Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Fulton County Recreation, Camping, and Fishing Tournaments

I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with the Illinois DNR on some of the lakes out at Fulton County Camping and Recreation Area. They have a muskie stocking program going and have rehabbed one of the main lakes. Folks, the fishing is already good here! Now we are coming up with a plan to enhance the bluegill fishing in Lake 3.5 and introduce smallmouth and walleye and yellow perch into Red Barn Lake. Its a longterm plan with the first stockings not until the lake is ready, so dont expect to pay the $5 entry fee into the park and start catching smallmouth right away. BUT, you can come on out and fish the lakes and help get them ready for the canadian themed goal...

If you are ever driving through St.David from Canton and see this sign, you should follow it and stop in. This place really is one of Fulton Counties best kept secrets. They offer seasonal camping as well as daily camping and fishing.


So anyhow they are hosting several bass fishing tournaments this spring, that will be a blast fishing with a nice payout to the winners. As of right now they are paying back 100% of the entry fee to the winners. The first tournament is scheduled for April 127th at 6:00 am till 12:30. Cost to enter is $5 daily fee to fish at the park, $20 entry fee to the tournament and $5 optional big bass contest.

They have two other tournaments scheduled for May 19th at 5:30 am and June 15th at 5 am. If you want my advice I would fish lake 4 for the biggest bass. They are hard to catch though cause they are fat and happy and have plenty of small bluegill to forage on at will so you will have to keep that in mind when coming up with a game plan for them...

Another cool feature we are helping the park create is a Fish Feeding Zone for guests to feed the fish. This designated area will be closed to fishing, but open for fish viewing and feeding! Fish food will be available at the park office or you can simply bring leftover items you think the fish might like to eat...(or for alot of fun bring a bucket of small bluegills and crappies to feed the fish!) I have a hunch this will be a very fun and popular activity at the park this summer....

So anyhow if your looking for a place to take some kids of grandkids camping for the night with a nice campfire and marshmallows or just looking for a place to get away from the city and do some fishing, this is the place. Definitely get out and check out the park, there are about 80 acres of water here to explore!!

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