Double Dose of Podcasts!

www.DupageAngler.com has kicked up it's podcast production and options. The podcast are on a regulgar schedule now and the site has a new chat feature to chat in questions and comments during the live show. There is always the option to call in as well!!

LATEST TWO PODCASTS

LAST WEEK CLICK HERE.

THIS WEEK CLICK HERE

The Podcasts are also available on iTunes!

Two Days of Cold Search Crappies

Two Days of Cold Search Crappies

Chunsum Choi (JCcrappies From DupageAngler.com) and I met before sunrise. We were at the lake to begin prepping our kayaks for the cold water and hopefully some crappie.

I got the bright idea to ride my yak down the small embankment into the lake. I am not always the sharpest hook in the box. The kayak slid in, the nose dipped, and I started to roll. Thank God it was only two feet deep and I was able to stop with my arm. It is reasons like this I carry 3 pairs of gloves and a pile of hand-warmers.

The water was 36 degrees and the air temp was 32. A steady wind across the lake started to slowly freeze us to the bone. Four top layers, neoprene facemask and 3 warmers stuffed in my gloves and sleeves bought me some time. I turned Pandora radio on my phone to try to ignore the fact that I was freezing and the suspended fish swimming by at 4 feet were not biting anything.

Finally, as I lost feeling in my feet, my float slowly disappeared as I caught a beautiful 10-inch black crappie!! Unfortunately this would be the only one. I managed to scrape up one gill and lost one before the cold got to me and I called it a day.

The bright side was that this was the first time I used my Lowrance Elite 4X color fish locator! Let me tell you I was impressed. The resolution rocks! The setting selection is robust! I played with the fish id option and went through all of the settings again ignoring the fact that I was sitting in plastic in the middle of water with sticks and strings (this is how it feels yak fishing with no fish J) I was surprised to find an ice fishing flasher mode. Most locators keep this mode under pages or views. I know this because I went through every model at BPS looking for flasher modes. The flasher mode for the Lowrance is under sonar settings and it is really good. If I had known this, I might not of bought another company’s model for ice fishing! Live and learn.

The next morning I headed 40 minutes North to yak a private pond. You would not believe the difference in the ponds from the North of the county to the South. Every pond up North had ice! Bummer! I drove back home and tried one pond with Chunsum and we struck out. After warming up I went back out to a small pond and managed to catch 3 small crappies and missed a couple as well. I was just happy to catch something! Spring cannot get here soon enough…..

One Last Cast: LaSalle Opener - Hybrid Stripers My Friend Ted's new blog!!

One Last Cast: LaSalle Opener - Hybrid Stripers: I had some work I had saved out near Ottawa, IL for today with the plan to hit up LaSalle Lake on my way home.  March 15th is known by many ...

Darkstar72's Fishing Blog: The Actual Last Day of Ice Fishing 2013(His best blog to date!! Good reading)

Darkstar72's Fishing Blog: The Actual Last Day of Ice Fishing 2013: Last weekend I was sick.  I was recovering while Pondboy and other DuPage Anglers were fishing Harrier Lake in the DuPage County Forrest P...

THIS WEEK'S Podcast!!

THIS WEEK'S Podcast!!! Click HERE

AVAILABLE ON ITUNES

CLICK HERE

fish finder mayhem

This year I decide to purchase a new fish locator as my eagle, although in perfect working condition is 10 years old and i wanted to take advantage of the new tech out there.

DS went with me to bps. I was looking for a unit I could use with both my yak and for ice fishing. The bps staff recommend the Humminbird 546di and I was told the ice transducer sold separately for 95 buck would let me take advantage of the units ice fishing mode. 363.00 bucks later I was all set.

http://www.basspro.com/Humminbird-346ci-DI-Fishfinder/product/1210111650/

After I set the unit up I could not wait to use the new transducer. The funny thing was it would not constantly lock onto the bottom. The depth would change like a baby's diapers!!!! The wird part was it would work for different periods of time. Chunsum has the hummingbird 545di and the same transducer. He too was having issues however his would work longer then mine. Since it would work sometimes JCrappies and I both thought it must be the settings as there are a ton of options on this unit. After a half a dozen tries. I finally said uncle and called Humminbird. When I told them of my combo they quickly told me that no downward imaging (DI) unit works with the ice fishing transducer! The bps guys were mistaken.

BPS was not going let me take back the unit because too much time had past. But when the guy from electronics came it was the same guy that helped me. When i told him what Humminbird said he was stunned. None of the guys there knew this. He said this was their fault and let me return the merchandise.


So Now I purchased two units! A Garmin 300c that has a flasher mode for ice fishing and a Lowrance 4x elite for my kayak.

http://www.basspro.com/Garmin-echo-300C-DualBeam-Sonar-Fishfinder/product/10212501/

http://www.basspro.com/Lowrance-Elite4x-Color-Fishfinder/product/11090805011713/

The Right Way to End a Winter

One of our taglines for DuPageAngler.com is Be Part of Something Special. This is not just a tagline. The members have real interactions in real life. This weekend was one of those moments.

A fury of emails and calls bounced back and forth and before it was done, over 7 DA members converged on Lake Harrier for some late season ice fishing. There was a line of cars waiting for the ranger to open the gates. The cool part is that the whole line was made up of Dupage Anglers!!! RocknFish, JcCrappies, Brim, Sooner, Aczr711  JTC24 , dbenner, and JTC24's father.

Most of us headed to an area where James(JTC24) and Dylan(dbenner) had got some big walleyes. We all caught fish but the boys were on fire early, besides two huge eyes they rallied up a pile of crappies, bluegills, and perch. The others guys came back with a volley of walleyes, bass, and perch. Rocknfish and I started late out of the gate but we scored huge with a great gill spot and caught 35 between us in short order. 

Many of us myself included are quick to point out what our forest preserve districts do wrong. Harrier is a great example of something done right. First and foremost the lake is catch and release only for ALL species!!! This one rule has made it possible for any angler to have very good chance of catching something on a trip to this lake. The district takes the catch and release seriously. Every trip I have made here I have been checked for my license. This catch and release policy combined with a vigilance of protection from the district will give the county its first true gem. I have never enjoyed the forest preserves do to the lack of numbers, bucket heads, and law breaking. But harrier I will return to. This catch and release fishing could be the road to fantastic fishing for all in Illinois and other pressured areas around the country.

The variety of species found here made it possible for us to catch fish all over the lake. bass, gills, crappies, perch, catfish, and walleye were all caught on this day. Minnows, jigs, spikes, waxies, spoons, Little Atom micro plastics and tip-ups all tricked fish into battles under the ice.

Having a large group ice fishing is a blast. Lots of drilling and electronics everywhere is pretty cool. Everyone is talking and helping each other out. Some smack talk here and there, yahoos of success, and the occasional curse of a fish lost. DA members got to put faces with the guys they talk with online and make some real friends and fishing partners for the future. This was so much fun and the right way to end the winter.

Harrier Walleye from Daniel Byrne on Vimeo.