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!

Local pond update 4-19-09

I haven't been out on the water as much as I'd like to be (are we ever??). but I have hit a few of the local ponds recently and have a few observations.

The weather continues to delay springtime conditions to our local, northern Illinois waters. Last week we had a string of beautiful 70 degree + days, but just as quickly, the rainy 50's are back. Nighttime lows have been really low. We need an above temp day with some warm rain to jump start the fishing here. The areas the fish ought to be - inflowing streams, shallow mud bottomed flats - have been hit or miss. Some days you get a few, othertimes - nothing. Yesterday I was out for an hour and got 4 small (12-13") largemouth and 2 nice crappies. No 'gills. The day before, I was at a favorite local pond where the largemouth stack up along the rocks in the spring. NOTHING! Not a hit. And this pond is loaded with bass to 4-1/2 pounds.

One thing I keep meaning to do, and keep forgetting, is to take along a thermometer and record water temps in my diary. I've been keeping a fishing diary of one form or another since 1984. Originally, when I was initially just fun fishing the Susquehanna River in PA, and later doing some guiding there, I recorded the river levels in the area I was fishing. After a few years of recordings, I could better gauge my potential for success based on these levels, or change plans and fish different sections of river based on the levels. I always recorded water temps when fly fishing for trout, but have fallen out the habit recently. I believe, based on the temp of the fish I've been catching, that the water temps are just lagging behind this year, and the fishing along with it.

BUT - when it finally breaks loose, it ought to be "lights-out". And I plan to be there for it!

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!

Trip Planning

I LOVE to plan fishing trips!




I am going to Alabama with my son in a week to fish a day and a half for largemouth and brim. We'll be fishing on four different 40 -75 acre ponds on the property of a business associate. These ponds can be some of the best fishing in the world - I've had people there who just got back from El Salto, and said the fishing was better in Alabama! My personal best largemouth - a shade over 10 pounds - came from here as well as my best brim. Even when it's tough, it's better than anywhere else I've ever been.




So - the usual game plan is 10" Culprit worms, Culprit Stingers, Lucky Craft LVRs and Staysee's, and spinnerbaits. The LVRs will be good for Joey because he's still not great at hooksetting and a lot of fish hook themselves on these baits. Same with spinnerbaits. Some fish may be on beds, but most should be off and chasing shad. SO - I need to experiment with some new baits. On my experiment agenda are Strike King King Shad, Strike King Wake Shad, and Strike King Shadilicious swimbaits. Also, Yamamoto saltwater swimbaits.




I've re-spooled my reels for this trip (Daiwa Viento, Abu Revo) and Joey's (Stradics) and figured out which rods to take. The tough part is the spinning rods for Joey. The few that I have that are good for jigging / worming - a Kistler Helium and St. Croix Legend Tourn - are really too fast for him. So, I'm going with a Rapala Longcast MH - a really great spinning rod with a soft enough tip to throw smaller baits but enough butt strength that he used it for pike in Canada LY (btw - these rods have been discontinued by Rapala a few years ago. If you ever run across a Rapala Longcast spinnig rod on sale, I'd advise you to buy it . I have 3 and love them all, even compared to rods that cost 3x as much) - and a Shimano Teramar inshore SW rod. I'll take a St. Croix Legend Tourn Carolina Rig rod and a MH Kistler Helium LTX. Of course, I'm sending the rods and the box of tackle ahead, so I don't need to check anything on the flight next week. That way, the trip can't be ruined by lost luggage / tackle.




So - I get to spend the next week falling asleep every night dreaming about big LM busting that Wake Shad as I pull it through a stump flat, and envisioning the face of my son as he says "Dad, I think I'm stuck. No - it's swimming" Can't wait.




[Just how much do I love the planning aspect of trips? Today, On April 3, it's 120 days before Andy and I are back at Athabasca going for monster pike again. We've been counting it down since January]

Alabama largemouth

Alabama brim

Ahhh - Springtime

I love spring - every year is filled with dreams of new adventures, hopes of big fish, ...

