Crappie:   The crappie bite is fair-good only to get better as the water cools.

I had a 4 hour guide trip yesterday and we cleaned 28. Three were just under one pound. Two of the big fish were in 4 foot of water and one was in about 10 foot of water.

A few fish are already being caught shallow in the Gun Creek area due to the few days of cool weather we had. Stake beds and brush piles around the 10 foot mark are holding fish. Alot of fish are being caught but most are on the small side. A lot of small keepers though. Look around for laydown trees along the bank. Fish these starting at the deepest part and move shallower.  Some fish are being caught under the bridges in deep water 8-14 feet.

Minnows fished at 5-10 feet deep seem to be producing the best. The problem is its so hot its hard to keep the minnows alive. Be sure to bring frozen bottles of water or something to keep the minnow water cold or they will die fast in this heat.  

Watch the other fisherman, pay attention to how deep they are fishing when catching fish. I prefer a 1 1/2 inch jig with some sort of chartreuse color combination when fishing deep. I use a Southern Pro Lil hustler 1.5 inch.  My favorite color on Rend is red and chartreuse.  

Bass :    Bass are congregating on subtle bottom changes on or very near main lake points. Bandit 200 series crank-baits fished around those areas in a depth of 5-6 feet. You may catch them good for an hour on places like this and the bite will suddenly change and the fish will move up in as little as a foot of water near wood cover.

Better fish are still consistently coming from the 5-6 foot range, however you may find a big bass shallow at any time on rend right now. Shaky head worms in the red shad color and shallow crank-baits in and around cover are still producing bites however I have caught some real monsters on top water late in the evening on the flats near the turnip patch area. However shad in the area in large numbers is the key here.

Rend Lake is really tough right now for some and yet the tournament weights are still holding very well. An 8 hour event will need 16 pounds or more and a Wednesday night event is 13+. Big bass weights had doped off sum however seem to be on the rise again at 5.8 pounds being the average. 

Catfish:   The catfish bite is good all around the lake. Rend is the best catfish lake in the state. My favorite bait is shad gut, but several baits will work. If fishing from the shore I would recommend the Ina  boat ramp area. About anywhere you should catch catfish. Tightline on the bottom.  If drift fishing from a boat I would fish north of Hwy 154 and south of the Rend lake resort. If you get north of the resort you will find ALOT of stumps.   

Below is a crappie fishing show I made with Midwest crappie. It shows techniques I use for catching crappie in the buck brush and off stake beds on Rend Lake

(Click the Crappie to VIEW)

The show will also demonstrate techniques I use.

Maybe these will help you catch more fish.  

Rend is a naturally muddy lake. If you can only see your bait a few inches under water that is normal. If you cannot see it an inch under water, move south. The northern parts of the lake muddy the most due to creeks and field run off.

WFN Love Rend Lake Video

Watch out for the wind. It can make the main lake very dangerous.

Here is a picture of Clint's son Tucker with some Rend Lake crappie

Come to Rend Lake if you want to catch crappie

Rend Lake is the crappie lake

If you are coming to Rend Lake soon and need some info on another species or a place to stay e-mail me and I will find something out for you

Rend Lake IL crappie guides

Clinton Taylor    cmtaylor199@yahoo.com