A Very Happy Independence Day Indeed!

 July 7th and 8th, 2012

Well since the 4th of July fell on a Wednesday we got to choose to go before the 4th or after the 4th up to my uncles cottage on Rock Lake. Looks like we chose right!

The wife and I cruised up on Friday night and I got fishing early Saturday morning. Sleeping Friday night was terrible since it was 90+ degrees at night. I went to bed around mid night, and woke up at 3am hoping that when I looked at my phone it was more like 6am... Ah well I made it through after going to sleep on the couch and made it down to the lake early Saturday morning.

I figured that since it was so hot the fish would be pretty active so I would start off with a top water and finish with a spinner. Well my theory paid off on my very first cast. I tossed the Heddon Spook Top Water Minnow walk the dog type lure. Tossed it out there and bamm this beautiful 14'' pound and a half bass hit. What a fun time when your thought process of what you are going to toss out pays off on your first cast. This was only the 2nd time that this has appened in my 3rd year of fishing and it is a TON of fun!


Even though I got off to a good start it was slow going after that! I fished with the Spook for another 2 hours with not even so much as a missed hit! While I cant get mad after pulling in a nice bass cast one, I was getting a little frustrated not having continued success. So I implemented plan two which was tossing a spinner bait out there. Since I figured the fish were active I went to a Mepps #3 with a brown buck tail with a little red color hanging out the back. In the first 10 minutes of casting the Mepp out there I got two rock bass. The first of which was small but with a beautiful set of coloring. 








The second rock bass was the largest one I ever caught. This rock bass was pretty fat and was in the 7 to 8 inch range and may have weighed 10 ounces or so. The first picture to the right it does not look much larger than the first one. However, the second picture which is next to my St Croix Premier 6' 6'' rod with a type 4 grip which is 7 inches of cork at the base shows that the fish was right in the 7 inch range.

These are the subtleties that I have started to  notice now 3 years in. A few years ago I would  have said 'this is a funny looking little bass type fish'. Now not only do I know it is a rock bass but I knew it was a size-able one at that. Pretty cool to see my progression as an angler to really start to understand the little things and appreciate even the small fish!

So that was the end of Saturday morning fishing. I was happy to have a decent bass on the board and the large rock bass was a fun catch that I have only really begun to appreciate.

I still had one goal that I wanted to achieve and that was to catch a fish on my new Pflueger rod and reel. So why mess with a good thing? I strapped my Heddon Spook Top water onto my new light weight and light action rod. I told the wife I would only be down at the lake for 30 minutes after dinner. However when you dont catch something in 30 minutes one needs to take 60 or 90 right? Well it took me an hour of solid casting before I was able to get this 12 inch bass on my top water. It was skinnier and shorter than the first but it was a solid fish. I was more than happy reeling this fish in on my new rod.

Now the Pflueger rod did not quite feel like my other St Croix rods. Price wise the Pflueger was about $50 bucks for the rod and reel. While a nice Premier St Croix rod will run you in the $120 to $150 (and higher depending on the weight and action). So to say that the Pflueger felt quite a bit different. Fishing with it for the first few times it felt much like the St Croix rods. However having actually caught a fish with it the action just is not the same. It felt cheap reeling in this bass. It was hard to feel the fish its almost like I just felt a bend and not the fish pulling itself like you get with the St. Croix. However I should be using this pole more for smaller fish that I was so I'll try it on more applications and see if it can excel in a particular setting.

Now if Saturday was good, Sunday was unbelievable! It was a top two fishing days in my last three years. First things first. It was a very clam day so I decided to take the row boat out and see what I could find.

I NAILED this beauty to the right. A solid 6'' Northern Pike! It was the absolute smallest Pike I've ever caught (or seen). Somehow this fish latched onto a white chaterbait where the blade of the bait was larger than the mouth itself. Hey it was a first fish and I'll take all that I can get.

