The Quest for Bronze

I had a problem.  I haven't spent nearly enough time in the rivers and creeks this year.  I hadn't caught a decent smallmouth bass yet in 2013 and the weather was getting cooler.  Plans were made to wade.

Dave caught the trip's first fish; a decent little smallmouth on a worm. I'd get the next smallie on a minnow.  A better fish.

Then another again on a minnow.

Dave realized the fish were preferring minnows today and scored a nicer fish after making the switch.

I saw the copper flash of the side of the fish as it hit my next cast.  I thought it was another decent smallmouth.

It wasn't. It was a decent rock bass.  Time for a rock bass selfie.  (at least I'm not doing the duck-face)

Cast after cast, minnow after minnow we'd pull bronze out of each hole we fished.  The morning was a success in numbers and in quality fish landed.  We knew we'd be happy if we had to call it quits right then but one more hole looked so inviting we had to cast at it.

More quality smallmouth came up for a photo.  Dave had his rod tucked into his wading belt.  His float ten feet from our position.  He asked me to help get a Plano box of floats out of the back pocket of his wading vest when I noticed his float was down.  I grabbed his rod and line between the reel seat and the big sripper guide and pulled tight to set the hook.  Dave took over and reeled in the best fish of the day; 16.5" long 9" girth calculated to 2.25# of bronze!

Dave and I were both happy with the quality of fish today and the excitement of the last catch hadn't worn off before my float went down.

Dave set the tone for my fight when he said "Holy $hi+, that's a GOOD ONE!!"  The fish made two runs.  I used my 7' custom Micro-Wave spinning rod as leverage to steer the fish away from a fallen log.  The fish jumped but I saw the #4 Gamakatsu Octopus-Circle hook was set firmly in it's lip. 

Bronze!  Big bronze!  18" long, 10.5" girth would calculate to 2.75#. WOW!  My biggest smallmouth of 2013 and a little smaller than my personal best.

I was complaining earlier this week I hadn't gotten out and caught my favorite species of fish.  I was complaining I hadn't put on my waders much and walked in moving water this season.  I decided to change that today and I'm glad that I did.  

I was on a Quest for Bronze, and bronze was what I got.

Anchor Away

I had a lake I wanted to kayak before I had a kayak.  I had been taken to this lake a few years ago by Marty and Patrick from DuPage Angler in the summer for shoreline bass fishing.  We did ok but not great.  The next year I was taken here to fish for crappies.  There are nice crappies here and as I learned VERY nice bonus bass!  

Like most lakes and ponds in the Mid-West the shoreline weeds make it tough to fish from shore during the summer.  Enter the kayak.  Ok, so it was a literary device AND the next thing I did before I started paddling.

I pitched my minnow bucket over the side of the kayak and began to look for a spot past the shoreline weeds to look for crappies.  I anchored my kayak and positioned the anchor line at the rear of the kayak with my homemade anchor trolley.  Satisfied with where my boat was positioned I nose-hooked a minnow 1.5 feet under a float and cast to a spot clear of the weeds.   Soon I was rewarded with crappie.

It wasn't the largest I'd ever caught at this lake but at least the skunk was off.  I could concentrate on fishing now that my boat wasn't drifting across the lake.  In some situations the drift would be welcome but not when I had minnows under floats.

I wanted the minnows to get eaten by hungry crappie but the bass had other ideas.  After catching several small largemouth bass I decided to stop wasting minnows and pull anchor.  Anchor away I started paddling to a new spot.  My effort was rewarded with another crappie.

I used the rest of my minnows and caught more crappie and comparable size largemouth. 

The wind had been light but steadily blowing.  I say had been because it all of a sudden stopped. The surface of over half the lake glassed up and became still.  It was then when bass started rippling the surface eating bugs and minnows.  I quickly got my tackle box out and tied on a large perch patterned Chug Bug topwater plug.

I cast near a surface weed clump and chug-GluG-GLUG-chug-p a u s e-GluG-chug- l o n g e r pa u s e........SMASH!!!!!!

My plug disappeared.   I saw the strike and had the presence of mind to wait and reel my 15# fluorocarbon snugly to my custom spiral-wrapped casting rod.  My Lew's BB1 held tight as the rod bent and I felt the weight of the fish.  Ok, now it's time to set the hook!

