Finally, a little bit of fishing in MD

I knew I would get around to fishing sooner or later (hopefully sooner) but the loose ends of this moving thing are never ending. About 1/4 mile from our house is a pond in our development. Looks to be about an acre and a half. Shallow looking - a typical bass / 'gill / maybe catfish spot. I've seen people fishing there with some frequency, so I assume there is SOMETHING in these waters. Recently I got to try it out and see for myself.


The pond at the new house. The debris in the water in the foreground is hurricane junk clogging teh outflow pipe; the fallen tree in the back of the pond is from the hurricane as well



My first thought when fishing small waters is: catch SOMETHING. Anything. Nothing fits the bill for this better than the Cubby Mini-mites I used in IL. Suspended under a weighted bobber, they simply catch fish. Any fish.



the first MD fish!

The first evening out, a week after the hurricane, I managed to get a few small sunfish. Not much action, but something. I also talked to a guy who said there are bass in the pond to 5#. Even if they're 3 pounders, that's OK with me. Last nite, I hit it for 20 minutes and used only a 1/8 oz. buzzbait. Got 2 hits and landed 2 small (12") largemouth.


Pond bass. Bigger ones to follow (I hope)

Nothing to plan a trip around, but at least its a beginning. Next up will be my initial forays into the striper fishing of Fall. Since it will be from shore, I have no predisposed ideas of any success, but I am very anxious to give it a try.

Easter Bass

Just a short note about a couple of bass from this afternoon.

The weather stabilized and it looks like another week of washouts ahead, so I walked across the street at 4:30 this afternoon to fish the subdivision pond. This is the pond that usually frustrates me but holds some good fish. I've finally figured out one pretty sure thing about the pond - when the water pours into it, the bass move to the inflow. Its really the only time I can consistently catch anything here.

The water wasn't at a high point today but it was still moving in pretty good. The fish I caught were tight to the inflow. Both came on a small swim jig, and I missed another one. OK for a half hour. Both the bass were nice and chunky - around 15-16".





Meow the cat says "I can't stand anymore of these fish pictures"

Are you a Bass Fisherman? Flowing Waters Giveaway!!

A few posts back, I made note of the fact that I had passed the 100 Followers threshold. It still amazes me that more than 100 people would find this blog interesting enough to follow, but I digress. I also mentioned that I would probably hold some kind of a Giveaway. Well - the time is now!

I'm sitting at my computer, listening to the howling winds outside as the Chicago area braces for what is forecast to be one of the worst snowstorm / blizzards ever. Up to 20" of snow is forecast tonight into tomorrow, with winds up to 50 mph. It is blowing like hell right now, and I'm glad I'm inside. With a nice glass of red wine. And a little buzz.

So, Joe - tell us about this GIVEAWAY!!





Here's the deal - this one is for you if you are a BASS FISHERMAN. The product shown below is what is being offered to a lucky reader. The rules to enter are incredibly simple and easy:

1) If you don't already FOLLOW this blog - sign up as a Follower
2) Post a comment telling me the size of your biggest bass, and what you caught it on. If you've NEVER caught a bass, but want to - state just that in the post!

It's that simple. Could it be any easier to enter to win this lure pack??

I will use the famous RNG (Random Number Generator) on Sunday, February 6 at 7 PM Central time and announce the winner that night.

And, for you Fly Fishermen out there - don't fret - there is a GIVEAWAY coming for you too!!





(Package includes: Strike King Pro Buzz buzzbait, Strike King Bitsy titanium Elite Spinnerbait, Blue Fox Vibrax #3 spinner, Harrison - Hogue Big Eyed Pro Frog, Rapala Rattling Suspending Shad Rap #5, Rapala CD 7, Rapala Deep Running Minnow Rap 9, Lucky Craft Staysee 90 SP, Eagle Claw Trokar EWG hooks - 4/0, Yamamoto SW 5" Swimbait, Yamamoto 4" Senko, Kalin 5" Lunker Grub, Strike King 4.5" Bleeding Tubes)

GOOD LUCK

Back to what I do best - fishing on the ponds.

My wife suggested that we go out to the ponds this afternoon. Never one to disappoint her (at least when she suggests we go fishing), I started putting gear in the car. I told our son he could invite one of his friends, so soon we were en route to pick up Josh. I don't think Josh had ever been fishing before - at least not ion a long time. We got to the ponds around 3:45 PM.