Next up was a very nice bass. This was a 13 inch pound and halfer. This fish was quite strange it was the smallest fighter I have ever caught. Honestly it fought less than the 'big' rock bass I caught the morning before. I got it on a white chatterbait and was excited to see active fish hitting some crankbaits. This fish was pretty fat and honestly might have even made it up to being a two pounder. My thinking was this, if a chatter bait in about 12 foot of water is getting this a big DT 14 in 20 foot of water would do really well.

That is where the fun started. After bagging that bass the pike just started jumping on the line. I got seven pike in an hour! It was awesome. Not only that I did get a KEEPER! The pike to the right is a 26'' beauty. I didn't know it was a keeper at the time but it was fun to get my largest (and smallest) pike all in one afternoon.

It was so much fun every five to ten minutes chucking my deep diving crank bait out there and feeling a big throb at the end of the line. There was a point however when I started hoping that one of the

smaller pike was really a bass and it was little disappointing when it was yet ANOTHER pike. Although at the end of the day how could one be disappointed catching pike after pike? It was one of the best fishing days to date. It was so much fun!

Door County Wisconsin Small Mouth Extravaganza!

June 23, 2012

Okay extravaganza might be a bit too much considering the catch. However judging from the weather I was fortunate to even get this lovely 6 incher!

My plan was to go out and get me at least a 2 pounder, however the lake had different plans. Small mouth fishing up in sturgeon bay and green bay is some of the best in the world. Each year they have big tournaments up there that have rather large payouts, overall it is major small mouth fishing area.

My goal was to take this 'world class fishing area' and just try to get me a 2 pounder. I had several plans, first was a jig n craw. Small mouth's principle portion of the diet is crayfish. So my plan was to have a weedless weighted jig head with a plastic crayfish and bounce it along the bottom. Then I sought advice from both my fishing buddies Chris and MIke. Chris said 'nothing like just chucking a tube out and trying to get something' and Mike said 'dropshot'. So off I went with these three plans. Me knowing nothing I first tossed out my jig n craw plan as I did not have a ton of time (only and hour or so). So I stuck solely to the drop shot rig.

I have a new spinshot hook kit that makes dropshotting a whole lot easier it has a spinning hook around a double eyed swivel which makes it easy to tie the dropshot on one end and the line to the pole on the other end. Makes knowing crazy palamar knots and others obsolete. Also it makes easier rigging up other things quickly in case you want to change.

So I kept getting nibbles from tiny little fish that could not eat my bait. I put on my spin shot a half of a green senko and it seemed to be getting some decent attention. Then this 6 inch bass hit and at first I thought it was just a little nibble once again. I was very happy to see that after an hour of fishing it was a small mouth. After that I had to go (well before that actually but you strech out fishing more when you have no fish). SO this was as good as it got up in Door County for me this weekend.

I went out the next morning with my father in law in an effort to try out a tube! The weather was crazy two cold fronts hitting each other and then bright and sunny a few hours after. No fish were had (we were in the wrong spot and my father in law did not want to move) so I sat as best as I could just trying to land anything.  In the end it was a miss. Half the weather half the spot, but good chats were had between him and I and another angler named Brett. All in all not a bad second try at Door County small mouth.... I will be back!

2012 Memorial Day Fishing in Rock Lake

 May 26, 2012

What a lovely memorial day indeed. The wife and I only went up to the lake Saturday day and stayed until Sunday morning. The only fishing I got in was Saturday afternoon and a little that evening. I got this decent northern pike off the pier on a purple chaterbait and a rock bass off of a floating frog popper with a blade. Later on that night I got another pike that broke off the line on the pier and the lady on the public pier next to ours was mighty impressed I pulled it in out of 6 foot of water. SO many people dont know where the fish are. I'm learning more and more how I might be in that 10% now as it is.

A quick fishing weekend but who can complain when you are catching fish pretty consistently?

I am KING of Salmon in Lake Michigan!