Oh, that seemed to tick her off!  The bass leapt into the air shaking her head back and forth to let the trebles loose from her lip.  She hit the water and I got her closer to the kayak when she jumped again, tail walking and shaking her head.  I saw one of the two treble hooks that was attached to lip hanging free.  I didn't want to stick my thumb in the bass' mouth at the angle I had her at because I'd certainly get a treble hook in my hand.  I did the next best thing, I reverse-lipped her; stuck my index finger in the bass' mouth and my thumb under the bottom lip.  I had her!

3.5# on my Boga Grip scale.  I have to say that topwater of any type is cool but topwater on a kayak when you're right down at water level is awesome!!!

Nothing else would come on topwater today but that's ok.  Catching a big bass is enough.  The wind kicked up anyway and I was out of minnows.  Time to rig up the 4" Power Worm finesse rig. I can fish that in my sleep and pick apart areas between the weeds for bass.

I caught several small bass and a nice bluegill.

I pulled my anchor back to the center position on the trolley and hand-over-handed the anchor up from the depths.  Ok, it was really only about seven feet but I'm not used to anchoring the kayak yet and the anchor trolley performed flawlessly.

Several more small bass ate my Power Worm on the drift across the lake to where I had parked. I was ready to go.  The bluebird skies with the big fluffy clouds are pretty to look at but they make fishing stink.  I got some sun, I caught some crappies, I got rid of minnows in a way I hadn't thought to before, and I experienced topwater bassin' in a kayak.  All in all a great morning that started because I wanted to test my anchor trolley.

First Cast Creek

Dave and I try to go fishing every Sunday.  Schedules don't always permit but this Sunday we decided we wanted to wade.  I haven't been wading much this year.  This would be the third time out to walk in water and I wanted to check on a body of water I hadn't fished yet this year.

The creek looked inviting.  I'd never waded this stretch but it looked promising from the word go. In the photo above see how you can see the brown bottom in the foreground that is about a foot to a foot and a half deep.  Notice how the water takes on a blue-green color as you move closer to the far bank.  That's at least three feet deep.  I know because I set my float at least three feet down while I fished this spot from shore.  This is where we'd enter the creek.  

Unless the spot where you enter a moving body of water is exceedingly shallow it's a good idea to fish it from the bank before you walk through it.  Dave was faster getting baited up and pulled off a first cast fish; a nice, clean channel catfish.

I'm encouraged by the sign of life and quickly finish setting up my split-shot weights and nose hook a fathead minnow.  My first cast didn't go where I wanted it to.  Not close enough to the far side of the creek.  Adjustments were made to the float and my stance and by my third cast I hooked a big rock bass.

Full of hope we step into the creek and begin working our way upstream.  Dave has always been quite the bluegill angler where creeks are concerned.  He can always seem to find them.  Today was no different.  

Any bluegill you can lip is a good bluegill.  We'd catch bluegills and catfish until about 8:30 AM. Every time I fish this creek it takes until about 8:30 before the smallmouth start biting.  I guess they enjoy sleeping in.  No matter, four ate my minnows in four successive casts.  

The average size was 10 inches or so.  Not huge but fun to catch.  Dave caught a smallmouth with a beautiful color pattern.

Very white belly, dark bronze spots and bars by the eye; a gorgeous example of a juvenile smallmouth.  It, and all other fish caught today were released to grow larger.  I'll come back and catch them in a year or two.  They can have time to fatten up and grow.  

When all was said and done Dave caught six species of fish and I got five, missing only the venerable creek chub.  We could have caught many more depending  on what species had come up the creek to spawn and decided to stay.

We finally decided to call it a day and began our walk back to our entry point and car.  In total Dave and I each landed a dozen smallmouth, a largemouth or two, some channel catfish, a handfull of bluegills, different sized rock bass, and Dave bested me by catching a sixth species; a creek chub.

It was a good Sunday walk in the water.  A good time out with an old friend.  This creek is a good one.  I've fished other stretches and it can produce some excellent sized fish.  Today nothing over 12" was caught but we enjoyed every minute of it.  

A creek doesn't have to be a small body of water but most around here are.  We have to walk and cross many yards of unproductive water to get to the deeper holes that the fish live in.  Once we find the holes we sometimes have to work them from many angles and drift our bait past many times before we get bit.  