The warm weather coaxes out the spring blooms. Choruses of spring peepers fill the air.

Doves dig through the snow to find some bird food in the wind driven snow???? Welcome to sprintime in northern Illinois. Photo taken Sunday morning 3/29.

March 28, 1979 - Three Mile Island

Today is the 30th anniversary of the TMI meltdown in Middletown PA. I grew up 25 miles from there in Lebanon, PA, so the potential meltdown had a lot more personal attachment to it than watching as an outside observer. We were being warned of the possibility of evacuation as the drama was unfolding.

But the thing I always remember about that day (and the significance to this blog) is that I was on Spring break from freshman year at college, and planned on going fishing that day. I had decided to go to Red Hill Dam on the Susquehanna River, one of my favorite early season spots to fish. Good for walleye and smallmouth in April, May. Anyway, something happened (I don' recall what) and derailed my plans for that day. Naturally, once everything started happening at TMI, everyone was glued to radios and TVs, and fishing was forgotten about.

Red Hill Dam is the small wing dam on the east side of Three Mile Island. It's literally a couple of hundred yards from the reactor.

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

Spring is almost here!

70 degrees two days ago, temps are now in the 50's on a daily basis. That can mean only one thing - Spring WILL actually make an appearance this year. I'm going to try tomorrow to get my first fish of the year at a local pond. That should also mean the end to the series of non-fish catching posts that comprise the Winter on the blog.

I wasn't sure I'd make it through this winter, but like a big batch of skunk cabbage, I feel like I'm rising through the muck, awakened by the optimism of yet another Spring.

Keep your eyes peeled for 2009's fishing adventures!

Wolfy

Traveling with your rods

This is actually a two part post, which I only realized when I sat down to type it. The original intent is to pass on a "Helpful Hint" about packing and sending rods in rod tubes. I'll get to that in a second. But I started thinking about something else, in the same travel vein.

When most of us begin fishing, we start with a 2-pc., relatively cheap rod. When we progress to a level where we can discern the difference between rods, we usually gravitate toward one-piece rods. If I have 50 spin and baitcast rods at home, 45 of them are 1 piece, and I don't think that ratio is uncommon. So - why don't we use 2 pc. (or multi-piece) rods? It used to be that the ferrule technology just wasn't up to speed, and the ferrule (connection point) was the weak point of the rod. If so, why are the most expensive fly rods in the world 3, 4, or 5 pieces? Fly fishermen - myself included - won't stand for rods that don't perform, especially at the price of a premium rod. So - why the reluctance from baitcasters and spin fishermen to use 2 or 3 piece rods? They ARE easier to transport.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that many fishermen buy a rod, put it in the rod locker of their boat, and don't have any other issues to deal with. If they go somewhere to fish, they take their boat. But what about the traveling fisherman - going to Canada on fly-in, Bahamas for bonefish, ... My thought is that they simply don't know that there are very good quality 3 piece rods on the market. They might not be easy to find, but they're out there. One company who makes terrific 3-pc rods (and I know from experience - I own 4 of them) is St. Croix. I've used their 3-pc rods for smallmouth, pike, bonefish, tarpon and had NO problems. The ferrules and rod flex not noticeable - unless someone told you, you would never know you were fishing a 3 pc rod. And - they are EASY to transport.

But back to my original thought - taking along 1 piece rods on a plane. There are a few pointers you should follow to reduce the possibility of the Airport Baggage Beasts ruining your trip. I use either a Plano 45102 or a Plano 6508 for my trips. The 45102 is 4-1/2" inside diameter and will hold up to 8 rods comfortably. the 6508 is 6-1/2" inside and will easily hold a dozen rods. It has wheels for ease of transport.

1) Put padding on the bottom of the tube, and some around the top of the rods. Split the rods in half, so the tips of half are paired with the butts of the other half.

2)Next I wrap the rod bundles with some clothing for the trip. Saves on room in the suitcase and protects the rods.

