes.
Then again I have heard of Crab Orchard frezing 18" thick before too.

On the flipside why worry about ice fishing down here, if the lake is frozen give it a day or two and the ice will probably clear off and you can fish anywhere.

Oh yeah, welcome to Southern Illinois Outdoors. I assume you live near the Quad Cities? I have a friends dad that lives near Aledo and have hunted up that way a few times.

I remember a few years back it didn't get above freezing for 33 days... they were riding sleds on the river. (I'd never do that on moving water, but...) Folks were punching holes then, but for the most part the ice never gets safe enough. I'd go if it does though.

Welcome aboard!!!!!!!!

We were through your part of the state a couple years ago. Welcome to SILO. We've been getting pretty typical southern Illinois weather this year (except for those 70+ days and the tornadoes and stuff) where it drops below freezing some nights but gets back above freezing most days. I'd be a bit leery trying to ice fish down here. It's been many years since I went Ice fishing.

I did get to pull a bunch of bluegill thru the ice last winter near the Effingham area. I don't think mother nature is going to cooperate this winter.

Not too often have the lakes been forzen solid enough for me to trust..the temps fluctuate way too much to insure a good thick layer..but the upside of that is as Bird pointed out..give it day or so..and you can just fish the open water :)

schoe, I'm new to the board also. Was on Rend today crappie fishing and the water was open. Saw a little bit of surface ice back in the back of the necks. Water temps were around 35 degrees.

Thanks for the welcomes and info. I've been down to Lake Carlyle a couple of times but other than that haven't fished south of Springfield.

Myself and a few friends are thinking of having a get together this Fall in Southern ILL. somewhere that has a good population of Bluegills and Crappies.

In April we are going to Ky. Lake for a week and I can look over any prospective lakes en route. Schoe

When you do come down, let us know. Some of us might be there too. My neighbor catches a lot of crappie in Carlyle, but he fishes up north of the tracks in the trees. Our boats more of an open water boat. You'll cross the northeast arm of Rend if you take I-57 down. We've caught a lot of bluegills there, mostly in the spring when they're spawning.

If you want to catch some real blue gill, take a trip to Reel Foot. Now that is blue gill fishn there in the spring. If you ever want to get on some crappie, give us a shout down here and we can maybe help you out on Rend.

CX.

Thanks fellas, you can count on seeing me and some of my dedicated fishermen friends down your way this spring. Schoe

Hey schoe, come on down we'll help you out.

Hey CrappieX, ESF, and Fingerlicken....im here and signed up. Im also a noobie lol so Helloo to everyone!!!

Schoe im in Central Illinois and hope to be on some ice this Monday:)

Welcome schoe. I bird hunted up your way about a year ago, stayed in Aledo and hunted around Aledo, Joy and Illinois City.

Thanks fellas, it's always nice to have local help.

Anyone that would come up my way consider sending a PM letting me know.

We do have some fine Walleye and Sauger fishing here in the Mississippi from Oct till the end of April. Also, the Rock River is one of the best Flathead and Channel Cat rivers in the Midwest.

I am very fortunate to live within 15 minutes of both rivers. Like I posted earlier, Pan Fish is my favorite target but I am a multi specie fisherman and love to catch and eat those Cats, Walleyes, and Saugers. Schoe

Oh man Schoe....I love some Walleye/Sauger. My #1 choice! They're hard to come by on the river here just north of STL, but if a fella knows what he's doing, he can get a few bags for the freezer...:cool:

xOZx, if you get the notion to come up my way early this spring, March-ish, let me know as I would be glad to take you out. Schoe

Well the week of April 13th thru the 19th my fishing pal Mike and myself are going to Reel Foot Lake and from there we will go to Ky. Lake for a week with a bunch of other friends.

I'm not sure which end of this two week trip we will stop in SI but will figure that out as we get closer and let you know. Schoe