For those unfamiliar with Kincaid Lake, it is one of the top trophy musky lakes in the state of Illinois! This 2,750-acre jewel was built in 1972, and is located in southern Illinois about 4 miles West of Murphysboro, IL. Stocked with muskies since 1985, it is set in the wooded hillsides and limestone bluffs of the Shawnee National forest. It is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque lakes you’ll find in the Midwest! It has over 90 miles of shoreline and water depths in excess of 70 feet! I like the Mount Joy launch located on the East Side of the lake. This ramp is one of 3 active launches on Kincaid Lake. To get there, take highway 149 west for 3 miles and at the second blue "Tourist Activity" sign (Kincaid Lake Marina) turn right onto Marina Road. Follow Marina Road about 2 miles to the launch ramp. The launch has a 3 lane concrete ramp and the parking lot adjacent to it holds about 100 rigs! Kincaid Village Marina (618) 687-4914 has a restaurant, gift & bait shop, fuel, ice and beverages; everything you need for a full day on the water.

Kincaid can be extremely clear during periods of stable weather with no rain, with visibility running down in excess of 18 feet! However, during rainy weather, the lake clarity can quickly turn into a "chocolate milkshake" from the run off of Little Kincaid and Johnson Creeks. These conditions make it difficult for muskies to see your bait. The key to finding active fish during these conditions is to look for "cleaner water" and use bright flourescent colored baits. There is a pronounced thermocline that develops in the late May/early June timeframe at around 17 feet, so keep that in mind when fishing this lake! Weed growth typically runs out to the 8-12 foot depths with coontail comprising about 95% of the weed type.

For those die hard musky nuts who enjoy fishing standing timber in deep water with surface baits and twitch baits, you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven. Kincaid is loaded with plenty of standing timber! Bay bays like Levan Neck, Graff Bay, Noble Bay, Cochran Bay, Hoepe Bay and Miller Bay get the nod for good places to start. Most of the muskies caught in Kincaid’s extensive "lumber yards" are found in water that rarely exceeds 10-20 feet! When it comes to fishing the wood, I like surface baits such as the; Hawg Wobbler, Giant Jackpot, Creeper and TallyWacker. When using twitch baits, I like the 6 & 8 inch Jakes in the Glitter Perch and Superman color patterns as well as the Husky Jerks by Rapala. Small bass baits like the Rattlin’ Rogues, Rapala’s, Norman Little N’s and Mann’s minus B-1’s also work well when fishing the timber. Since Shad is the main forage, look for shad type colors when making your lure selections. Small bucktails like the Original VooDooTail in black & nickel, white & nickel and fire tiger & nickel are some my favorites. I also like the VooDooTubes, which is an in-line tube type spinnerbait, in chartreuse & nickel and orange & nickel color patterns.

The main forage base on Kincaid is gizzard shad. If you can find large schools of suspended shad, the muskies won’t be far behind! This is especially true when trolling the many channels Kincaid has to offer. If you can locate these schools of shad, begin trolling through these areas with Jakes, Ernie’s and Lil’ Ernie’s. Make sure that you keep your baits running above the school rather than below. Good places to start setting up your trolling patterns are from Thompson Neck northwest to Dunhouse Neck. This area is located North of the no-wake zone and has deep-water channels with shallow water access nearby. Don’t overlook the use of planer boards when trolling. This allows you to spread out your presentation and effectively cover the deep-water channels, as well as the shallow water shoreline areas. 

In the spring the fish will congregate in the Northern most area of the lake from Thompson Neck, north. Spawing usually occurs in the Johnson Creek area and the various coves adjacent to this area like, Dunhouse Neck, Sharprock Neck and around Allen Island. Once the musky spawn is complete, fish will scatter throughout the lake.

The south end of Kincaid near the dam has the deepest water found in the lake. Water depths to 70 feet are found here along with nice underwater points, rock bars and weeds. The Boxcar, Glynns Bay, Kugler Bay and the bay directly south of Kugler Bay are some of my favorites. Cast the rocks around the Boxcar with some Superman Jakes or work a Jackpot here over the weedtops, and hang on! The long points found in Glynns Bay are great to work cranks and bucktails on. I’ll position my boat with my back to the shore in shallow water and cast out over the deep water, running my lures parallel and over the tops of the bar back to the shallows. Most often, muskies will see baits coming from the other direction and do get conditioned. This reverse pattern can be rewarding, give it a try sometime and see if your hookups increase!

Finally, don’t overlook fishing the Kincaid Village Marina. This area has some great weeds adjacent to deep water. Many nice fish over 40 inches have been popped in this area. I like to cast safety pin style spinners baits like the VooDooTail spinnerbaits in this area. The number 9 Indiana blade gives you plenty of thump and lift through the weeds allowing you to work both in and around the weed clumps. I like white/nickel and white/gold colors in this area. Make sure you "figure eight" before you make your next cast, as boatside hits can be common in this area.

If you’re looking for a good guide who knows the lake and muskies, I’d suggest Al Nutty of the Kincaid Lake Guide Service. I had the pleasure of fishing with Al a few weeks ago, and he really knows Kincaid. Al can be reached at (618) 985-4105. Tell him the Big Goomba sent you.

Rich Gallagher is a musky guide working the local Illinois lakes. To book a musky trip with him, visit his website at www.biggoomba.com or call him at (847) 741-9771.