Stellar 4th on The DuPage River

The sun was just coming out when I left for the DuPage. This was an unplanned trip so I did not have my drifting trio of crawlers, leeches, and minnows. I only had crawlers, I also grabbed some assorted helgies and some assorted crankbaits.

I started out drifting as I usually do, I cannot argue with the increased bite the technique promises. Right of the bat,1,2,3 fish and three species to boot. The bite continued and I went through my bait at a record pace, at my second spot I hooked into something heavy! The fish rolled and it was a huge smallie, the reason I have come to love the DuPage River. I was dressed to wet wade so I jumped in to land the beautiful fish. It taped out at exactly 18 inches!!! This was a DuPage trophy to be sure. By my third spot I was using the scraps of my bait as I hooked and lost 2 big fish I never saw. With the building heat I was happy to be wading knee high in my shorts. Out of bait, I stepped out got some water and tied on a search bait. As I walked to the fourth spot I could see smallies swimming around the flats in the clear water but they wanted no part of my search bait. These timid fish were asking for something subtle. I tried my ol’ go to bait at the duper which is a Case helgie with one small shot and an octopus hook. They looked but would not take. I then grabbed a Crabby Bass Helgie which is very small half the size of the case. Bam bam bam they came. Within an hour I doubled my days catch. Out of the 30 fish caught, 18 were smallmouth. I caught 7 species and even caught two crawdads. I ripped the pinchers off and fished with them hoping they would produce, especially since one of my smallies had one in its throat when I caught it. It didn’t work. I fished from 530 to 1030 until the heat was just to much. It was a stellar day on the DuPage River.