Crappie have moved back deep. They are being caught in 4-12 feet of water over stake beds, lay down trees, and brush piles. If you don't know where any of these things are you can also catch fish under bridges. You may have to sort through some small fish, but messes of good crappie are being caught.       

Currently it seems the crappie are bitting better on minnows. If you prefer a jig my recommendation is to use one with some sort of chartreuse color combination. I prefer the jig when the fish are deep. I use southern pro lil' hustler tube jigs they are 1.5 inches long.

Bass are being caught on plastics and crank baits 6-12 feet of water.  Try shaky head worms around bridges and points leading from spawning coves. The deep bite is getting better every day it continues to stay hot. The fishing has been great however extremely spotty. When you find the right school its light out in five casts. Look for 6+ feet of depth however there is a few keeper size fish still shallow and looking for zoom brush hogs in the watermellon color. It has been taking 16+ pounds to win most 1 day tournaments. 

Catfish are being caught along riprap. My places of choice right now are Waltonville and Bonnie dams is the water is moving. Shad gut, shrimp, or night crawlers are good choices. My favorite is shad gut.  Flatheads are moving shallow. 

Bluegill are being caught in shallow water. Bait of choice would be red wigglers (worms) or crickets.  

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.  

Day to day fishing is hard to predict with sudden weather changes. Heavy rains will muddy the lake and make crappie fishing difficult. If you encounter muddy water try moving south on the lake for some clearer water. 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.

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

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

  Thanks for reading,  Clint

Rend Lake IL crappie guides

Clinton Taylor [cmtaylor199@yahoo.com]