I'm always eager to go fishing, but when I take kids along, I REALLY want it to be good - to keep their interest up. I really wasn't very sure about this trip - I had done pretty well on Friday afternoon, but last nite there was a freeze warning, so the water was still cool. In the next couple of weeks, the fish will absolutely turn on to a frenzy, but you never know about the early season. Still, it was a nice afternoon, so we gave it a try.



The kids catchin bluegills at the pond




Joey with a 'gill




One of Josh's bluegills


We fished the upper pond first. It is shallower and holds largemouth bass and bluegills - lots of gills. While the kids ate their Subway sandwiches, I tried to put the fish on a pattern. I found a pretty good concentration about 2' down over 4' of water. they started getting hits right out of the gate. Josh had a few initial hiccups learning to cast and retrieve the spinning gear, but soon he was going just fine. I spent the time unhooking fish and taking pictures. We decided to try the lower pond around 5:30. But first, I decided to try a small spinnerbait along the exposed rock on the dam shoreline. I hadn't caught a bass in this pond all Spring, but it has a LOT of bass in it. I made a total of maybe a dozen casts, hooked 4 bass, and landed 2. the spinnerbait had to be slowly rolled in front of the rocks to get their interest. Like I said - 2 weeks from now it will be buzzbaits and bigger spinnerbaits burned along the weds, but for now, they're moving toward the shallows and wanted something a little slower.



My first decent bass from the ponds in 2010



Another nice pond bass


The lower pond can be hit or miss. It holds more species of fish - bass, crappie, channel cats, walleye, bluegill, rainbow trout. The walleye and crappie are more active in the cooler water, especially in the evening, so I figured we might catch a few of them. I was right. We caught a bunch of bluegills. In 1 small area, we got about 10 crappies. Walleye were caught as the sun dropped. We got a few smaller bass, and lost one good one. Finally, I threw a spinner and hooked 3 trout, landing 2. Josh got a trout on a small grub to end the evenings fishing adventure.





Joey with pond walleye




A decent pond walleye (they don't get very big here)



Josh's trout

Highlights of the evening included: my son sliding down the bank, into the pond (with his arm in a cast). It was shallow, but he got soaked from the knees down, and spent the rest of the evening barefoot. Catching my first nice bas of the year from the ponds. And, best of all, were the words Josh uttered at the end of the evening - "This is even better than video games!"

I love taking kids fishing!

Ultimate Bass Fishing assortment

Again, I'll start by thanking everyone for checking out or, in some cases, bidding on my auctions on eBay. I still have a few to go. That's the reason for this blog post.

After seeing the positive reaction to the auctions, and the Susan Komen 3-Day event, I decided I should do a little more. After all, I was merely selling baits that were given to me, and donating the proceeds. So - I decided to dig into my own ridiculously large collection of baits and donate MY stuff as an assortment, with the auction proceeds again going to Mollie's efforts in the Tampa 3-day.

This new listing is described (by me) as the ULTIMATE BASS FISHING ASSORTMENT. It is 52 pcs of new, in-the-box bass lures. It has everything from hooks to crankbaits, spinnerbaits to plastics. Feel free to click on the following link to see the auction on eBay. And, if you you have a blog that appeals to bass fishermen, feel free to let people know about the auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320519250817

(You may need to copy and paste the url - I'm having my usual bout of uncooperative hyperlink issues)

This will be my last post on this subject - except for the final tally next weekend. I'll get back to fishing from this point on. I actually had crappie for dinner tonite, compliments of 13 crappie I got at the ponds yesterday. Outstanding evening fishing, and great subsequent eating!!

Wolfy

Got 'em all - over lunch!!

I haven't been out to my ponds recently - been on the road for work, and when I've been home, it seems like the grass is two feet tall and calling my name. I did walk across the street to my subdivision pond on Sunday evening with my new 2 weight flyrod. I was quickly reminded that a 2 wt. is a specialty rod - not very effective in the wind or if you need to make a cast over 30'. Luckily, the 'gils were close, with a few crappie mixed in, too. It doesn't take much to put a GOOD bend in a 2 wt. rod!

