Cat on a Crank

Just a quickie post.  I stopped at a DuPage County Forest Preserve on my way to pick up kibble for my dogs.  I just took my casting rod, tied on a chartreuse square-bill crank bait, grabbed a pair of pliers, and walked to the water.  I was only going to throw the crank around for 20 minutes then go buy dog food.

I saw a decent bass jump so I cast to it.  Three winds, four, five...wobble, wobble, wobble-SPROING bends my rod.

I got 'em!!  I got the....it isn't fighting like a largemouth. 

What I got was my first cat on a crank!  It ate all of the front treble hook and really surprised me!

I'm glad I stopped by and threw that crank around.  Releasing the fish after pictures I drove to buy dog food and headed home happy I got to go fishing and even happier I caught.

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!

Pond Catfishing

I haven't written much here as my life hasn't been all about fishing this year.  To be fair this year has been really strange for fishing.  The weather stays too cold, gets too hot, it rains too much dropping the temperature of the ponds and lakes but raising the level and flow of the rivers and creeks.

I did build a spiral-wrapped casting rod to replace the one I broke lifting a 2.5# bass out of the water and into my boat.  I have the parts to build a Micro-Wave spinning rod to replace the rod that was pulled from the boat attached to what I can only assume was a sizable blue catfish.  

It was with Catfishing in mind that Pondboy called and I accepted.  I headed over to pick him up and drive to a small pond we had been wanting to catfish.

Here I will link to the article on www.dupageangler.com where Pondboy gets to tell the story of his Catch of the Day channel catfish.

LaSalle for Father's Day

Every Father's Day my friend Dan goes wading all day.  I joined him last year and blogged the trip.  

This year we've had too much rain for the rivers where wading is concerned so we came up with plan-b; take my jonboat to LaSalle Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area to fish for bigger blue catfish than we'd caught on our trip with several other DuPage Anglers a few weeks back. 

Please head on over to Pondboy's Angling Adventures to read all about how I spent father's day this year.

Fathers Day Catfish At Lasalle Lake

First Fox River Wade of 2013

I was still excited but very, very groggy.  Summer wading happens at dawn and dawn is happening earlier and earlier every day.  

I picked up Dan (Pondboy) and we hit a drive thru for breakfast and more important for me coffee!  
Down the road we found the Fox River and the next thing I knew I had my breathable chest waders on, and my drift rod set up with Raven equipment up and down the rod.  Raven high vis mono, Raven premium balsa float, silicone float tubing, micro-swivel, fluro leader, Raven split-shot, and all that terminated to a Raven specialist hook.

I nose-hooked a minnow, set my float and worked the waist deep water for any structure I might bump my bait into.  I was set up perfectly for what happened next.  My specialized float designed for fast deep current dipped below the surface and slid to the right. I pulled the line tight and the specialist hook attached itself to the top lip of this cute channel catfish.

I caught cute little cats smaller than this in this stretch of river last year.  If I were a betting man I'd wager this might be one of those cats after a year of filling his belly.  I can't wait until he gets to be as big as my largest caught on this stretch. 

Hardly any time passes before Dan's drift picks up a fish.  Another channel cat, this one was a nicer fish than mine and we both beat the skunk.

A problem we encountered directly related to the river depth.  I'm 6' 2" tall, Dan isn't.  There were some spots we'd have to back Dan out of in order to keep water from entering the top of his chest waders.  In another the flow was strong enough to cause him problems.  With one part concern for my friend and another part smart @$$ I walked parallel and upstream from Dan to give him some slack water to make crossing the center of the river channel easier.

Once on the other side we made our way down to a warm water discharge.  We can't wade this stretch of river without trying to catch something in the swirling flow.

Both of us score bronze!  Two nice looking 12" smallmouth bass.  The fun part about smallmouth this size is when you're used to catching largemouth a smallmouth this size feels like a much larger fish.

Eventually we make our way off the river.   Not many more bites led us to another problem; extra bait.  I've written abut what to do with leftover bait before.  Today was different.  Today we fished a little pond for bass.  We didn't catch any bass though.

