Saturday, September 17th will be the date of the Annual Shabbona Lake Muskie Open. The hours will be 6am – 7pm. The winner will be determined by the longest Muskie caught on September 17th. Lakeside Bait, Tackle & Boat Rental will have a chase boat on the water to respond to every reported Muskie Catch. Please call 815-824-2581 to report catches. Do not bring Muskie catches into Lakeside, they will come to you.
Muskie Catches may be called in any time prior to 7pm. Prizes will be for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, $100, $50 & $25 respectfully. 2011 has been a very good year for Muskie at Shabbona Lake. With the improved spillway barrier system many Muskie have been saved and returned to Shabbona Lake, increasing the Muskie population.
Cabela’s will be offering a $100. gift card for the longest Muskie caught on September 17th at Shabbona Lake. They will have a Walleye stocking donation jar, set up at Lakeside Bait, Tackle & Boat Rental, for the event. If you donate $5.00 or more to the Walleye Fund, and you place 1st in the Muskie event, Cabela’s will double your prize to $200 Cabela’s Gift Card. Pokanoka’s Cafe will also be offering its famous “Dollar Day Specials” on Saturday, September 17th.
Lakeside is now taking reservations for Bass Boat, Pontoon, Gary Special, Motor Boat or Row Boat. Go to their website for more information. NEW for 2011 – $5.00 off on all day boat reservation at Lakeside, if made in advance 24+ hours.
The “Opens” are open to everyone. There is no charge and no sign up is required. The “Opens” are meant for everyday fisherpersons who are there to enjoy and respect Shabbona Lake. In an attempt to provide a little friendly competition among average everyday fisherpersons, Shabbona’s Lakeside Bait, Tackle & Boat Rental sponsored 6 fishing opens from April – September in 2011. Each Open is held on the 3rd Saturday of each month. Each Open has its own targeted species. April – Walleye, May – Crappie, June – Bass, July – Bluegill, August – Catfish and September – Muskie. While they cannot have organized tournaments on Shabbona Lake, Lakeside has been allowed to have the Fishing Opens because it is a fee-less event. There is no entry fee, and prizes are “open” to anyone.
Shabbona Lake, located in Southern DeKalb County, has a fishery with State Record potential Walleye, Hybrid Crappie and Muskie. 4 State Of Illinois Record Muskie and 2 State Of Illinois Record Hybrid Crappie already adorn Shabbona’s legacy.
Help them top off a great fishing season at Shabbona Lake with a new State Of Illinois Record Muskie. It would be Shabbona lake’s 5th State Record Muskie. The last State Record was caught on April 1st, 1997, by Chris Kim, 37 pounds, 13 ounces, 49 1/8 inches, caught on a 4″ sucker minnow on a snelled #4 hook under a bobber. The muskie open is sponsored By Cabela’s Outdoors.
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