Anyway, over lunch today I got out to the ponds I've been writing about . Weather is cool and a little overcast. The pond was as clear as I've ever seen it - easily 4 feet of visibility. Maybe the loads of rain we've had all spring washed the usual crud out the overflow?? Gills were shallow, and I saw more than a handful of largemouth cruising the banks, right on the edge of where the water was too deep to see bottom. [This always seems to be a "magical" area, whether its 1 foot down or 10 feet - wherever you can no longer see bottom seems to be a zone where fish cruise. Try it in your water!] I caught a few 'gills right off the bat near the overflow. I went to the end of the pond where the deeper water comes up quickly to a mud flat, and caught 4 small walleyes in 5 casts with a Beetle Spin. Cool . Still, I was seeing more fish than I was catching. It was time to quit fooling around. Out came the Cubby Mini-Mite and the weighted bobber. (NOTE - the rod I had along was a 4-1/2' UL spinning rod)

I've extolled the virtues of the Mini-Mite / weighted bobber combo in the past, but it never ceases to amaze me. I fished a brown Mini-mite about 4' under the bobber and, after I found the depth they were holding at, caught fish constantly. I got about a dozen gills, 4 crappie, 4 largemouth - 3 small, 1 about 14" - , a 17" very healthy rainbow trout, and, on my last cast, a channel cat that I weighed at 6 pounds, 2 ounces. The rainbow came from about 6' of water; the cat was 4' down over 15' of water. Everything else was in 4' - 6' of water.

When I fish these little jigs, I use a simple technique: cast out and let the jig settle under the bobber. If there is any wave action, I'll often just let it sit and let the waves impart the action to the jig. Then, reel in about a foot of line fairly quickly - you want the jig to rise toward the surface on the retrieve of the line. then - stop. let the jig "swim" back down. Let it sit for a few seconds - 4 or 5. Repeat. Practice in shallow water where you can watch the action of the jig based on the retrieve you make. I PROMISE you it works.

I got all 6 available species of fish - bluegill, walleye, largemouth bass, crappie, rainbow trout, and channel cat - in my pond over lunch today. I'll take that over the usual diner food any day!

(Of course, I left my camera at home. I REALLY need to get another camera and throw it in my car, just for these occasions)

Wolfy

Times they are a-changing (with apologies to Bob Dylan)

Last week, the fishing at the ponds peaked. Bass were ultra-aggressive, attacking almost anything they saw. I took numerous "rookies" out there and, if they could hit the water with a cast, they could catch a fish. We threw pink Sluggos and watch the bass attack them. It was awesome.

Joanna with a nice pond bass

A happy Megan with another nice bass from the ponds

Yesterday(Sunday) I went to the same spot. Fished hard, first with reaction baits (spinnerbaits, buzzbaits), then more subtle baits (flukes, Senkos). I got one hit on a spinnerbait. I saw the swirls where bass were chasing bluegils away from their beds. The fish are now on beds, and the bountiful season that is the springtime warmup is now over. I'll still be able to catch fish here, but I'll have to work harder for them and employ different techniques. The day before - Saturday - I spent 2 hours with a co-worker working the larger pond hard to see what we could come up with. Jesse fishes bass tournaments and has fished hard for ANYTHING for years. He got on a pretty consistent bite with smallish square-lipped crankbaits. The bass were holding out from shore, and were spawned out. Still nice fish, but much lighter in weight. I played around with different baits, getting a few on spinnerbaits and other stuff, before I finally relented and put on a crankbait. (I'm pretty pig-headed about immediately going to the "hot bait" that the other guy in the boat is throwing). We caught fish, but it was obvious that in the past week, everything had changed.

Jesse with a crankbait bass. No eggs in this bass!

Times they are a-changing. Just like they do every year.

My wife just shakes her head every year wen I continue to be amazed by the greening of the landscape in springtime. Same for the leaves changing color, or the first snowfalls. I always react like I am amazed (because I am) even though I love the outdoors and have witnessed these changes for my entire life. I am just as amazed at the changes in the fishing patterns due to seasonal movement. Now that the bass have spawned, I'll key into the bluegills as they set up shallow. Out will come the flyrods. Then, in the midst of the summer doldrums, the channel cats will get really active.

Something is always changing, and I'm always amazed (Some would say easily amused!)

I hope I never lose that awe of the changes of nature. I'm pretty sure I won't.

Even though the bass were not going crazy on my ponds, I did manage to catch some other fish. I got 5 walleyes, a few crappie, a bunch of bluegills, and one un-common resident of the ponds - a green sunfish. Take a look at the size of the mouth on the picture. It is noticeably bigger than the usual sunfish, with the exception of the warmouth. Nice coloration on these panfish.

