Heated PoP-Tart Bass

Soooo It was over 100 degrees today and I told myself,  "self stay inside no need to fish it is too freaking hot." Well I am not going to listen to that jerk! What does he know anyway.
There was an hour left of light and the wind was dying, I started to think about the chug bug bite That Ted Yates had the other night and I really wanted a top water fish. Drenched with sweat and bug spray I made my first cast with the smaller Chug Bug in tiger pattern and the water explodes! I was startled and made the most common mistake of all, I set the hook before I felt the fish. I composed myself slowed down the retrieve a bit and BAM my first fish. This would be the first of ten landed fish and several blasts that missed the bait this evening. These bass shot up like pop tarts on this heated evening attacking the "pop" of the chug bug BAM POW ZOOM CRASH SPLASH, they were inhaling the bait. On my tenth fish tragedy struck as you can see in the video below. I tried the full size bug and had several fish swipe but had none on. My fun was over for the evening. It was actually welcome since I was dying of thirst and my shirt was dripping wet with sweat. Please take precautions during extreme heat. But if you brave the evening as the sun sets you may get some heated pop tart bass of your own.

Quick Trip June 28, 2012

DuPage Angler Member Woz, (which if you ever meet him ask about the time I found a tick and he was wearing a cast) had talked me into trying some new area around Warrenville on the DuPage River. I had about 2 hours before dark, I left the house quickly armed with crawlers and some spring grubs.

I walked about a half mile of my first spot and scored 3 smallies and missed just as many. I also caught on small large mouth and a few nice gills all on crawlers. This area looked great but I just scratched the surface. Wading was tough because although the ground looked like solid rock however, it was very soft letting my shoes sink during much of my walking my calves are sore this morning.

I got back in the car and drove past a section I use to past on my way home every night. I swore I would try it. I only had about 20 minutes left so I walked quickly along the shore because putting the wader back on would take to much time. It was a long stretch of 2 ft water and flat in this low water. I fanned casted the grub and cover as much as I could before my light was gone. I scored another 3 fish again losing 3. There was a ton of water I missed. So I will be headed back there soon.

Finding Smallmouth Drifting the Creek with Live Bait

Darkstar and I headed out early to a creek to try some new water a friend gave me a tip on where may be good. However, This spot only had one large muddy hole and what would normally be good water to fish was shut down due to very low water. The only way sometimes to find a new spot sometimes is to get in there and check it out. This time it did not pan out. The previous week it had taken us 6 spots on the Kish to find fishable and producing water. So unwilling to lose more time on this day we went to a stretch I know very well and had a blast drifting live bait for smallmouth.


Low water is great for drifting, fish stack up in holes and the current slowed makes for perfect drifts and we had no issues with current drag on our lines it took just an occasional line flip to keep our presentations at natural speeds. For anglers looking for more fish and newbies needing some success the science of drifting is the ticket.


Sometimes I will drift down stream a whole stretch of river than use a search bait like a Mepps spinner, or Producto spring grubs to scan areas and pick fish we missed on the fast trip back up river to my car.

his Trip’s Gear:
St. Croix Triumph Spinning Rod 6’6 ML fast action

http://www.fishusa.com/St-Croix-Triumph-Spinning-Rods_p.html?source=googleps

Berkley XLVS6-15 Trilene XL Fishing Line 330Yd Clear 6lb

Shimano Symetre 1000 fishing reel
http://www.basspro.com/Shimano-Symetre-Front-Drag-Spinning-Reels/product/102360/134387

Terminal Tackle:

Raven steelhead floats – SM and SS with Raven Silicone Float Cap Tubing

http://www.fishusa.com/Raven-Premium-Balsa-Floats-Slow-and-Shallow_p.html?source=googleps

http://www.fishusa.com/Raven-Silicone-Float-Cap-Tubing_p.html

Raven Specialist Hooks sizes 4 and 6
http://www.fishusa.com/Raven-Specialist-Hooks_p.html

Split shot in a shirt button shot pattern 4-5 until float is balanced
Water Gremlin makes the finest removable split shot sizes B & BB
http://www.fishusa.com/Water-Gremlin-Removable-Split-Shot-Packs_p.html?source=googleps

Bait:
Canadian Night Crawlers
Leeches
Large Fathead Minnows

Weather:
Sunny Temperature 90 degrees

Water:
Semi to clear – 2ft – to 5ft

Target Areas:
Running water with holes ranging from 2 to 5 feet with adjacent wood and rock

Darkstar72's Fishing Blog: Father's Day Wadeapalooza! DS and I had a great day!

