Kayak Cats

Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

The saying goes "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Perhaps my most rewarding guide experience come when I teach somehow to just fish. This feeling of pure awesomeness is double when it is passed on to a child.

Many of my clients come to me and say "my kid wants to fish." These fisherman are either brand new themselves or just have never gone.

There is two ways these trips work either both the parent and child go on the adventure or just the parent comes and they "Teach a man to fish."

Tom called me and wanted to be able to take his kids out an teach them himself. So he and I when float fishing for bass and bluegills. OK ok I will be honest my plan was crappie but they where not in on my glorious plans.

We used basic tackle and started from the beginning, how to hold the reel and how to cast. Then we talked about the different life baits; what they are used for and how they should be presented. We then moved onto floats and their differences and uses. After that it was shotting and hooks. What size how deep etc.

We went to a pond in my old neighborhood where i grew up. We set our rods up and learned quickly the crappie where either not around or were just negative. The little yellow spotted traitors!!

Soon enough floats started disappearing and the bass and gills came in a hurry. We caught fish on worms, minnows, and waxies. The gills were just beautiful. They were big, fat, and pretty. 

There was a 3 foot spot next to some weeds where Tom must have caught 15 gills. It was like the fish version of a clown car. We even caught the same fish twice!

We traded stories and got to know one another. It was a really fun morning. When our time was up we took a pic, traded info, and said farewell.

A few weeks letter I received a very cool thank you email. Tom said how much fun he had and that he took his son to a local park and they both caught some bass and blue gills. He also attached some pics. I have to tell you that just makes me feel awesome. To see knowledge of something you are passionate about shared like that is the absolute best!

If you are looking for a new local adventure or you children are asking to go fishing please give me a call we will have a blast!!

Post Rain Chum Keeps Big Carp Around with Some Great Results

It seems as if winter just has not wanted to leave the party and he has been finally cut off and a friend has driven him home to sleep it off. It has been a long spring, still in the forties first week of May. We got some decent rain steady of a couple of days and went to check the local pond’s pipes for fish. 

After a rain water coming in and out of pipes brings manna from heaven to different species of fish. This includes bass, crappie, bluegills, and carp.  After a hard fast rain some carp are programmed to check the pipes for food, so much so that they can visibly be seen. This was not the cases this time. There is a large grate that brings water from one lake to the other. I wondered if even I could not see carp, was there still a small few that swam in the area anyway checking for rain candy. I decided to chum with boilies and cans of corn on my way to and from work.

I am a busy dad like many with a job kids and responsibilities and during the week days getting out is tricky. My awesome wife let me get each day for a hour to two hours a session.  Over about 5 sessions I was only skunked twice and one of those days I had one on and lost it.

I discovered that the chum kept these fish in the area a few days longer then if no chum were present. They were not stacked in the area, but there was always some there. Most sessions I got 1-3 fish! 

Most small lakes and ponds in the Chicago suburbs have carp and they are hardly fished. Most of these carp just don’t get European BIG. A ten pound fish is very respectable for a common carp. Many of these ponds also have grass carp stocked to control weed growth. They are usually low in number and extremely hard to catch.

The awesome part about this chum-post rain carparama was I never caught on fish under 20 inches long. The longest common carp being 31x20! It was a great feeling to catch these on my own boilies. I tried lots of flavors like strawberry, blueberry, grape, spicy orange, corn, and pineapple.

Corn, Pineapple,  and bread balls received the lion’s share of hits. I was caught by surprise and hooked a 41 inch 30 pound grass carp!! (footage below) in these short sessions I ended up with 11 fish totally with misses or loses of at least another 5. Grass carp and I have a little history. Last year I landed one and a second swam right through my old net. If you watch the second video you can see the next chapter in this story.

I plan to try to repeat this post rain pipe chumming for carp on other lakes after our set of good storms!

PART 1

PART 2

March Ice fishing for Panfish

Jason and I arrived at a private lake in the darkness just before dawn.

Jason’s ION electric auger was the perfect choice for a lake surrounded by house at 5:30 am. We drilled in 5ft, 6ft, and 8. we expected the fish in the 8 foot hole the only one on the lake. But the fish were in 6 around the outside of the hole.

DupageAngler.com member Dark Star (Jason) caught a gill in the 6ft, so we set up shop.

The fish came in waves and we caught fish at a steady pace. The day started at 3 degrees and ended in 20. Fishing was nice and comfortable once the sun came out.

We caught the trifecta of this lake, Bluegills all big as or hand, crappie all 10 inches or better and a couple bass! Changing presentations was the key for me. Fish were caught on Swedish Pimples, Slender Spoons, jigs of all sorts, Little Atom Plastics, Aurora Lure Maggies, wax worms and spikes.

It was a great day until a nice but concerned homeowner came out to check our permission. We talked everything was fine and discussed fishing for a while. Another homeowner thought we were out there arguing and called the cops. Thank god we were talking to the family I know when two cops showed up thinking were fighting with an home owner were trespassing!! Then we talked fishing with them as the admired Jason’s equipment

All in all it was a great especially after some great fishing and meeting the local law enforcement!