Green Sunfish

Keep following for the progression through the seasons and more fishing. I'll try to get some fly fishing in for trout in the near future.

A Royal Slam at the pond - sort of

Made it out to my favorite ponds this evening. I know they get a little crowded over the Memorial Day weekend, so this might be my last chance for a while. The weather wasn't what I like, but you fish when you can. Last night we had a scattered frost warning - didn't make it quite that low, but it was cold. It was a cool, windy, clear sky weekend - exactly what I DON'T like to fish in. It rained alot last week - almost 3 inches. Ponds were either muddy or stained. I tried the upper pond, which was muddy, first. Fish should be crowded into the shallows and set up to spawn. Tough to tell in these conditions. Anyway, I got one largemouth to bite a buzzbait, and 3 more to hit a spinnerbait. Decent, chunky largemouth. Now the evening wouldn't be a total blank. On to the lower pond to see what might bite.

(My son Joey with our buzzbait bass. He decided he was too cold to fish tonight, and just "modeled " by posing with my fish. Still good to spend time with your kids, whether they're fishing or just talking)

On to the lower pond. The first thing that was apparent was that there was a lot of bug activity, and the trout were slashing into something on the surface. Of course, my fly rods were back home.. I picked up a few nice 'gills on the old reliable Cubby jig. Then, on a shallow edge of the pond, I got another hit on the Cubby. Definitely bigger than a gill, but didn't fight like a bass. A big walleye maybe? Nope - first catfish of the year. It was a yellowish cat. I've only ever caught channel cats here, and all have been the standard grey / silver colors. I assume this was just an off-color channel. Anyway - 3 species tonight. Now I need 3 more to catch them all - I needed crappie, walleye, and rainbow trout.

First, while the sun is still out, I try to fill in the trout. I pulled out another UL spin outfit and tied on a Mepps spinner that has been deadly in the past on these pond trout. Fished it hard for about a half hour. missed 2 that hit near the dock, and had one other short strike. Usually this spinner is death on these trout. Oh well - tonite's not the night for trout for me. So I move down the bank with my Cubby / weighted bobber. About 5 casts into it, right along the bank, I hook up with a BIG trout. It's on for a about 30 seconds, and it straightens the size 12 gold hook on the Cubby. Tough break. Naturally, that's the only trout I hook up with tonite. I re-tie and put on a 2" white Lindy Munchie grub on a 1/16 oz. jighead. Sun drops below the trees, and its like the light switch gets turned on for the crappie. 7 nice crappie in 10 casts. Almost time to go. Another light hit - a little walleye. That's all of them - all the species found in the pond. Hooked and lost the trout, landed the rest. Even though it was getting colder outside - 54 when we left - it was fun. It's always fun when you fish though. At least it should be.

A final note - this was my first time out with my newest rod. I picked up a 4'6" UL St. Croix Avid spinning rod. I put a Quantum Energy UL reel on it, 8# Fireline, and it's about as sweet an ultralite outfit as you can find. (The bass caught tonite were on a baitcast outfit for the buzzbait / spinnerbaits) The 8# test on a UL might sound a little strange, but if you follow my posts, you know I fish some ponds that have some pretty big fish in them. I can usually wear them down with the rod, but using the usual 4# mono gets me in too much trouble with cats, big bass, or sticks and logs in the water. The 8# Fireline is 3# diameter, feels great on the setup, and will land anything I hook in the ponds. Give it a try on your UL - I think you'll like it.

Introducing co-workers to the great sport of fishing

I've been waiting for the ponds to heat up, both water temps and the fish's spawning movements. It's been very erratic here from a temperature standpoint - a few days of warming temps usually seem to be followed by unseasonably cold weather, delaying the bass's push into the shallows to set up to spawn. Friday the variables all seemed to come together - gradually increasing temps, storms forecast for the evening and overnite, west winds. And I had one of the enthusiastic newcomers to the sport from work to go to the pond with me over lunch. I hoped it would be the right timing, more for her than for me.

Over the years, a lot of people at work have expressed interest in gong fishing with me. This inevitably ends up like most casual social commentary - you know the type - "Hey, we'll have to get together some time", and that's the end of that. And that's fine - it's just the way things are. But I always tell people "All you need to do is ask, and I'll take you". Well, Megan took me up on my offer.