Today we knew it was going to be a good day early on because Dave caught first cast.  It doesn't always happen that way but of any place I've fished I'd bet this creek to produce a first cast fish before most others.  It's a special place away from the stresses of our lives.  Surrounded by the beauty of nature we bait, cast, catch, release, snag, break off, retie, and adjust our floats.  These motions become fluid and practiced and routine with time.  What doesn't become routine is the creek; it's natural beauty and ever changing landscape make it a challenge to wade and a challenge to fish.

To call it my happy place is an understatement.  To call it by name is forbidden.  From now on I may call it by my own made up name; I may start calling it First Cast Creek.   Today it was, and may it stay that way!

Creek Fishing with Chunsum

Chunsum contacted me mid-week.  We discussed wading a creek that was new to me that Chunsum had success in last weekend.  Plans were made and we met at 5:30 AM, donned our breathable waders, and walked to an entry point to the creek.  

I like so many things about creeks.  Tall trees, rock walls, formations man-made, and natural.  I find I feel a sense of calm wash over me as the sounds of traffic give way to the sound of moving water, the breeze moving the leaves, trees, birds and other animal sounds.  I'm already in my happy place when we reach the first fishable hole.

Tall limestone walls look imposing but show they have given way to water and have pits and under-cuts.  A gentile current flows against the surface of the wall then down stream.  Chunsum pointed out the water line a foot above the current one.  That's how much the creek had changed in a week. 

Chunsum and I each caught a small smallmouth when Chunsum's Raven Specialist float went down.  A hookset only made the float shoot down stream and his drag squealed with the strong pull of a three and a half pound channel catfish.

We drifted this hole until nothing else bit before moving to the next deep area.  

I had a little success and caught a few species here.  All small but I was able to see even the most tentative bite of the creek chub with my Raven Specialist float.

All fish landed today had something in common.  They all were thick and had big bellies.  They were all eating well as the current carries food to their waiting mouths.

In the last hole we tried I wasn't able to crack the code as well as Chunsum was.  I scored a few small fish.  Chunsum figured out there was a portion of the hole where current created a deep pocket.  Drifting minnows four feet down and more put them right in the face of some lovely smallies!

The second fish measured 16.5" long, 10.5" around, and weighed 2.5 lbs on my Boga-Grip.

We checked the time and walked back downstream toward our entry point.  We picked up a few small channel cats and bluegill drifting our way back to our cars and reality.

I needed that. I really needed to take a walk in the water.  I needed to lose myself in nature and I can't think of a better place to do that than in a creek.

My First Fish

The first time I went fishing was with my family and Marie Bennett's family.  Somehow we all ended up at a house on a pond with a pier.  (I was maybe six...it was a while ago, I forget)  Cane poles were pulled out and baited and put in our young, capable hands to watch the red and white bobber drop and the beautiful colored bluegills come up at the end of our lines.

Pictured above are a much slimmer Jack Jelinek than I remember him and a downright scrawny me!  My brother and I found this picture the other day when we were going though some things.  I'm glad we did!  

This is what I remember when I think of fishing as a kid.  There were other fish, other trips but this was so simple, so innocent, such a nice memory!

Happy New Year!

Early December Crappies

The latest warm snap was gone.  The weather stabilized to chilly 40 degree days with 30 degree and lower nights.

Degree by degree the water gets colder.  Until the water gets solid there is always fun to be had catching crappies.

My friend Monique contacted me asking if I was going fishing this Saturday.  I was planning to go anyway and it's always nice to have company.  I felt bad ever since I took her and her son Alex to fish for early fall largemouth and she got skunked.  I was determined to put us on some crappies and that is what I did.

My first cast with a minnow hooked on the Custom Jigs and Spins gold metallic diamond-head jig  hooked a nice crappie.

A quick picture, a quick release, and a quick addition of another minnow to my jig and my float went down again.  This one was bigger.

Measuring at 11" this was a nice, thick, fat bellied crappie. Getting ready for winter added some heft to this fish and the fight on my ultralight rod was all that much more fun.

I bit off the ice jig I had tied on Monique's line and tied on another gold diamond-head jig.  The jig was the ticket for crappie today.  In short order Monique began catching crappie.

What is it with people I fish with kissing fish?  Never mind, the jig-switch worked and that was what mattered.  She still wouldn't impale a minnow but after a few fish Monique got the hang of lipping crappies and unhooking the jig from their paper-thin mouths.