We caught channel catfish.  Who knew there were beautiful, clean catfish in a little, odd-shaped pond. 

Dan's cat was the bigger of the two caught.  We didn't get rid of much bait but we did get to catch a few pond catfish before our time was done and we had to pack up and go.

I mentioned on the forums of DuPage Angler that I thought I would devote more time to purposely catfishing this year.  I guess today was as good a day as any to start catching Mr. Whiskers.  Today it was accidental.  Next I think I'll try catching catfish on purpose.  They tug well.

I was itching to go wading and I got to.  The river is still too crazy fast to want to step in for a walk but ponds help scratch the fishing itch.  I'm hopeful the rain will level off to a healthy amount for trees, ponds, and crops but at the same time allow the rivers to drop in height and flow.  I love wading rivers.  I got bit by that bug and it's just in me now.  I got my first wade in for 2013.  The first of many to come.

5/26/2013 USGS Fox River 11.68 ft 1580 cfs @ Montgomery Gauge

A crisp morning on the Fox

The last text I received from Dave Saturday night mentioned the fact the temperature would hit a low of 50 degrees overnight.  It still felt like 50 degrees at 6:00 AM when I pulled into Dave's driveway.

We loaded up the car and headed off to the Fox for some much needed walking in the water.  Our first steps were greeted by smallmouth bass jumping across the river from us. Busting the surface after bugs or minnows or whatever they were interested in.

Dave was drifting crawlers and I was minnow man today.  When a fish busted the surface near me by luck I shot a quick cast to the perfect spot.  My float went down, my hook sank home.  First fish on the board and a healthy 15 inches to boot.

Dave quickly picked up a few channel cats on his worms but didn't feel they were photo worthy so they were released without their photo op.

This 4-5 pounder got the full paparazzi treatment without the TMZ questions.

More cats and a 12" smallie were caught but it was chilly.  The air was still cold and the sunshine at that hour of the morning didn't warm us enough to make us want to stay in the water.

After dropping off Dave I still had over a dozen minnows and some worms left over.  What could I do to get rid of my extra live bait?

Off to the Naperville Riverwalk to fish the DuPage River West Branch.  I scored a few rock bass and this nice smallmouth bass in front of the small groups of people out walking the Riverwalk this crisp morning.

I changed spots and that was when I missed my white whale.  I drifted a minnow down at about a foot and a half when my float went down.  I waited and then pulled to set the circle hook.  It felt heavy, It looked big!  I saw the side of the fish as I pulled it from the weeds by my minnow. It opened it's mouth, let my minnow go, and rolled back under the grasses mid-river.

I threw almost every minnow and crawler I had at the area that fish was in.  That or another fish kept grabbing my minnow or the worm by the body and ripped it off the hook.  I did catch another good sized rock bass but the bait thief didn't stop.

Don't start calling me Ishmael or anything but I spent an hour casting at that one section of river trying to get my hook in that fish.  Color me obsessed; I can live with that.

A chill to the car window and a nip to the air on this early September morning.  Fish were caught and released while the stresses of the work week and a very well fed bait thief drift down the river.

9/9/2012 USGS Fox River 10.87 ft 269 cfs @ Montgomery Gauge

9/9/2012 USGS DuPage River West Branch 7.64 ft 76 cfs @ Warrenville Gauge

Dave's first wade

Dave got waders and as anyone who fishes and gets chest waders knows you start to get an itch to wade once you have them.  Today was the first day off we could get out on the Fox and wade.

The morning sun was lighting the morning sky as we stepped into the river.  I pointed out the need to shuffle-walk to Dave.  There are big rocks, bricks, cinder-blocks, and boulders of all sizes in the Fox river and shuffling is the best way to not trip right over something and fall in.

Dave also took to the river drift fishing rig setup well.  It always takes a few moments to mentally change gears and realize the best way to catch fish isn't always the frantic-lure-chucking method.  The drift method allows one to slow down and enjoy the surroundings as well as use real food to help attract and catch fish of all species.  If it swims and holds to bottom cover as expected it can be caught using this method.