 May 20, 2012

Well as you can see from the pictures we had quite the salmon fishing charter out on Lake Michigan. We (my buddy Mike, it was his 29th birthday, his girlfriend Amy, Mikes buddy Pat and his fiance and his really good buddy, and mine, Greg who is about the funniest story teller and best fisherman I know) arrived at Northpoint Harbor Illinois around 500am and got out on the water close to 530am.

http://www.confusioncharters.com/

We booked our charter with Confusion Charters with a pair of fairly young brothers but they knew the lake and our catch proved that. We ran straight east out of the harbor and began to rig up the lines both on plainer boards and down riggers. The smaller Coho salmon started jumping in the boat. Then there was a hit on the down rigger that was running at 75ft. My buddy Mike was the next person up to reel in what must have been a King however it broke off fairly far out from the boat. We all were giving him crap because he lost what was going to be our only King that day (they usually hit later on in the year). However since the spring had been unusually warm 

they were hitting earlier than normal. So at 545am I was up and on the deep down rigger there was another hit. As I grabbed the pole out of the rigger I felt the full weight on the pole and the fun was on. At least it was a little fun until it felt like my arm was going to fall off. I held the pole at a 45 degree angle (that is what the charter captain told me to) and kept consistent pressure on the reel as the fish made several strong runs. I held and held this pole as my forearm was SCREAMING tired. This was the biggest fight I've ever had with a fish. The worst part is I normally reel with my left hand, however that is abnormal, most right handed people reel with their right hand. So I was 'backwards' for me which only meant that I was jerking the pole and reel rather than smoothly pulling the fish in. Despite all of the difficulties and a 6-7minute fight the fish was getting close to the boat. When we all saw the fins the oohing and aaahing started. It was a nice king and yet my arm was still about to fall off. Nobody ever told me that when you get a big fish your arm screams STOP and your wrist feels even worse. Once that fish saw the boat he gave one last run but at that point I was too stubborn to give up I knew the fish was tired and was about to give up. A minute or two later the Captain had the net in the lake and scooped up this REALLY nice 14.5 pound King Salmon.

Next up were the other 4 in the boat they all got quality Coho's. What happened next? Well nearly the same story all over again as I pulled in a mere 12.5 pound King. Well needless to say that got everybody in the boat a little fired up and it let me talk a little smack the rest of the way. Then at 6:06am another hit on the deep down rigger and it was Mike, the birthday boy, turn to reel in a nice 11 pound king. This time he actually was able to land the fish instead of busting it off 100 feet off the boat!

What a fantastic trip, Amy got herself a lake trout but the catch speaks for its self. A great charter trip that was a fantastic memory that will never go away as the pictures are worth 1000 words and I could not have spent my money a better way.

Keep the bass coming!

April 21, 2012

Caught this nice 14 inch 1.5 pound bass on a top water walk the dog type lure on Bass Lake. This was my fourth time out this year and I have not been blanked yet!

I truly believe I'm becoming a better fisherman. There is an old adage in fishing; 90% of fish hide in 10% of the water and 10% of fisherman catch 90% of the fish. My goal is to know what 10% of the water the fishies are hiding in and become one of the 10% of anglers that catch 90% of the fish. Honestly I think I'm getting closer. When I first stated fishing (see blog posts from 2010) there were lots of times when I went out and got blanked. Now days they are becoming less and less and for sure they are not multiple times in a row. Very cool to learn new things.

This spring has been unusually warm with many fronts moving in and out rapidly. The fish are confused. Usually when the fish are confused they move deep. They move deep because they are coming out of winter and fish tend to stick to the water they are used to as they allow their swim bladder to adjust preferably slowly to their surrounding environment. Starting to put these pieces of the 'where are the fish' puzzle.

Another day, another fish.

April 6, 2012


Well after my 4 pound wonder I decided to stop by hidden lake for an hour since I didn't have to work on Good Friday. Between giving my mother a visit, and studying for a test it was a good break in the day.

