Funny you should ask about the lake where I live and funny I should find this site. There are some big flatheads in Lake Decatur but they are mostly found in the channel which meanders down through the lake willy nilly. Some can be found around the shore when conditions are just right and that almost seems to need the planets in alignment at times. My biggest rod n reel flathead is 45# on Lake Decatur but my new passion is Lake Shelbyville so I have not done a lot of fishing on my hometown lake lately.

 

Hi Steve welcome to the B.O.C. I live in Decatur as well but most of the fishing i do here is crappie white bass & walleye. I love shelbyville as well and spend about 3 weeks a year down there camping fishing and boating. I know there are some hawgs in shelbyville as well as lake clinton. i`ve seen a few flathead caught at shelbyville in the mid to high 50`s. I`m not real familliar with the channel you speak. of i`ve heard a lot about it but have never fished it.

 

Jeff thanks for the Welcome. The channel runs down the center for the most part but if you could find an old map pre-lake period you would see the river that is the channel now. Following that into Nelson Park basin going towards Lost Bridge is the best part of the channel I have fished to date. Night drifting down the channel and using shad or bluegills is the best method I have used. The only way to tell where the channel is now is to use a depth finder and work out the route the river took and once you have that figured out just try to stay within that channel and the flathead are there. Now being a rather finicky critter they may or may not play the game fair. If we ever have another drought such as back in '87 or '88 they will come back to the shores again in droves like they did back then. You could literally watch them swim past eating the white bass and crappie.

 

Cool steve maybe someday soon we could hook up and Do a lil fishing together and you can show me the ropes. I`ve got a 1989 ozark fish & ski open bow with eagle fishfinder motorguide trolling motor and 115 merc mariner. plenty good enough to fish out of. I`ve been to shelbyville 2 times this summer already and on lake Decatur 4. I`d be up for some drift fishing if you get the chance sometime.

 

Jeff I am on vacation starting Saturday and I have planned to fish perhaps every night at Shelbyville. I just got an '89 Glasstream bass boat and already I have rowed and walked it 4.71 miles on Lake Shelbyville. Had both batteries die while fishing and it only took me ten hours to get back to my truck. I figured out that both batteries were deep cycle but were both meant for the trolling motor and not the ignition, seems they would not charge well from the alternator in the outboard. So time for a new starting battery and a set of jumper cables for the boat.

Anyway I wandered off again but perhaps we could get together sometime for some drift fishing. By the way you look familiar to me where did you go to school? I went to Mt.Zion and graduated back in '83.

 

Hey Steve i just got back from vacation myself went up to fox river resort for a week in sheridan illinois. it was HOT HOT HOT and the river was LOW LOW LOW. Caught some dink channel cat and a few turtles 1 20 lbs and a 7 lber i was dissapointed with the fishing bigtime. I didn`t have my boat i was bank fishing. I graduated from Normal community in Normal illinois i`ve only been in Decatur since 96. PM me sometime after you get back i`d like to learn some of your lake Decatur kitty tactics. Hope you have a great vacation. shelbyville is one of my favorite lakes & camping areas too.