Stickey Lake fishing: Largemouth Bass, Freshwater Drum, Spotted Gar

Target species: Largemouth Bass, Freshwater Drum, Spotted Gar, River Carpsucker, Shortnose Gar, Black Bullhead, Black Crappie

The lake

Stickey Lake covers 1,401 acres in Illinois, across 2 counties: Fulton and Schuyler. It is a lake: 98.6% of it is 9 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 10 feet (3 m). Our records hold 23 species for this water.

7 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass

  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Freshwater Drum — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Spotted Gar — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • River Carpsucker — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Shortnose Gar — Feeding water: 65–80°F.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Black Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.

Also recorded here: Bluegill, Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Orangespotted Sunfish, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp, Tadpole Madtom, Red Shiner, Emerald Shiner, Spottail Shiner, Gizzard Shad, Golden Shiner, Brook Silverside, Fathead Minnow, Western Mosquitofish.

Aerial imagery: USDA NAIP 2019
USDA Farm Service Agency, NAIP 2019 aerial imagery (USGS The National Map) · Public domain

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 10 ft (3 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 98.6% of the water is 9 feet or shallower. We hold 74 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 4.3% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 8.3% of the water
  • 4–5 ft: 6.4% of the water
  • 5–6 ft: 9.4% of the water
  • 6–7 ft: 17.7% of the water
  • 7–8 ft: 37.7% of the water
  • 8–9 ft: 14.8% of the water
  • 9–10 ft: 1.4% of the water

What is hard here

With 98.6% of the water 9 feet or less, low level turns the flats into hazards.

Where this data comes from

  • Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Illinois Department of Natural Resources: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2010.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.