Darkstar72's Fishing Blog: Father's Day Wadeapalooza!: My friend and fishing buddy Dan (who is also known as Pondboy) and I got together and planned a day of wading and exploring the Kiswaukee Ri...

Bassin' with Pondboy and Darkstar by Ted Yates (SoonerBass)

This was a post written by Sooner Bass fellow Dupage Angler Member: Met up with pondboy and darkstar last night to try fishing a pond that darkstar had learned about from Wacky. Darkstar had posted some nice fish he and his friend had caught there the week before so I was excited to try it. We began fishing the windy side of the pond first and I was able to pick up a couple decent 2-3lbers. First fish of the night was caught on a watermelon seed/chartreuse tail fluke: Unfortunately it was too windy to fish this fluke effectively as I had it rigged basically weightless so I switched to a rapala glidin' rap and picked up another nice one:

 We moved over to the calmer side of the pond and it was pretty slow for a while but PB figured out that small Crabby Bass Lures Helgies were the ticket to get the bass to bite: After seeing PB catch several bass on the helgie he was kind enough to help me get rigged up with the setup he was using and I was able to get my first Crabby Bass Lures bass!

 I won't rehash the setup and method for fishing this rig as PB already did a nice blog post a couple weeks ago on how he fishes this bait. In case you missed it: http://pondboyfishing.blogspot.com/2012/06/crabby-bass-helgie-shows-promise.html As the sun began to set I switched over to a small Storm Chug Bug and caught several more fish. Unfortunately what likely would of been the big bass of the night came unhooked. Most of the fish we caught were right off the weedline close to shore. We had to call it quits a little early before it got too dark to see where we were walking as I am still moving at the pace of an octogenarian with a healing sprained ankle and Darkstar was doing his best Corey Hart impression on this night. One word of caution when fishing any area with high weeds and brush this time of year, watch out for ticks! Pondboy found three on his person and I found one after we were done. Big thanks to Dark* and Wacky for sharing this spot with PB and I! Had a great time guys.

Wacky Your Swimbait????

Marty Rogers Co-Founder has found a new use for the Big Hammer Swim Bait at first I thought he was wacky as his nick name (wacky bass) but after watching him land quite a few bass this way I decided to listen.

Stiff Wind Spinner-Bait Bass

Tonight I had about an hour and a half to hit the water. It was hot here today around 90 but there has been a very stiff wind all day responsible for down power lines. There was going to be no finesse or feel fishing in this and it was getting dark. I chose a spinner-bait because its heavy and when a fish is on its on. You can heave it again the wind and still place your cast were intended. I use a 5'5 med light pistol handled rod for my spinner-baits. This rod loads fast and since I fish many ponds, with just a flick of the wrist I can put the bait next to rocks and under trees also getting long casts in tight spaces. I landed 8 bass two very nice fish in a short time. I chose my favorite Colorado blade short arm bait. This bait I use in muddy water and after rains. Today this wind was stirring things up and I needed that extra vibration and thumping only this blade delivers.

Presentation: On the wind blow shores I slow rolled the bait. That is to say I reeled t just enough to get the blade turning and that worked great. However on the non wind blown banks I had to pick up the speed even burn it just under the surface to get a strike because the water clarity was much better in these areas. Some fish hit before I could get off a couple cranks! So next time the wind blowing on a hot day, grab a spinner-bait and thump that blade for a few bass.

Darkstar72's Fishing Blog: Fishing with an Audience

Darkstar72's Fishing Blog: Fishing with an Audience: I met Pondboy in downtown Naperville.  I'm getting my ultralight out of my hatchback when my phone rings. Hey, I'm here and I'm already up...

Small Creek Smallies

Small Creek Cats

So I meet up with Brad Wilkens co-owner of Crabby Bass Lures bright an early and we decide to wade a small creek that runs into the major river were we live. When I go wading my main target is smallies, but since I drift live bait landing multiple species happens and is welcome. Besides the smallies which I will show in another post we got into a catfish fish bite. This trip was planned last minute and we only had crawlers, but if I had my way I would also have leeches and minnows. All three will catch cats and you will be surprised how many will crush a minnow. All the catfish we caught were in deeper pools near rock ,wood, and current. After drifting shallow for the smallies we would adjust our presentation deeper and deeper until we hit the cats. We also caught a mess of suckers which were a great fill in fish and pretty fun to catch as well. It was a great time.  I want to thank Brad for going. Brad is also a member of DupageAngler.com and this is yet another example of how anglers meet on our site and become fishin partners!

