Channel Lake filling up with giant catfish

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Steve Herrington and his son, Dylan, won the biggest-fish contest at the Northern Illinois Conservation Club’s 52nd annual Fishing Derby and Winter Festival for the second year in a row. | Special to Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 19, 2012 8:04AM

The Northern Illinois Conservation Club’s fishing derby last weekend on the Chain O’ Lakes’ was won by the same father/son team that won last year.

Clearly, Steve and Dylan Herrington of Ingleside have a hot spot over on Pistakee Lake.

The big fish barely made it through the ice hole. Steve couldn’t remember if the ice auger was a 10-or 12-inch one.

He just remembers buying the biggest one on the shelf a few years back.

He explained that he had his dad, Dan, hold the end of the rope that was attached to him as he ventured out onto the ice (“The ice was popping”) to auger the holes in an area where shards of ice stuck up and then froze in place.

“We drilled one hole and in about 10 minutes, Dylan hooked one,” he said. It was big, but then before his Dad knew it, he had another one and it was much bigger, so they dumped the other one.

They were jigging, using golden roaches. They entered it Saturday and it was exactly 36 inches long. They released it into Channel Lake off the piers in front of the Thirsty Turtle.

But the picture you see are the two catfish they caught and entered on Sunday, which beat the one they had entered on Saturday.

Those were also released in Channel Lake so there are now three huge catfish in Channel Lake.

Keep an eye on your children when they are swimming this spring.

Also on Saturday, Shaun Albeck, 31, of Grayslake brought in the first bass of the derby using a shiner.

He also had a bucket of blue gill that were hitting waxworms and he had 6- and 7-inch golden roaches that he said were just everywhere on Dunns Lake.

Another angler leaned over to look and said, “That’s why there are big muskie on the chain.”

Spring break

Bass Pro Shop’s Spring Fishing Classic is coming soon to Outdoor World at Gurnee Mills.

The 17-day event begins Feb. 24 and runs through March 11.

You can register to win the “Awesome Fishing with Mark Zona” sweepstakes (two-day fishing trip with Mark Zona in Traverse City, Mich., and a $300 Bass Pro Shops gift card).

Or, you could win one of the 52 packages being given away that includes a Bass Pro Shops Extreme Baitcast reel, Bass Pro Shops Extreme rod, Rapala electric fillet knife, Kevin Van Dam tackle system and a fishing vest.

The first weekend features fishing seminars taught by local pros, conservation groups and other area experts and is scheduled as follows:

Friday, Feb. 24

† 6 p.m. — Advanced Small and Largemouth Bass Tactics

† 7 p.m. — Local Fishing Tips and Techniques

† 8 p.m. — Side Image Sonar: How to Use it Effectively to Catch Fish

Saturday, Feb. 25

† 1 p.m. — Trolling: Using the Correct Gear and Setups and Reaching Desired Depths

† 2 p.m. — Pre-Spawn and Post-Spawn Bass

† 3 p.m. — Fish Finder Basics

† 4 p.m. — Crankbait Fishing: Tactics and Importance of Matching Rod and Reel Gear Ratio to Various CrankBaits

† 5 p.m. — Spinnerbait Basics

Sunday, Feb. 26

† 1 p.m. — The Tackle and Tactics of Power Fishing vs. Finesse Fishing

† 2 p.m. — Local Fishing Tips and Techniques

† 3 p.m. — Side Image Sonar: How to Use it Effectively to Catch Fish

† 4 p.m. — Fish Finder Basics.

Go native

On Thursday, the Midwest Ecological Landscaping Association will have a program called “Retrofitting Subdivisions: Steps toward sustainable landscapes” at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, along with a host of other programs for bringing native plants back to the landscape.

Edible landscapes and natural pest controls are some of the other topics.