I went alone for the second time this year and I knew the fish would be deep. Since I had the lure on the line from the night before I tried my DT-10 Rapala Purple Crawfish Crank Bait so I tossed it in. In the first few minutes I had a fish and was darn proud of myself. I talked to several people in and out of the area and nobody had a fish. That is three trips this year and I have not been blanked yet. I'm proud that I feel pretty confident with my abilities and I'm excited too keep on getting better and learning to get bigger and better fish. I hope my hot streak keeps on going!

Again its less the size of this fish but rather the fact I, on my own, figured out how to get one when nobody else was having much luck.

4 Pound Bass!

April 5, 2012


Well I've done it. I've crossed the 4 pound bass barrier. I was fishing with my buddy Chris (who knows alot about fishing) last Thursday. We were fishing at Deep Quarry Lake in DuPage county. He had caught two small bass on minnows, and I had caught one. It was getting late and we decided to toss a crank bait because at night fish tend to hit on sound rather than sight (they have very little sight at night). So I went with a DT10 Rapala Purple Craw Crank bait. Simple bait, cast and retrieve. I was trying to get it to 10 feet the whole way in by reeling at a brisk pace. I had about 15 casts in on this bait without any hint of life when this fat pre-spawn female hopped on. At first I thought it was probably a Walleye (a likely catch at night) just because of the little struggle I had reeling this fish in. It was not a huge struggle but I could tell it was a larger fish.

Once I got it up to the dock and realized it was a bass I was pumped! A beautiful large mouth bass weighing around 4 pounds was my largest cast ever. Chris snapped a few pictures for me and we gently got the hooks out of her mouth and put this pregnant fish gently back in the water. I hope whoever catches her next does the same thing because in DuPage county everything is so over fished we need catch and release only rules so our kids can be fishing too. It was a ton of fun and a once every couple of year fish for around here. I cant tell you how much fun it was because the fish was so unexpected at 8:10pm and where I was.

What a fun time!!

Herrick Lake and Bass Thumb?

March 29, 2011

I wanted to go ice fishing this winter, however there was only a one or two week window with 4 inch ice here in Illinois this winter. It was VERY mild. So my first opportunity to get out was the last Thursday in March. The weather has been wierd this spring, for a week or two it was 80's and sunny then it got down to the 40's and 50's for a few weeks. That means the fish did not know what was going on. On this day the wind was from the North East (wind out of the north a good fisherman does not sent forth, wind out of the east the fish bite the least) so it was a double down on bad news. Unpredictable weather and a bad wind combo I knew the fish would be deep. SO I tossed out there everything I could get as far as I could get it. NOTHING.

SO the sun was dipping low and I did not know what to do. The wind had slowed considerably and I said to myself 'top water'. SO out came my Zara Spook greenish minnow looking lure and on hopped the bass. My phone was in the car so no picture. It didnt really matter the fish was nothing to look at, a skinny 1 year old that weighted maybe .75 of a pound. But the key was I had done something that does not often happen, I didnt get blanked while going fishing alone. Apparently I've learned enough over the last two years that I can now fish some in adverse conditions figure out where the fish are (DEEEP) and catch me one. I was thrilled not with the fish but with the process in which I caught the fish! I did get my thumb knicked up a bit and my bass thumb has started for the year.

October on the Fox!

October 21, 2011

Funny story, so I'm putting in hard wood floors in my home and I was getting very frustrated so what do you do? GO FISHING!

Off to the fox I hustled to see what was in store in some late fall fishing and who should I see but my buddy Mike. Not kidding just a random Friday that I took off of work, got frustrated and ended up gong fishing, at the exact same time, at the exact same spot as my buddy Mike. Life has a funny way of tossing curve balls because Mike was out fishing while angry (FWA) because the lord had called his grandpa home just a day or two before.

So we started out meeting in Geneva fished by the dam he got a nice small mouth (I got nothing) after our usual spots there we moved south to the turd laundry (where a waste water plant flows into the Fox near Geneva.

