If you look through the Illinois Gazetteer, the book of large scale maps of the entire state, you'll notice that there are light green swatches on the pages. These represent areas of trees or woods. You'll also notice yellow swatches on the pages. These represent public open space managed by local, state or national governmental bodies. One more thing you'll notice is how few of either of these colors appears on most of the pages of this book of maps. This is until you get to the maps of the southern most part of the state where just about all of it is represented in green or yellow.

I've always liked hills and woods much more than the flatness surrounding the Chicago area. Though there are some areas in northern Illinois that have hills, canyons, woods and water, they are all relatively small areas. Some are so small that they're almost like the joke about small towns, if you blink while passing through, you'll miss it.

But southern Illinois had the Shawnee National Forest. A swatch of forested land that spreads across this bottom part of Illinois from the Ohio River on the east to the Mississippi River on the west. I've heard about this area and have looked at maps of southern Illinois for as long as I can remember, but with all of the other places in the U.S. to visit I never thought I would make my way down to the southern tip of Illinois. Even though the maps indicated hills and woods, I think the assumption has always been that it was just more Illinois. When the opportunity arose to go down to Kinkaid Lake and fish for late May muskie and other fishes with noted fishing guide Al Nutty, I just couldn't pass it up.

Like any good fisherman I did my research, I looked up the quickest way to get there. I also checked the map for all of the creeks, rivers and lakes that were around Kinkaid Lake just in case I had the time to do a little exploring. I was going to give myself a whole day to get back, so I also checked the map for any creeks, rivers and lakes that were on the route home. I had no idea when or if I would ever get down this way again, so I wanted to see as much as possible in this one trip.

I hopped on I-57 and was in Murphysboro, a town just east of Kinkaid Lake, about 6 hours later. I'd like to say the trip down was eventful, but it went by like a blur. I kept an eye out for any rivers and creeks as I drove and slowed a bit over each one to check them out. Because of recent rains throughout the state, not a single one was flowing low or clear. This didn't bode well for the ride home, but I couldn't be concerned with that. Kinkaid Lake is described as one of the premier muskie lakes in the state, but it's also known for bass, crappie, catfish, rainbow trout and other fish. A premier lake beats muddy high flowing creeks and rivers any day.

My first stop in Murphysboro was the Apple Tree Inn on the outskirts of the town. The Apple Tree Inn is a perfect fisherman's motel. It has all the amenities needed, plus a pool and weight room. The room was clean and quiet and the bed and pillows were surprisingly comfortable. I've had much worse at much higher priced places and I was able to get a couple of good nights sleep during my three day visit.

I checked in with Apple Tree owner Angelo Fiorino and one of the first things Angelo did was go to a rack and pull out one pamphlet after another. Besides fishing, I was finding out, there were plenty of other things to do in the area. I scooped up all the info, went to my room and looked them over. There was a surprisingly large amount of things to do in the area. It was only mid afternoon and I had an open invite to meet up with Al to go try the night bite on the lake. I gave him a call and canceled. I wanted to go do a little exploring in the Shawnee National Forest. He understood completely and gave me a few tips on where to go. In another article I'll cover what else I found. This could be a good place to go not only for fishermen, but there seems to be enough to even keep spouses and children happy.

Bright and early I met up with Al at Tippey’s restaurant on the main road running through Murphysboro. Eggs over easy, sausage and hash browns are my standard restaurant breakfast, along with a bottomless cup of coffee and Tippey's did a good job of it. Al and I sized each other up, asking all the questions that give a fellow fisherman all they need to know to see whether they were going to get along during a long day of fishing. I had no doubt this was going to be a great day on the water.

I followed him to the boat launch and within minutes we were on the water. We talked about the beauty of the lake and I was impressed by the thick woods lining the lakes edges. Except for the marina there were no other buildings along the shores. This gave the whole lake a natural and very wild look. Since the surrounding countryside was all hills, the usual flatness associated with Illinois was gone. Since we were fishing on a Tuesday, there was practically nobody else on the lake. This enhanced the feel of being someplace wild and isolated.

