Creek wading with Jason and Dave

Sunday morning came around and fishing plans were made to meet.  O'dark-thirty rolled around and we arrived at the spot just in time to see the sun come up.  It was a bit chilly for a day in the middle of August; the air temperature was in the 60s as we made our way down the bank and into the creek.

We got on fish quickly but they were all juvenile largemouth bass.  Time to move out of the first pool and take a walk to the next fishable spot.  

This stretch was full of bluegills and creek chubs.  Dave played the part of the Gillmaster calling out 'Gill' each time he set the hook figuring he was on a bluegill and he usually was.  Time again to walk downstream.

Here some small smallies mixed in with some rock bass and made the catching more interesting.

A downed tree in a deep hole is a great hiding spot for smallmouth bass.  They love rocks, gravel, sand and the like but they love wood too.  All three of us took turns drifting crawler halves past the log.  Finally my float went under, I set the hook, and zzzZZZZZZZzZzzzZzZZZ my drag went crazy.  My heart rate quickened.  I knew I had a larger fish on and I knew that the conditions were right for smallmouth.  It turns out what I hooked was a common carp with broad shoulders, thick through the body like a football.  I'll take it.  That's part of the fun drifting live bait; everything eats it.

More holes and more fish.  Catching was picking up as the sun got higher in the sky.  The smallmouth bite was turning on and aside from a couple of catfish and the occasional rock bass we were mainly catching smallies.

Getting back to the car we took off and stowed our waders, had a good drink of water, and reflected on a nice morning that bled into the afternoon and likely could have kept going until evening.  It was a great day to be outside in August.  We were in a beautiful setting but I find most rivers allow you to lose yourself and forget that civilization is just past the riverbank.  I sure do enjoy creek wading with Jason and Dave.

A SIDE NOTE:  I knew it was getting close but I just checked my stats page and my humble little blog has passed 5000 page views.  Thanks for reading everyone!  I'm enjoying writing about fishing and can't wait to see how long it will take to reach 10k.

Wading, Catching, Chatting - The Movie!

Ok, so the title is a bit dramatic but I finally got the video edited in a way that pleased me so without further ado I present Wading, Chatting, Catching - The Movie!

If you like movies about rivers, wading, channel catfish, or smallmouth bass this is the movie for you!

If you don't at least you can watch my friends and me fish, chat, and catch all set to a quirky beat that my Avid software provided for me once I picked it.  Hooray for technology!

In case you missed the first report about this trip you can find it at this link.  

Also most of the video footage and some of the still camera shots were captured by PivotHead Video Recording Eyewear.

7/29/2012 USGS 10.88 ft 279 cfs @ Montgomery Gauge

8.5.2012 Wading and Drifting with Dave

This past Sunday started off early but at a different spot; still the Fox river but a few miles north of some of our usual spots.  We caught a small channel cat and a dink smallmouth but the insult came when two guys in a canoe floated right past Dave and a 15" smallmouth jumped up from directly behind him right into the canoe.  The guys were riding the drift and were just beyond earshot when they finally got the bass to stop flopping around and held it up for us to see before they put it in their catch bag.  My voice couldn't get loud enough to tell them smallmouth are a catch and release only species on the Fox.  I doubt they would have cared anyway.  Ignorance is the game played when confronted with rules nevermind all the yellow signs you walk past when entering the river that tell you creel and slot limts.  

At least there was this cool spiderweb that brought me back to nature and grounded me a bit.

I was bummed.  We'd been fishing the area for a few hours and were doing worse than two guys in a canoe that had a fish jump in it.  A change of venue was in order and we loaded in the car and drove a few miles south.

This spot was better as Dave and I both hooked into a few more small catfish and smallies.  Then my float drifted my 1/2 worm around the end of a bridge piling.  It didn't even look like a big take; the float went under but not with any vigor.  I reeled in my slack and performed the "free hookset" as you often hear when talking to fisherman; try to set anyway, hooksets are free.

Fortunately my hook found it's home in the mouth of my largest channel catfish to date. Based on fish caught and weighed the last few weeks my guesstimate for this cat is 8lbs.  I fought for 10 minutes letting drag pull then bringing the line back so I could just see my float before line went out and the cat began another run.  Finally my patience was rewarded with this beautiful Fox River Channel Catfish.

Since it was the week of my birthday and I didn't go fishing on that day I consider this my birthday fish.  The head was huge and the body matched.  A big belly indicated this cat was having no problem eating.  In celebration of my fortieth year on this earth I thanked this catfish for eating my half-worm and eased it back into the water and watched it slip from my hands back to the water it came from.  Hopefully I'll get to come back when I'm 45 and catch it again when it's bigger!

8/5/2012 USGS 10.89 ft 289 cfs @ Montgomery Gauge

Pondboy's Angling Experience -DA ProStaff: This Weeks Podcast Driftin Cats and Why Dupage Ang...

DuPage Angler Podcast discussing wading and my rediscovery of the joy of fishing.

Pondboy's Angling Experience -DA ProStaff: This Weeks Podcast Driftin Cats and Why Dupage Ang...: http://www.dupageangler.com/images/audio/shows/DuPageSmalliew-DuPageAngler-Darkstar-080212-1.mp3

7/29/2012 Wading, Catching, Chatting

Last Sunday Dave and I met Dan (Pondboy) at the Fox River.  Marty (Wacky Bass) showed up after a half hour or so.  We hadn't gotten into many fish yet but the tides would turn that day.


It was fun standing mid-river with someone ten feet to my right and left.  Chatting, and wading happened effortlessly.  Catching did too.


I'm being slow at editing the video we recorded from this excursion so here's a slideshow of some of our catches.

7/29/2012 USGS 10.88 ft 279 cfs @ Montgomery Gauge