3) Have the tube extended 4"-6" longer that the bundle of rods. Have a dowel rod cut about 3" longer than the rod bundle, and put it in the tube with the rods. The worst thing that can happen to a tube is for the piece that secures the extension to fail, causing the tube to collapse and break all the rods. IF that happens, and you have the dowel inside, it won't allow the inner part of the tube to collapse and will save your rods.

4) Duct tape the collar noted in 3 above to further reduce this possibility (Part A in the photo)

5) After checking the tube at the airport, ask to secure the top after it is inspected, if they need to. I tape a half dozen long plastic security ties to the inside of my tubes. Take one of them out (or tell the TSA where you have them) and zip-tie it shut. (Area B below)

I travel with my rods extensively and have never (knock on wood) had a problem by doing this.

Hope this helps on your journeys!

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

Snow, Cold, nasty - YUK

I really like winter - I always have. We lived in Syracuse NY for 10 years before the 8 months of snow they get there annuallyfinally burned us out. But this winter seems like the worst ever. It's REALLY cold - we've seen -25 and a lot of sub-zero this winter. It never seems to get above freezing. And I just don't seem to be into ice fishing this year.

I think I'm getting old.

Anyway - only a little longer before the open water fishing starts. I can't wait!

Knives

I have always liked knives. Probably started as a Boy Scout, when you always had a knife in your pocket and always found something to carve or whittle. Like most of my other stuff, I have way more knives than I need, but, with SHOT Show coming up, I'll probably get a few more. I know a little bit about the knife construction but am by no means any form of an expert. It's sort of like art - if I like it, I like it. I might like the functionality, the weight, the blade structure, or just the way it looks. When I was going throught my knives recently, I took some pictures and thought I'd share them. Some have neat stories, some no story at all.

A Camillus Yellow Jacket

This classsic pocket knife is known as a muskrat skinning knife with its two long, thin blades. I always liked to use a long bladed knife when rabbit hunting as a youth, and this is my favorite. One of the few I own that are not some form of lock-backs. Sadly, Camillus Knife Co is no longer in business. When I lived in NY, I sometimes would fish in Ninemile Ck against their building for trout!

Beretta Airlight knives

When I repped Beretta in the early 90's I fell in love with these knives. The stteel is good, the knives are durable, and they are LIGHT. The 1/3 serrated knife shown at the bottom of the photo will do about anything you need a knife to do. At the time , Gary Fadden headed up their knife business at Beretta. Gary is now the President of Al Mar Knives, a maker of truly spectacular knives .

An Al Mar Hawk w/ Mother of Pearl handle

An Al Mar Sere folder

Gary's Al Mar knives are treasured by knife lovers around the world. They are terrific knives, no matter how much you know about knives, and you can't help but to appreciate their quality. Seeing Gary and the Al Mar booth at SHOT Show is an annual event for me.

A Sog Crosscut and a Leatherman Micra

Victorinox Money Clip

Leatherman showed the world the versatility of the mini-tool, and nearly everyone has some sort of these multi-function pieces today. Over the years I hacve found that the single most useful item on the pieces pictured above is the scissors. I find myself reaching for them more than I could ever imagine. If you don't own something with a scissors, you owe it to yourself to try one of these out.

In 1995 I was a guest on a trip to Norway with Rapala. We started the trip in Rovenimi, Finland at the famous Martiini Knife Co. (which is now owned by Rapala, but was owned by the Martiini family at the time) TRIVIA: What is the largest city in the world NORTH of the Arctic Circle? Rovanimi, Finland! The Martiini family were terrific hosts, and they gave us some very nice knives as mementos. We could also buy knives if we desired. The following are from that trip.

A pair of curly birch handled knives - one filet and one hunting - that go into one dual sided tooled sheath

A high carbon steel hunting knife. This is one of their earliest models. The carbon content in the steel makes it relatively easy to hone to a razor edge, but the knife dulls more quickly than harder steels.

This rosewood handled filet knife has a bronze salmon head on the end of the handle.

So - what do I normally carry in my pocket? An old, beat up Buck folder! Go figure.

got any knife likes or dislikes??

Wolfy