From there we went back to our cars and went to Batavia dam which was barely flowing over and you could walk out on the dam. I was tossing a medium sized jig head with a cream grub with blue sparkles in it and hooked two smaller Walleye's! These are the first two walleyes of my life. I was confused when I pulled it out of the water (expecting a small mouth) it had real teeth and apparently you cannot lip the fish. You have to grab it near to the back of the gills (it has a spur on the back of the gill flap that can cut you if you are not careful). Another reason why I didnt really know what kind of fish I had reeled in was because of how green the fish were. I've seen pictures of walleye and they always have that tan/green to them kind of like most small mouth. But these two were as green as a largemouth and not very big so it took me a minute to learn a little about them from Mike who is always a source of knowledge. He was there to tell me all about them which is great. One easy way to identify is that on the bottom of their back fin is always a little white spot, often times that is the first and easiest way to identify them, also they have bigger teeth, a poky top fin and cloudier eyes.

Moral of the story, go fishing with somebody who knows what they are doing and eventually you will learn something that might stick!

Rock Lake on Labor Day

September 4, 2011

A lovely labor day in lake mills Wisconsin resulted in much less fishing that I would have liked! However I did have a morning to go where I casted off multiple lures and was blanked by those darn fish!

Later that day I did end up landing me a decent sized bass (nothing to write home about but a catch is a catch!) 1.5 pounder and overall was happy with the results.

I find that I'm getting blanked more and more in fishing as I get more experienced. Pretty nice work here and anytime I get a fish I'm still happy.

Rock Lake once more?

September 17, 2011

Well this was about the last trip up to Rock Lake this year with any serious chance of catching some fish! I hauled out a few good looking fish and have become much better at understanding the lake. The last two years I've learned quite a bit about fishing and Rock Lake is probably one of the principle spots that I fish (about 50% of my fishing time is at the lake).

What I've learned is cast near structure, 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water. Of that 10% of the water that hold fish most likely they are near structure (duh!). But if you cant hit structure with your lures/baits/whatever is on the end of your line, you are not in the right spot so MOVE.

These couple of fish came from the weed's, tossing topwaters over the weeds, plastics through the weeds, or a crankbait through the top of the weeds are good ideas. Fish near the end of the year are active in the warm water and will hit the baits with ease just keep working at the spots and they will come. Not a bad fall catch up at the old Rock Lake. Love getting two year old bass at the end of the year.

Herrick Lake in September

September 9, 2011

Went out fishing at Herrick Lake with my buddy Mike. The lake is very weedy come the end of the year and he loves to fish with a buzz bait on top of the weeds. We each caught a few small bass on the technique and it was a fun outing. The big one (as it always does) had alluded use one more day. Mike however did get a 4-5 pounder out of the lake earlier in the month. So its fun to know that they are out there!!

The Wife with a Topwater on a Baitcaster?

July 3, 2011

My wife goes fishing with me now and again. She is no pro (well neither am I) but she usually gets her line out there and catches no fish (sound familiar?). Anywho she told me she wanted to try my new rod and reel. The rod is a premier St Croix rod and the reel is a bass pro special baitcasting reel. On this particuar rod and reel was a top water, walk the dog (Zara Spook to be exact) lure. You can imagine my next line:

'Honey this is like one of the hardest baits to cast and retrieve wouldn't you want to try something a bit easier considering you have never caught a fish?'

Her response is about as predictable as my question:

'No, I can fish with that if you can!'

'Alright I said just dont get frustrated when you bird nest the line your first time.' I responded.

Needless to say she was better than me (not really but she did not bird nest once and was far better than I was when I first tried that particular fishing technique). What was crazy was the hit she got on her third cast, it was a big one! The wife jumped back with fright, I was yelling reel, reel, reel and out she drug (well I grabbed because she was a bit frightened) a nice 2 pound or so bass from Rock Lake.

As you can see it was later in the dusk time and she did not want to hold it. However I was impressed with the fish and I've given her props for wanting to try something new despite me not being terribly encouraging. Nice work Kyki keep fishing with me pleeeaaasssee!