Lake Shelbyville water level today 599.06 ft, rising

Questions people ask about Lake Shelbyville

Answered from the same readings as the rest of this page. Where we have no basis for an answer, there is no entry — spot-by-spot local knowledge is not something we can claim for Lake Shelbyville.

Is it worth fishing Lake Shelbyville today?

6 out of 10 — biting. Worth a cast. The strongest stretch is 3:40 AM–5:40 AM. That number is worked out fresh each morning from the solunar windows, the pressure trend, the water level.

What time should you fish Lake Shelbyville?

Today's major windows run 3:40 AM–5:40 AM and 4:12 PM–6:12 PM, with minor windows at 12:08 PM–1:08 PM and 9:20 PM–10:20 PM. Sunrise is 7:21 AM and sunset 5:55 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.

What is the water temperature at Lake Shelbyville?

No gauge on Lake Shelbyville measures it, so this is an estimate: roughly 60.2°F, worked out from the 7-day mean of air temperature at NOAA weather station K1H2 (Effingham, Effingham County Memorial Airport). Checked against the lakes that do have a thermometer, that method lands within about 4.5°F of the real reading and was off by 8.3°F at worst. Treat it as a ballpark, not a measurement — and note the bite index above ignores it entirely, because an error that size would move the verdict as often as it would fix it.

What is the water level at Lake Shelbyville right now?

599.06 ft above NAVD-88, read at 9:00 AM from the Shelbyville Pool gauge run by the USACE. Over 24 hours it is up 0.03 ft.

Are water levels rising or falling at Lake Shelbyville?

Falling. The lake is up 0.03 ft in 24 hours and down 0.08 ft over the week. Over the last 8 days it has held between 599.01 and 599.16 ft. Every figure here is a difference between two gauge readings, not a forecast — what the level does next depends on rain and on what the dam releases.

Can you eat the fish you catch in Lake Shelbyville?

That is a health question and it belongs with the state, not with us. IL publishes fish consumption advisories through its health or environmental agency, and those are the ones that count. We give no eating advice.

Do you need a licence to fish Lake Shelbyville?

Yes. A Illinois fishing license covers this water, required from age 16. IDNR sets the rules and is the one that counts.

What a Illinois license costs, and who is exempt