This young lady is one of our talented Marketing people, and she has fished a few times with her Dad and brother, but she says they rarely catch anything. I really hoped it would be good . It was.

When we got to the pond, I walked up to the edge and a bass spooked from the shallows. GOOD - they were in tight. It was a little mossier than I would have preferred for a newcomer, but I figured a buzzbait would get her some fish. What could be better than buzzbait explosions from big bass?? We had 1/2 hour before we had to head back into work. She got used to the rod and lure, made some nice casts, and had 5 hits. She landed 3 bass and had a big one shake loose at the bank. All the bass she landed were bigger than anything she had ever caught before. She was ecstatic, and her enthusiasm was certainly contagious. It is such a pleasure to take someone on a successful trip and see their face light up when they catch fish, whether its a child or an adult. I have another trip planned with a co-worker, his 2 daughters, and his wife. Can't wait



These are Megan's 2 larger bass. She's hooked!

We've all heard the message to TAKE A KID FISHING. Now we can start another chapter to that directive - Take a Co-worker Fishing!

More pond notes, and a new visitor emerges

Joey with one of our Pond Bass

My ponds continue to produce, frustrate, try my patience, and make me smile - sometimes all in the same day. I sometimes get a little too cocky on these small waters, and think I have them all figured out. Then a front blows through, the pressure drops, the bass get lockjaw, and the 'gills move offshore. Or, the pond that has the rainbow trout will have the trout rising to something, and I can't buy a hit! Oh well - that's what keeps us coming back.

Joey with a Pond Walleye

I did get a good afternoon in with some nice bass, including one of my best from the smaller pond - a pre-spawn female that had to be a little north of 5 pounds. Some good 'gills from areas that usually only have smaller ones. the crappies seem to be a little more common, too, but that concerns me. For the past 10 years, crappies in the ponds were pretty uncommon, but big. Now they seem to have taken hold, but the bigger ones seem harder to find. I don't want to let them overpopulate the pond, which they are known to do. Time for a bunch of crappie dinners! One of the unusual species for the pond, along with the trout, are walleyes. These have been stocked a little at a time over the past 10 years or so. I catch smallish ones (8' - 10") pretty frequently, and have caught them up to 17". A nice distraction when they feel like biting.

We have new companions on the ponds, too - the water snakes have come out. These are common Northern Water Snakes, and there are a lot of them in these ponds. Some pretty big ones, too, as evidenced by the picture from Monday.

With our local river near flood level from the excessive rains we've had, the ponds have saved my spring!

The local ponds are on fire!!

Well, at least they're on fire figuratively. There has been some stabilization of the recent weather, and the fish have been eating. I love this time of year - the fishing is really pretty good all day. Bluegills are drawn into the warmth of the shallow waters along with the bass. Low light finds active crappies. And, as I showed in an earlier post, one of my favorite ponds is stocked with rainbow trout, and they are shallow as well. You truly never know what you'll catch. But you're pretty much assured you'll get something. I fished over lunch yesterday and had a terrific time. Spent 40 minutes on the water. My go-to lure this time of year, as it always is in the early season, is a Cubby Mini Mite suspended under a weighted bobber. It was literally a fish per cast. Tally when I left - 21 'gills, 3 crappie, 2 largemouth, 3 walleye, and 1 BIG rainbow trout (around 20"). Perhaps the most memorable part of the lunch hour was when a pretty big largemouth took a big swipe at the bobber!

While I love to get the periodic "fish overload", it is absolutely the best time of the year to introduce new fishermen to the sport. I have a few people at work that I'm trying to get out over lunch. Also, one guy at work has a couple of girls - ages 7 and 10 - who really got hooked on fishing last summer. Pardon the bad pun. They'll have a ball for the next 2-3 weeks, or until the water heats up too much. I'll continue to fish ultralite with tiny baits for about a week, then switch over to topwaters and spinnerbaits for shallow prespawn largemouth. There will be a lull in the action after the spawn, and then the channel cats heat up along with the water temp.

