Tight Lines Guide Service

Full Service Fishing Guide

Lake Decatur

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Lake Shelbyville

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Clinton Lake

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Lake Decatur - Lake Shelbyville - Clinton Lake -

Welcome to tight lines guide service.

We are a year-round crappie fishing guide service on Lake Shelbyville and Clinton Lake.  We will provide everything you need to enjoy a day of crappie fishing. All you need to bring is a valid Illinois fishing license, appropriate clothing for the weather we are expecting that day i.e. rain gear, sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, and whatever food you would like for the day.  We will provide a cooler with ice and water for the day.

Lake Shelbyville is located across both Shelby and Moultrie counties in central Illinois.  It is an 11,000 acre Army Corps of Engineers flood control reservoir.  Clinton Lake is located in DeWitt county approximately 10 miles east of Clinton IL.  Clinton is a power plant lake and is used as a cooling water source for Clinton Power Station which makes the water warmer and can be an oasis in the middle of winter when all the other lakes are frozen solid.  Both lakes offer excellent crappie populations.

“My fishing memories are many. But treasured most of all are those fishing trips when all appeared hopeless, and then crappie came to the rescue.” – Dan Gapen

Fish with Captain Dan

  • "Had a great time. Dan has the knowledge and experience needed to bring in your limit of fish. We'll see him again for sure."

    —B.N

  • "Tight Lines Guide Service is amazing. We had such a great time and we made a new friend. If you are looking for a great guide service look no further. Dan is the man. Very knowledgeable and answered all our questions."

    —C.H

  • "Had a blast fishing with Dan. Not only did he get us on fish, and get us our limit, the conversation was great. Well worth the money and would highly recommend."

    —E.R

  • "Spent the day on boat with Dan. We had a great day. We relaxed, after our family had a couple of tough months. We caught good quality crappies, few white bass. Great fun good conversation! Great day Dan truly enjoyed it!"

    —J.K

  • "I've used guides from quite a few areas.Rend Lake, Kentucky Lakes, Lake Erie etc. Dan is the best by far! We went out on Lake Shelbyville on 4/21 and thanks to Dan, we had our limit of crappies by 2pm. He put us on fish and kept us on fish! I highly recommend Tight Lines! He knows the fish patterns and is extremely knowledgeable of the latest state of the art fishing technology and techniques. I will definitely book with him again!

    - R.P

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