As we motored across the lake we were met with thick dark clouds and the rumble of distant thunder. Al steered us to what he called Little Capistrano. It was a rock bluff that curved outward toward the top. Tucked underneath were hundreds of swallow nests, giving this spot its name. It also kept us bone dry and gave us the opportunity to talk about the lake and how to fish it. Al has been guiding on Kinkaid Lake for 13 years, but has been fishing it for almost all of his 46 years. This would become evident as we fished as small subtle moves tipped off his knowledge of what lies below the surface of the water.

There are probably a variety of reasons to hire a guide. Wanting to cut to the chase and be put right on fish on unknown waters is probably the most common. The bigger these fish are the better for most anglers. But I prefer to hire guides in order to pick their brains about fishing. I already knew about Als' fishing success through the articles I've read in the local fishing magazine Outdoor Notebook. Now I wanted to know what makes the fishing work for him. I learn the most about fishing by watching successful fishermen. If I could see what they're doing, how they're doing it, where they're casting and what they're catching, I can learn a lot more than simply doing all these things myself. I quickly adapt and apply what I've learned.

We were going to be out all day so Al suggested we start trolling for muskie and we could stop periodically to cast for them. He wanted to give me a tour of as much of the lake as possible and we just about covered all of it. Thick woods, tall bluffs and rock out croppings line the shores making this one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen in Illinois. Al filled me in about all of the wildlife in the woods and water. Al's dad helped build the lake and Al had the opportunity to wander the woods long before they were covered by water. While we were trolling I noticed that we seemed to take long slow routes out in the middle of nowhere. I started to look at the fish finder as we did this and I noticed we were trolling the edges of underwater humps. He mentioned how he knew about these long before they were covered by water.

I'd like to tell you what we had tied on, but I have no clue. Two lures looked like suckers and the other two looked like shad. You have to remember, I forget what I use on the rivers as soon as the package gets tossed in the garbage. To remember totally new lure names and types was far beyond what my brain cells could handle. As we trolled we got hit. Al cleared the remaining rods as I reeled in the muskie. With the heavy rod and baitcaster I was surprised, and even a bit disappointed, at how easy the fish came in. We got a nice picture of a muskie about 34 inches long and got it quickly back in the water.

We were out on the water for about 8 hours and the day definitely went by too quickly. I learned about the forage base, points with and without weed beds and how to fish them, how to fish the stump fields and a huge variety of other info that I've tried to tuck away to use another day. We did get to stop and cast now and then and Al rigged up my heavy spinning gear for muskie. If I was going to hook another one, I wanted to feel the fight. I was using a number 5 Mepps maribou spinner with a big Colorado blade, tossing it between the stumps and slowly working it back to the boat. A muskie that easily ran 40 inches came up, inhaled the spinner and spit it out before I even had time to react. I never even felt the hit.

Whenever we stopped to cast I also threw some lighter lures and was able to pick up a couple of largemouth bass, but I already knew how to fish for those so we quickly went back to looking for more muskie.

An approaching storm cut the day off about 5:00 p.m. It was an outstanding day on the lake and the company of a great guide with an outstanding personality, and a knack for telling some darn good stories and jokes, made it feel like being out on the water with an old friend.

In a future article I will be writing about some of the other things I came across while down in that part of Southern Illinois. In the mean time, to make arrangements for a great day on the water on a beautiful lake, contact the following people and places:

Al Nutty
Kinkaid Lake Guide Service
618-985-4105
www.kinkaidlakeguides.com

Angelo Fiorino
Apple Tree Inn
For information: 618-687-2345
For reservations: 800-626-4356
www.1appletree.com

Keg G is an accomplished writer and a skillful fisherman that guides in many locations on the Fox River and it’s tributaries. You can contact Ken through his website Waterdog ink (http://waterdogink.com/index.html) or by e-mail keng@waterdogink.com if you have interest in learning the Fox River through his guiding service.