Now is truly the time to Take a Kid Fishing. And don't just limit it to kids - take your neighbor who hasn't fished since he / she was a kid. Introducing - and re-introducing - fishing is the mission of Angler's Legacy. Read more about the Angler's Legacy at the following link. I took the Pledge year's ago - it's fulfilling for all parties involved.

http://www.takemefishing.org/community/anglers-legacy/home

By the way - in my haste to get outside and fish, I've been forgetting my camera. Sorry - no pictures. I'll take it along tomorrow and try to post a lunchtime photo essay. I've also been feeling rather philosophical about my recent forays to the ponds - I feel a rambling, bare-my-soul to the world post coming on in the near future.

Get outside and fish!

Back from 'Bama

Well, our quick dash to Alabama for a little fishing has come and gone. My son and I got up at 4 AM on Thursday, got a flight to Birmingham, got down to the farm by noon. Fished afternoon and evening, and from 7:00 am - 11:00 am on Friday. Back to the airport, back home by 6 PM on Friday. Quite a few miles logged for 9 hours of fishing, but it's all worth it. (I fly almost every week for work, so the flight aspect of it doesn't phase me)

Weather was pretty dicey - high winds both days. Tough to control the boat. Also, temps dropped to the 20's the 2 nights before - BRUTALLY cold for southern Alabama. Fish were not very aggressive. Exactly what I was NOT hoping for. I was really hoping for some aggressive bites for Joey. He likes fishing, but doesn't have a lot of patience if the fish aren't biting pretty good. I'm still living down the build up I gave our trip to Canada last year - from Joey AND my brother and Dad. I picked out a great smallmouth lake, booked it for the perfect time, and the weather absolutely killed us. The lake was beautiful, accommodations good, and fishing was awful. I've done these trips a lot, so it didn't phase me, but they had never been on a trip to fish, and there was some disappointment over the results. Joey said a few times before this trip - "It better not be another Canada trip"

The ponds we were fishing are owned by a friend / business associate and are terrific - loaded with bass and brim. Some of the fish are are huge - bass over 13 pounds have been caught with some regularity (my best from here is 10-5) and brim are huge and plentiful, if somewhat difficult to locate certain times of the year. I figured something would bite for Joey.

The total recap for the 9 hours of bass fishing showed 24 largemouth landed by us. Joey also fished a pond where the brim flock to a dock, and he caught around 50 brim in an hour and a half over 2 days. I was more concerned with getting him in position than actually fishing, so while I fished constantly, it wasn't at my usual frenetic pace. The fish we got were mostly on big hard swim baits, and a few on smaller crankbaits. I believe 2 fell for spinnerbaits, and a few for Beetle Spins while prospecting for brim. So - quantities of fish were the least I have ever seen at this property.

BUT - the size was very good. I've been to this property 6 times before. The usual size of the fish is 2-4 pounds, with an occasional 5 or better. I've caught 2 over 7. On this trip, of the 24 bass we caught , at least half were 4 pounds or better - very nice sized LM. The baits of choice were Strike King's King Shad, Strike King Pure Poison, and Lucky Craft RC 2.5. The brim fell for Beetle Spins and 2" Munchie Grubs.

a 6 pound Alabama largemouth

5 pound largemouth

Naturally (and thankfully), Joey had the last laugh, and it couldn't have been choreographed better. We were on the brim dock, he was catching scads of brim, and I told him we needed to go in a few minutes to shower and drive back to the airport. He dropped his grub down and immediately had a bite. The rod bent, and it was obvious this as no brim. I figured it to be a nice 2-3# bass - a real test on an UL rod with 4# test! He fought it like a pro. I cautioned him that it wouldn't be his fault if the bass got back to the dock and wrapped around one of the wooden dock pilings, as they are apt to do. I knew he wouldn't be able to stop it if it did, and it would break off. I didn't want him to think he did something wrong. Well - the fishing gods smiled. the bass went under the dock, but came back out with a little pressure. I was able to lip it on the first opportunity, and Joey had his big bass. It measured 23" and was full of eggs. I didn't have a scale with me, but estimated it between 7 and 8 pounds. When I checked the "Weight Estimators" found online , I feel pretty confident that it was between 7-1/2 and 8 pounds. Our last fish, and his biggest ever (the second largest I've ever seen in person). You can't script them any better than that.

Joey's brim

Joey's big bass - betwen 7# and 8#

By the way - before anyone decides to throw a well deserved shot at my BRIGHTLY colored shirts, I found out years ago that they show up better in photos, and often the fish show up better, against the bright backgrounds. I DO have a lot of nice, muted greens and tans , too!