After we caught a dozen fish we decided to call it a day.  The nice 10.25" crappie above is the last one we caught.

Another successful trip out for some crappie catching. I'm glad I could put Monique on some fish.  When quality fish come in enough quantity that they are catchable with the right methods it makes for a fun time out in nature.  

Funny how standing next to water is so calming.  You watch the ripples in the water move your float up and down.  Then it stays down.  Reel in the slack, rod-tip up, and give a steady pull to set the hook home.  Reel when you feel the wiggle and that's how it was today catching these early December crappies.

Oops...When did it become December?  ;-)  The URL will still stay November but the crappies remain.

Early December Crappie

I arrived at Dave's before the sun was up.  That tends to be the way of things when fishing but today it is December 2nd.  The days are still getting shorter and the nights colder.

We're in another weekend "Indian Summer" this weekend with temperatures in the sixties.  I hope the crappies remember they're supposed to bite.  They forget sometimes when the weather swings too wildly in either direction.

After a suspenseful few minutes of having our bait in the water Dave scores first with a nice average crappie for this lake.

Then it was my turn for a crappie to bite my minnow.

Kind of like watching tennis but Dave and I took turns catching crappies and had a great time.

A bonus bass took my float down and came to the surface for a picture.  I eyballed him in the 2# range.  Nice and stocky bass filling up before winter he pulled hard enough to take drag a few times before I landed him.  If you look closely you can see the Custom Jigs and Spins Diamond jig in gold color on his upper lip.

We packed up our things after we used most of the minnows we had brought.  It was a nice morning and a nice time spent out fishing with my friend Dave.  We caught 15-20 quality crappie the biggest being 11.5" but more importantly we enjoyed a morning out catching.

Hopefully we won't have any more of these weekends where we hit 60 degrees in December.  Ice showed up for a fleeting few days as the temperatures stayed down low enough to let it happen last week.  Now we've got 60 degrees.  Winter, come and give us ice!  

Can you tell I'm ready?

Thankful for Windy Day Crappies

For the Thanksgiving Holiday today I'm thankful for a lot of things.  One of those things are my dogs.   Ebony came along with me today to go crappie fishing.

Pre-turkey dinner I loaded my gear in the car then loaded my dog Ebony in the car.  Ebony is the younger and smaller of my two dogs.  She's always excited to get to go somewhere but she didn't know what was in store for her when she came fishing with me on this windy November 22nd.  

We parked and walked to a spot on the lake I have learned is productive for crappie.  I discovered that it's a bit more difficult than I had assumed it would be to handle two rods, a tackle bag, a minnow bucket,a small stool to sit on., and a nine year old black lab mix on a leash all at the same time.

Ebony is an AKC Canine Good Citizen and is generally well behaved and listens.  Today she was overloaded with the smells brought to her by the wind.  Oh, the wind was something else.  It brought rain to us this afternoon.  It certainly made it more difficult to cast this morning.

The wind made waves across the surface of the lake.  It was in our faces as we watched my float.  It was pushing my heavy float into the weed bed.  The first time it did that I set the hook into the weeds.  Better to do that then miss a fish.  I reeled in my ultralight rod's line and chucked it out into the lake.  The weeds pretended to be a fish again and I gently pulled the minnow over the weeds when the float went down more slowly.  I set the hook and brought in Ebony's first crappie.

She sniffed it's tail and it flapped her nose with it. Undaunted she sniffed a bit more while I fussed with the camera before releasing this nice, healthy crappie back to the lake.

It seemed I spent more time with line management today then fishing or catching for that matter.  I did manage to land two more including a nice 12" crappie measured on one of my Plano boxes.

I was thankful to catch these pretty crappies today but eventually I had to pack up and get away from the wind.  A man and a dog can only stare into the wind for so long before one of them wants to leave.  To my surprise today it was me.  I figured Ebony would get fidgety after a while but she didn't.  She's sweet companion to go wet a line with; she enjoys a good walk, likes to lay in the grass and sniff around, and doesn't mind waiting for me to catch crappies.

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and enjoys what for many is a long weekend.  Get out there and go fishing if you can.  The weather is forecast to be cold and clear and the wind should become a breeze tomorrow.  I've got minnows left but the cold weather lets them stay vital for much longer than the summer months.  Hopefully I'll get out again this weekend to a pond that has them and catch the fish I am thankful for on Thanksgiving; the wily crappie.