About Steve Welch

Steve Welch has been fishing on Lake Shelbyville since its inception and guiding since 1994. He’s an accomplished writer and has written for Adventure Sports Outdoor, Heartland Magazine, the Decatur Herald & Review and Ilfishing.com. He’s been quoted and written about in the Bloomington Pantagraph, Peoria Journal Star, Effingham Daily News, Illinois Fish & Game Finder Magazine, North American Crappie, and Field & Stream’s ‘Best Fishing Spots in the Midwest’.

Fishing Report October 15-31

The lake level is at summer pool or 599.7. Water is slightly stained. Water temps are running 67 "CRAPPIE" I have put away the white bass rods and concentrating on crappie for the remainder of the year. We have boated our three man limit just about every day since I returned from Kentucky Lake three weeks ago. So fishing is pretty good!!!! Here is what I have been doing. The crappie are on Shelbyville Cubes and Georgia Cubes at or near the bottom. Livescope really helps with this but if you don't have anything but normal sonar just look for [...]

By |2026-10-13T06:02:13-05:00October 13, 2026|Fishing Report|

Fishing Report October 1-15

The lake is at 599.77 or summer pool and the water temp. is 69-70. Kind of stained due to recent rains. "WHITE BASS" Shad are still shallow up on flats. Had whites bust on me twice today but not for long. I am still throwing my spoon hair jig combo in areas that I see seagulls and pelicans. That means bait is in the area. However I will be switching up to strictly crappie soon as the days grow shorter and it gets cooler. "CRAPPIE" I am drifting minnows across Shelbyville Cubes and wood structure. I have three in the [...]

By |2026-10-02T18:34:21-05:00October 2, 2026|Fishing Report|

Fishing Report August 22-September 5

Water levels are 600.80 or roughly one foot above summer pool. Outflow below the dam has almost stopped. The water temps are 77-80 and the lake is very clear. "WHITE BASS" I am still throwing my hair jig spoon combo on flats where I see seagulls and pelicans. That means food is present. Also if you are not getting hit by the millions of yellow bass your in the wrong spot. Getting out early is very helpful so you can see where the birds are. These fish are shallow 1-6ft. Being in the right spot critical as it seams to [...]

By |2026-08-25T14:46:13-05:00August 25, 2026|Fishing Report|

Fishing Report August 8-22

Water temps are 78-80. The lake is still falling back to summer pool. Dropping almost 4in. a day. This morning still up 2ft. About a week and we are finally back to normal. Water is gin clear all over the lake. "WHITE BASS" Whites love the heat and with that comes a nice southwest breeze and pop up showers. All those represent a white bass beat down and that is exactly what I have been doing for a month. Just two days ago a single client and I caught 151 before noon. I idle along the leading edge of a [...]

By |2026-08-11T15:13:34-05:00August 11, 2026|Fishing Report|

Fishing Report July 25-August 8

Water temps are running 84 and the lake is gin clear. The lake level is still 5ft. over summer pool and dropping about 3-4in. a day. At this rate by my next fishing report everything should be close to normal only a couple feet high. "CRAPPIE" Lots of short fish is all I hear from everyone. Mainly because the lake is so high the larger fish are just roaming under balls of bait in open water making it difficult to locate them. We have close to 3000 manmade structures in the lake that house millions of crappie. Problem is they [...]

By |2026-07-27T16:11:14-05:00July 27, 2026|Fishing Report|

Fishing Report July 11-25

The lake is falling fast, about 3-4in. per day. Currently 9ft. over summer pool. Water temps are running 83-84 and the lake is gin clear. There is a strong thermocline developing. This has all the fish in the top 15ft. of water column. "CRAPPIE" Last week just hammering the crappie on top of the Shelbyville cubes 18-22ft. deep hovering minnows over them. Then the water temp. rose drastically and overnight everything that deep was gone. That is when I started to see a thermocline start to develop. With all the crappie the top ten ft. of water column this brings [...]

By |2026-07-11T17:09:42-05:00July 11, 2026|Fishing Report|

Fishing Report June 27-July 11

The lake level is very high 609.74 which is ten-feet over summer pool. We are very close to switching to the high water ramps. Hopefully this does not happen as it makes getting your boat out mid-day due to pleasure boat traffic a real pain on weekends can take an hour since we switch from four lanes down to one. Water temps range from 72-78 and the lake is really pretty clear everywhere. Due to the Corp just filling it up and very little release at the dam. This allows the incoming water to settle up in the river not [...]

By |2026-06-28T08:31:06-05:00June 28, 2026|Fishing Report|

Fishing Report June 13-27

The lake level is 603.3ft. above sea level or roughly 3ft. over summer pool. Lot's of rain this week Monday alone we got over 4in. Water temps are mid-70's and the lake remains pretty clear despite all the rain. "CRAPPIE" I am fishing them a couple ways. We use a slight breeze to push minnows under a slip bobber across Shelbyville Cubes. These are man-made cribs perfect for summer cover. You must move around to find cubes that aren't too deep since the lake is so high. Second way is we are trolling for them on chain weights and single [...]

By |2026-06-11T18:20:32-05:00June 11, 2026|Fishing Report|

Fishing Report May 30-June 13

The lake level is 602.01 and falling. Normal summer pool is 599.7 feet above sea level. Water temps have risen into the 70's. This will trigger a shad spawn and the walleye/sauger bite will get better. The lake is stained to clear throughout. "Crappie" The post spawn crappie are all over the place. Anglers are starting to pull crankbaits a solid pattern this time of the year. River channel banks and points. Cubes have fish on them as well. You must move often to locate which ones are working. This pattern will get better in the next few weeks. We [...]

By |2026-05-30T14:39:44-05:00May 30, 2026|Fishing Report|

Fishing Report May 16-30

The lake level is at 602.65 or roughly two-feet over summer pool. They are gradually bringing it back down. Water temps are about 64-66 and the lake has good color. South end very clear, north stained but fishable. "CRAPPIE" Even though most will argue the crappie spawn is still going on. Believe me it has wrapped up. Those with eggs still in them will absorb them over the next few weeks. That being said I am out on summer haunts waiting on them. Most are suspended waiting on a shad spawn like everything else. I am running Shelby cubes and [...]

By |2026-05-18T14:45:00-05:00May 18, 2026|Fishing Report|
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