Success on the Fox Chain just takes some finesse

One of the 10 cardinal rules of fishing Illinois lakes is to stay home or go to a secluded pond to reduce your chances of being hit by a boat filled with idiots and drunks.

I went to a friend's house during the week (never the weekend) and borrowed his 14-foot fishing boat so I could try some trolling techniques on the Fox Chain.

Gone were the racers and water ski crowd. There were a few jet ski operators on Channel Lake so I decided to test my trolling ideas on Bluff Lake. This is a smaller body of fishable water that offers bass, muskie, pike and pan fish opportunities.

Here is the gear I used:

The rod was a Grandt 8-foot model with quite a bit of soft action for give and take. The reel was a leftover piece of rugged stainless from my spoon-plugging days. That reel was set up with No-Bo marked trolling line. I used extra-heavy fluorocarbon leaders and ball-bearing snap swivels.

I was tempted to go the "vault" and drag out several sets of spoon plugs, but I wound up using deep-diving crankbaits instead.

My portable sonar consisted of a Bottom Line Fishing Buddy (no longer made under that brand name).

My familiarity with Bluff Lake goes back some years when I targeted that waterway for muskies.

I looked for a very heavy weed line close to the Spring Lake channel. This is where I started my trolling run.

Keeping an eye on the weed edge while also checking with the sonar unit, I managed to skirt the weeds and kept the crankbait barely ticking the sides and weed tops.

Fifteen minutes elapsed when I got the first strike. I brought in a 30-inch pike with a shad stuck in its mouth next to my lure.

I reversed my course and began another run. Halfway up the planned route, I encountered a vicious strike that almost ripped the rod from my hand. A 20-inch muskie swallowed the lure and almost killed itself in the process.

This trolling technique goes back to the days of the spoon plug, Buck Perry, and his "structure" teachings. His down-to-earth methods attracted thousands of converts as well as selling a ton of spoon plugs and No-Bo trolling line.

I made five more passes, catching three bass and two more pike.

I've had a lot of email from readers and listeners complaining they never caught a fish except for a yellow bass from this lake. Those emails from my radio show listeners and readers of this column helped me to realize for the umpteenth time that a good number of area anglers are unwilling to experiment with tactics that worked well in those so-called "golden days" of local angling.

The spoon plug was the hot lure of those days because it was designed to run at a specific depth. You were also advised to run those lures over the tops of the weed growth. something today's angler avoids like a bad rash.

And if you're like me and don't like trolling for any kind of fish, it's time to swallow your pride and relearn how to present a lure to a fish living in out-of-the-way places.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (livestreamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at mikejacksonoutdoors.com.