I FINALLY catch some fish in 2009, and all is right with the world!

We finally had a few days in a row of nice, warming weather. That means, of course, lots to do around the house. And, finally, a chance to get out on the water locally. Northern IL has been slow to warm, and I've been going more stir crazy than usual for this time of year. It's an annual occurrence, but seems like a more acute case this year than usual.


Sat. and Sun. were beautiful days, and both days found us with some time between 5 and 7 pm. We went to a property where I have access to their 2 ponds and tried to start out the year on a good note. Like every year, the warm air belies the VERY cold water and lethargic fish below. I've done this enough to know that early season trips mean slow presentations, shallow, dark bottoms that warm quickly, and often small baits.


Well, things played out like they were scheduled. Fishing was slow, but enough fish hit to keep things interesting. I wanted my son to get in some practice with his gear, because we're going to Alabama in a couple of weeks for a few days of bass and brim fishing.




My son with our first largemouth of 2009









Saturday found 1 nice largemouth willing to bite, and enough smallish gills to keep us occupied. NOTE: there are 2 ponds on this property. One - the first one we fished - is shallow, about 8 acres, and full of bass to 4 pounds, and gills. the second - maybe 10 acres - is deeper. Max depth is around 15 feet. Lots of wood cover. Largemouth, bluegill, crappie, walleye, channel cat (to 15#) and rainbow trout. The rainbow trout are certainly not your typical fare in Illinois ponds. They are stocked in this pond in October and winter over. When the ice melts and spring emerges, these 'bows are in great shape and are great sport in the spring. They're also pretty big - 14 - 20". I've fished for wild rainbows all over the country, and, all things considered, prefer them over the stockies, but these are a viable substitute. They bite, and they pull hard, so in this instance, I like them!

Nice rainbow trout from the lower pond

Next we tried our luck on the lower pond for the trout or anything else that might be awake. It was the expected slow fishing, but we did hook and land 2 trout, 1 pretty nice one. Pheasants were cackling in the fields as the sun set, and deer made their evening trips to the fields.

Sunday we did the same routine. No large bass fell for our offerings, but the bluegills were more active after another day of the sun warming their water. My son and I had a "bet" to see who could catch the most, and we lost count. The lower pond yielded its first walleye of the year to me, and one more nice trout to my son.


Our lures on these trips were primarily Cubby Mini-Mites suspended under a weighted bobber. I wrote about them in my "Favorite things" post last year. I don't know what it is about these little nondescript plastic baits, but they flat-out catch fish - everything! They are effective fished dead slow under a bobber , with the only movement imparted by wave action, and they work with a fairly aggressive retrieve. I learned long ago how to fish a Blakemore Roadrunner (another great springtime bait) - you can't fish it wrong, as long as you fish it slow. The same applies with Cubby's.


A great overall weekend and , hopefully, a harbinger of a terrific season of fishing on the horizon.

Joey fishing on the upper pond

Thanks for reading!

Wolfy

Committing to learn a new pattern in 2009

This is something I was going to post as a New Years resolution, but never got around to posting. I consider myself a pretty good, versatile fisherman when it comes to bass fishing. Rivers, lakes, largemouth, smallmouth, spots, tidal water - I'm fairly comfortable with all these options. But I recently realized that I have not kept up with a lot of the newer tactics - drop shotting, for example. Since I don't fish tournaments anymore, it doesn't really matter to anyone except me. But I have a lot of lures that I rarely use. So, I wantto try to get comfortable with at least one of them this year and expand my comfort zone on the water.

One of my goals this sumer will be to do more mid-depth crankbaiting. The 5' - 15' deep range. I almost always fish this type of water with some sort of plastic - a swimbait, grub, fluke. One of the big reasons for my lack of experience in this type of fishing is simply that I don't have any waters nearby that have that type of depth. Most of what I fish locally are shallow (5' max) ponds. Still, I have a few waters where I can give these mid-range crankbaits a try. So, I made a quick look through a box of baits and came up with some ideal trial baits. The following will be my arsenal for this experiment.

Strike King Series 3 and 4S, LC GD3 mini LC Staysee 90 SP, Flat CB 14, 20

Rapala DT 4, 6, 7 Rapala Minnow Rap 7, 9, Storm Jr. T-stik

I know that the only way I'll realy get a good feel for these baits is to take them out exclusively and fish them all day. I guess I'll just have to leave the topwaters / spinnerbaits / plastics at home. Year's ago, when I was first learning to fish worms, I did the same thing - went on the water with only worms. It was tough, but it worked. In the end it just made me a better, more versatiel fisherman.