Illinois Wisconsin Fishing: Father & Son Outings

Illinois Wisconsin Fishing: Father & Son Outings:   As far back as I can remember, my greatest memories are spending time fishing with my Dad. Ever since I was 6 I believe, I have been fishi...

Gander Mountain hit and a miss

 About a year ago my wonderful wife bought me a GSX Titanium Spinning Reel, GSXTI-40 from gander mountain it was a beautiful reel I bought to go with my triumph small mouth rod. Problem is the reel is terrible as beautiful as it is. Line leaves the spool terribly, line twist is the worst of any reel I have owned, and the bail separated and broke in the middle of a wade!!! This was a huge 80.00  miss for Gander Mountain. I was steamed and brought it back today worried that I would be given a hard time. with it being a year old and no longer having my receipt. However The fishing Guy John at the store on Randall Road was awesome. He made me feel at easy and was eager to set things straight. I told him I should have not cheated on shimano and he said well lets get you one! It only cost me 10 dollars to upgrade to a  Shimano Symetre 1000 which he pointed out was on sale. I already own two of these reels both ten years old and both work great today. This was a huge hit thanks John you deserve a raise!

Crabby Bass Helgie Shows Promise

CSimon of Crabby Bass Lures called me to let me know they were developing a small helgie. He asked if I would mind field testing the new lure. I took it to a pressured lake that I fish often. I fish case helgies, crabby bass wacky worms and four inch power worms all the same way with small raven specialist hooks(octopus hooks) sizes four and in this case size 6, along with one small shot size B about 18 inches above the hook. For the helgies it is just a simple drop and slow lift repeated until the lure is back to shore. The bait itself is only about 2 inches long and very light which gives it a nice slow fall with this presentation. There is not much action in the bait itself. It like a tiny french frie or do nothing worm. The shape of the bait, size, and slow fall was all the crabby helgie needed! I caught about 10 bass and missed 4 or so. Since this bait is so small it comes with small bass, which I have no problem catching. I also landed two decent bass and lost one big boy. Much like road runners its small size does not keep larger fish from hitting it. Many ice fisherman can account for tiny ice jigs landing huge fish. I had a blast and missed a trip to gander mountain because I stayed out to long fishing Crabby Bass Lures.

DuPage River Hippy Smallmouth Stay off the Grass

I went for a short wade last night about two and a half hours. Right off the bat I scored a nice smallie drift fishing live bait by a bridge. I wanted to throw some artificial baits, so I waded up river to a deeper hole. I ran into a problem almost immediately. The underwater grass and other assorted vegetation was everywhere. I could not even throw a bait and keep it up over it without getting some sort of salad on my presentation due to all the chunks that were floating down. I started back to the bridge and switched back to my drifting rig. I noticed that rig stays suspended over the grass and I could cast is in-between the floating garbage and let it drift along with the school of salad. I also noticed that next to rock walls, trees, deep pools, and especially under the bridge the vegetation was not as bad due to the fact that these areas do not get the same amount of sun light to boost the weed growth. If the river was not low fishing would also have been a bit easier.(more water between the surface and the grass covered bottom. I managed to catch 6 bronze bullets and lost two smallies before the sun was set. So If you want to catch more smallies in low water grassy conditions Stay Off The Lawn!

Since I wrote this I had a discussion with a DA member called Sooner Bass, He stated that a buzz but or fluke may have worked well. I believe he is correct especially the buzz bait. It would ride the surface and you can steer it in-between the floating land mines. I just was not armed with either bait on this outing.

The Grub Exchange

I have been throwing grubs a lot lately especially the pruducto grub which I found out rocks on the ponds by my house and not just at the rivers for smallies. The largemouth and crappies small and large like them as well. I cannot throw the same thing though to many outings in a row, i get bored. so Tonight I grabbed a mix bag of grubs. I took mini mites, crappie spiders(well that is what we called them, they are twister tails with a rubber skirt at the head), producto, and a cheap road runner knock off. The mini mites, and spiders came up empty. I caught a couple right away on the producto and also got a hit on this cheap road runner wanna be. I looked at the cheap tail on the runner and thought that if it just had better action. So I took a producto spring grub and bit the top off. I replaced the cheap plastic tail and was off to the races. Almost all my fish came on my new combo. However NEVER buy a jig that is not a real road runner because the blades don't spin as they should. Lesson learned. I caught about ten fish many small but a blast on my ultra light. I also lost a few. So when your small plastics are not working as they should think out of the box and visit the grub exchange.

May odds and ends

Fix Catfish Dip Worms for Stink Bait in minutes!