After explaining how to read current and where are the better places to drift we both began working current seams and bridge pilings.


As luck and good fishing karma would have it Dave scores first with the first fish; a cute juvenile channel catfish.

The Fox has been "ON" for catfish based on my wading Sunday and again this Wednesday July 4, 2012.  The In-Fisherman has an article in a recent magazine where the writer states by observation he's found the best time for catching channel catfish is in whenever the Junebugs are active in your region.  That makes sense to me as I saw my first Junebug of the year this past Sunday.


My Junebug theory held true when I hooked into a good sized channel cat while drifting a worm.

Dave appeared to be off and fishing the wrong cover.  I figured I'd let him do that for a few minutes then point out where he'd have a better chance of catching fish.  I said I figured I would do it and not that I did because this happened:

I really wanted Dave to hook into a smallie as they are my favorite river pursuit however one can't argue with what turned out to be another 20 fish day.


I did catch a dink smallie but Dave was the Cat-Master of the day.  He also must be reading my blog or listening to my stories because before he removed the hook from the fish he'd be sure to give it a touch with his index finger; You touch it, you caught it.


I hooked another big cat, let it pull drag and tire out then brought it to me in the water, lifted the cat's head out by the Trilene XT 6# Mono and slid my hand under the fish's belly to be able to lift it up when...Snap....bloop....no more fish.  At least I touched it! ;-)

The above video shows Dave hooked into the final big cat for the day.  He handled it well and brought it in for the photo.

We worked some more river but only got bit by the cute little juvenile cats.  Catching is catching though so beating the skunk accomplished we waded to shore and left the river.  


We were sweaty, warm, a bit tired, and thoroughly exhilarated from Dave's first wade.

Later, after a nap I headed back to Dave's neighborhood for their annual Fourth of July festivities.

Dave's wife pulled me aside and let me know how much Dave had enjoyed being out, wading, and catching in the river. Dave pulled me aside and said the same thing.

I'm glad he enjoyed himself. I'm happy that I was able to get a friend involved in a way to fish that I enjoy. This was Dave's first wade but it won't be his last!

Wading Downtown Oswego on the Fox

Sunday I went wading with my friends Wilks19 and CSimon from DuPage Angler.  The excellent video below is the handiwork of CSimon.  His quick editing and uploading saved me a lot of work at the computer. ;-)

Since both guys have families our morning started early and ended before noon.  After we parted ways there was just enough time to for me drive to Portillo's in my waders, get a beef, eat it, and check the weather since the western sky was dark grey and getting darker.  


Sure enough the radar app on my EVO 4G showed a dark red line of storms.  What to do...well, I did what anyone that had been up since 3:30 AM would do; park in a spot, set my alarm on my phone, and take a nap.  I woke every hour to my alarm, then a check of the radar showed 30 minutes more would likely be enough to let the storm pass.  


Refreshed I made my way to the downtown area and a park on the river off Rt. 34.  I readied my gear and walked into the river.  


I made my way across the river by way of an island.  Once on the opposite shore I began drifting worms and minnows down along the rip-rap and concrete edge of the shoreline.  I caught my share of dink smallmouth bass then I saw a rock sticking up out of the water.  It wasn't very big but it looked perfect for cover for a fish or two.  I nose-hooked a fresh minnow, opened my bail, and dropped the float in line to go around the back side of the rock.  Reel back halfway and move my rod to the left and open my bail to let the minnow drift to the left...BAM!  17.25" of beautiful bronzeback ate my minnow and came to the surface for a picture with me.

Soon after releasing this lovely smallie I stopped catching smallmouth.  I started catching channel catfish.  In total I got 10 channel cats; estimated 3 at 5# and the last one at 7#.  Good fights and good cats all of them.  This last one pulled my drag for a few good minutes before I finally got her up for her closeup.

I waded out of the river and back to my car.  I was tired in a good way.  I knew I'd sleep well and deeply and have catfish in my drift fishing dreams.