One bait I am really looking forward to using this year is one I experimented with briefly last year. The Rapala Sub-Walk was introduced LY. It is a slowly sinking "Walk-the-dog" style baits - a subsurface Zara Spook, if you will. In clear water, it is a really fun site bait - the pike in Ontario absolutely mauled it, even if they were small. I didn't get a chance to try it for bass and I think it will be great.

That ought to do it for now - until we lose the 15" of ice and 8" of snow, open water fishing will just be a dream. I'll have to be content with sharpening hooks and re-spooling reels. Can't wait for the spring.

Rapala Sub-walks

Everything old is new again - plastic swimbaits now and then

Old School swimbaits from 80's and 90's

Soft plastic swimbaits have been gaining in popularity for a number of years. On many waters, they are THE way to catch the resident populations. And, by and large, they work. I've been fairly astonished at some of the prices these baits command, but as long as they work, they're worth buying and trying.

Over the weekend I was going through some of the scads of tackle I have in my garage (I'm a self admitted gear and tackle junkie) when I came across some of the following, and it got me thinking - is there anything really new about this trend? Bottom line - I think not.

Some of the current crop of swimbaits

I remember back in the 80's when I fished Sassy Shad, and really got behind Twisters Sassy Grubs. I thought they were a step ahead of using Mr. Twisters, which many of us derogatorily referred to as " nickle crankbaits". Anyone could cast them out and retrieve, and catch fish. Gene Larew Long Johns were pure poison on the Susquehanna River smallmouths in the early 90's. As you can see from the pictures, the early swimbaits look eerily similar to the modern ones. They have something else in common - they work just as well now as they did 20 years ago. Another revelation - so do Twisters / grubs.

One thing that is new to the scene is the Cotee Cracker Shad. It is a fine swimbait in its own right, but it has a rattle embedded in it near the base of the tail. It adds a previously missing element to the game. And - it works! Bass attack these baits, and pike wouldn't leave them alone in Canada this past summer. Since Cotee is primarily a Saltwater bait company, you may need to search online for them if you don't live in a coastal area. I know that Cabelas carries them - not sure who else.

Don't take this observation as being disparaging - I don't dislike these baits at all - on the contrary, I have them along on nearly every trip to the water, regardless of the target species. As a matter of fact, I rely on them, and on the previously mentioned grubs, more now than I ever have. I realize that you don't get "more points" based on degrees of difficulty associated with your method of fishing, and don't really care if you did. They work. Period. Both types of baits should have a space of prominence in your tackle box. They do in mine.

Pond Fish in October

This past weekend had temperatures climbing over 60 degrees in Illinois. I decided to take a walk across the street and give the development ponds a shot on Sunday afternoon.

While there are some legitimate fishing opportunities in urban northern Illinois (Fox River, Kankakee River, Forest Preserve ponds), the fishing opportunities have increasingly been related to ponds in housing developments. These are either accidental fisheries, or designed to be fisheries for the residents. The 3 acre ponds on my development are primarily for stormwater retention, but they have a very good population of bluegills, largemouth, crappies, and other occasional entrants. I've seen honest 11" gills come from these waters, and a fair amount of 3-4 pound largemouth. There is a lot of algae and aquatic weed growth in these ponds. When I fish these ponds, and just want to hook something, I put a few Cubby Mini-Mites in my pocket along with some 1/16 oz. jigheads and 2" Munchie grubs. Armed with an old Fenwick HMG ultralite, I went for a walk around the ponds.

Nothing spectacular happened, but the action was pretty steady. a few small LM, 3 gills (largest was 7"), and 3 nice crappies. Then, ... I got a hit on a pumpkinseed grub. Another gill, decent size. It was on for a second or 2, and then my drag started peeling off the reel. A second or 2 later, a very large head poked through some weeds, and the bluegill popped out of its mouth!! A largemouth had eaten my 'gill. It was certainly the largest bass I've ever seen in these little ponds - I'd say it was a solid 6 pounds, maybe a little larger. Of course I didn't land it, and don't really care, but it proves a point I like to make very well.

Nothing neat will happen to you unless you make the effort to get out on the water!