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Lake Shelbyville provides visitors an opportunity to experience over 50 miles of developed multi-purpose trails on public lands. The General Dacey Trail Concept Plan is a mult-partnered regional effort to expand recreational trail opportunities into a 170-mile trail network that will provide opportunities for bicycling, hiking, and other recreational trail uses, and provide off-road connectivity between local communities, public recreation areas and other interesting and scenic attractions in the region.
Lake Shelbyville offers some of the best mountain biking at the Camp Camfield section of the General Dacey Trail with 10.5 miles of trail currently available with a designated bike route connection to the City of Sullivan. A four-mile section in the City of Shelbyville to Forest Park and Dam West is currently being developed and will provide an opportunity for winter sports such as snowmobiling as well as warm weather activities.
In addition, Wolf Creek State Park provides the only Equestrian Trail on Lake Shelbyville with 15 miles of trail conveniently located adjacent to an equestrian campground. Other trails include the Illini Trail, Okaw Bluff, and Coon Creek Trail.
Findlay Marina is located at the heart of Central Illinois' Lake Shelbyville, which features over 11,000 acres of water and 172 miles of shoreline. The lake is a perfect host for a great variety of activities. Findlay Marina is only five minutes away from the National at Eagle Creek Golf Course and 30 minutes away from Decatur, Mattoon, and I-57; Champaign and Springfield are only 1 hour away.
Lithia Springs Marina is the "Gateway to Water Paradise" on beautiful Lake Shelbyville, Illinois. Spend dreamy days and nautical nights exploring the 250 miles of natural shoreline and 11,000 acres of water splendor. The innumerable coves were created for hours of enjoyable cruising, fishing, swimming, or relaxing in the warm summer rays and gentle breezes. Visit our full service marina for all your boating needs. Until you can cruise our lake, cruise our web site for more information on Lithia Springs Marina and "Paradise"-beautiful Lake Shelbyville. Click here to visit the Lithia Springs Marina website.
Lake Shelbyville is renowned for great fishing. Lake Shelbyville was selected by Bassmaster Magazine as one of the best bass lakes in Illinois.
A rural Windsor man and Lake Shelbyville fishing guide, Bruce Sanders, caught and released the new Biggest Fish record white bass! The record bass weighed in at 4lbs. 2oz. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains sizeable populations in 16 ponds that it manages in conjunction with the local Department of Natural Resources. Visitors can fish in more than 11,000 acres of clear water where catfish, largemouth bass, crappie, walleye, muskie, white bass and bluegill are in abundance.
The new Biggest Fish record catfish was caught in 2002 by Shelbyville resident, Chris Rentfro. The catfish was 62 lbs. 10oz. and was 48 inches long! Lake Shelbyville offers some of the best largemouth bass fishing in the Midwest. Novice and avid fisherman alike will find plenty to catch, even with the 14-inch minimum length limit.
A new Lake record large mouth Bass was caught by Chuck Ditto from Shelbyville. The Bass weighed 8 lbs. 55 oz. and was caught during the Illini Team fishing tournament. Fishermen appreciate the fact that the average-size keeper is more than two pounds. Tournament anglers generally need to catch between 16 and 17 pounds to win the average one-day event!
Fishing reports on Lake Shelbyville regularly include mention of active muskies feeding in the backs of coves or of muskie caught by accident off deep-water points especially in the prime months of April, May, October, and November.
Since a number of Muskie were caught over the 36-inch limit, the new size limit is now 48 inches. A decade down the road if these fish are caught and released properly we will have 40 to 50 pound muskies in Lake Shelbyville. The longest Muskie caught in Lake Shelbyville, on November 5, 2003 by Kelly Himes of Mattoon, was 53 inches long. Another Mattoon man, Matt Carmean, landed the newest Illinois State Record for Muskie. The new record was caught on April 20th, 2002, weighing 38 pounds, 8 ounces and 50 3/4 inches long! Lake Shelbyville promises, in the future, to be a leader in the Muskie world.
You can hunt almost anything in Shelby County. We have an abundance of wildlife both for the enthusiast who enjoys watching wildlife and the avid hunter who enjoys the thrill of the hunt. Best bets for the upcoming season include archery and shotgun deer hunting, rabbit and waterfowl hunting. The waterfowl opportunities are abundant in the subimpoundments for both walk-in hunters and those using boat blinds on the main lake. Other huntable wildlife species that you can expect to find on Lake Shelbyville lands in lesser numbers are: quail, pheasant, gray and fox squirrels, turkey, dove, woodcock, raccoon, fox and coyote.
Controlled dove hunting is conducted during the first two days of the dove hunting season in managed sunflower fields. These hunts limit the number of participants for quality and safety reasons where demand for the sport exceeds available hunting area.
The Annual Lake Shelbyville Deer Hunt for People with Disabilities, hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Wolf Creek State Park, takes place in November. This special three-day hunt proves to be an excellent deer-hunting experience for participating hunters. It provides a wonderful opportunity to those who would not normally be able to participate in this physically demanding sport. Handicap archery is available at Whitley Creek, and you can reserve the blinds for the archery season. To volunteer or reserve, call 217-774-3951, ext 4.
It is important to note that the management of these lands is shared between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and thus regulations governing each of their respective lands may vary somewhat. Before engaging in any hunting activities at Lake Shelbyville, you should determine which agencies� land you intend to hunt on, and what rules and regulations are in effect on those particular lands.
The vast majority of huntable State lands (6,200 acres) are located in the upper reaches of the lake along the West Okaw and Kaskaskia Rivers. They also manage Eagle and Wolf Creek State Parks. The Corps manages all other project lands. You must check with State personnel to see what species may be hunted, approved hunting methods, and effective dates before hunting in either State Park. Contact numbers: 217-756-8260 or 217-459-2831 or call IDNR Wildlife Area at 217-665-3112. For permits you can register online at dnr.state.il.us.