Shur-Set and Crabby Bass slam early summer bass

My blog has a new sponsor Shur-Set Tackle! They make a wide variety of superior tackle for the discriminating angler. Jigs, Swim-jigs, Blade Baits, Weights, Stand-up and Football jigs to name a few.

Chunsum and I went out for the very first time with their Biscuit Jig in 1/8oz. We started with a Producto worm and scored 4 fish immediately. We were stunned at how sharp these hooks are. I set on one fish and the hook went through its hard tongue like a hot knife through butter. I set the jig on another and it actually went through the bass’s gill plate.

We switched to Crabby Bass plastics and caught several more fish on their Zipper, Craken, and Jerk baits. The Shur-Set Biscuit jig really had these baits standing straight up. The Biscuit and Craken was my favorite as the jig allows the many arms on this creature bait to flair out perfectly.

This was a first and fantastic showing from Shur-Set. I am expecting great things in the future!

Master Angler Award and Certificate for Region One Hybrid Striped Bass 2012

I sure some of you remember when I posted about my crazy hybrid striper catch and I wrote how excited I was that my fish qualified for the master angler award program, which earned me a letter and patch, and was on the In-Fisherman website.Today I found out that my fish won the entire region for that species!!! I received a certificate and a pin!

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!

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.

Four Friends and a New Frozen Lake

What a strange winter this has been! The Temperature will be in the 20s, no 40s, um no 30s! With the up and down temps, the avid ice angler in the Midwest has had to keep his eyes and ears open for safe ice. Last week we were placing our bets on DuPageAngler.com on whether we would even be able to get on the ice for the weekend.

This trip would include DuPage Angler Members Dark Star(Jason), JcCrappie(Chunsum), Brim Reaper(Bob), and myself. The four of us traded phone calls and made plans to try a new location. Usually I stay on small lakes and ponds where I know I will find fish and numbers in short order however with the weather, only bigger bodies of water had safe ice. Area ponds and small lakes had 3 inches or less. We decide to try Loon Lake at Silver Springs State Park. DS told me that this lake was suppose to have yellow bass which immediately had me day dreaming of the yellow bass bonanza that use to be the norm up at the chain before the great die off.

We arrived at 8 and were lucky enough that two guys were already on the ice. This saved us from having to find a safe place to get on. We just had to follow their line of holes back to the shore. We had to climb down a short embankment which for us is a major pain in the rear do to the plethora of crap we bring, but since we had four guys we just made a make shift assembly line down to the lake.

Everywhere we drilled, the ice was a very safe 5 inches. Now in my head I know that its safe, but this lake was cracking and popping like a gigantic bowl of rice crispies! I mean it was loud and nonstop. I have never heard a lake groaning and complaining so much. This made me on edge especially as a couple freight train cracks shot right between our legs.

We started drilling shallow and kept moving deeper never going too far without drilling another hole to make sure the ice was still safe. We had four augers to start. But this little auger snapped its blade, and this little auger died, and this little auger popped a screw. Yeesh!

When we hit 17 foot of water we marked something interesting. DarkStar dropped his camera and we found an old picnic table down there covered in algae like an old ship wreck. Problem was no fish were on it. Since at this point we had drilled half the lake never finding any concentration of fish we just set up camp and hoped for scaly visitors.

After a while I thought I heard JCCrappie say that he saw a fish under the ice. Not long after that Brim says “Hey I see fish swimming 3 feet down!” I thought to myself what are these guys smoking? It is 17 feet here! Why in the world would there be…… “Jesus there is one!” I said. I cranked my line up as fast I could to get back to the surface. My jig hit three feet and instantly zizzzzzzz went my drag the fish slammed it!!! It was a beautiful trout! I heard there might be some there left from the fall stocking but to be honest I did not think we would get any. This was my first Inland Trout through the ice! I was stoked!!

Right after that I rigged a minnow and float rod three feet down and the guys in the other shelter did similar set-ups. About 20 minutes later my minnow does the nervous something huge is going to eat me dance. Then in an instant it’s gone! I was lucky enough to score a second trout. Yes!! Soooooo cool!!! I let them go hoping someone else might catch them once more.

The bite was really tough but the guys managed to score a handful of gills and JCCrappie did catch a yellow bass!! (Jerk so jealous)

Although the bite was slow I had so much fun. Being able to add a new species to my ice angling adventures was pretty sweet. Loon Lake offers a variety of species including crappie, perch, and cats as well. Even though we did not slam them I will return to this lake next winter just for the variety and the chance to catch several kinds of fish in a single outing. Silver Springs was a nice place for four friends and a new frozen lake.

Birthday Ice Fishing 2013

Birthday Ice Fishing 2013

Every year there are two days that I can count on fishing for sure; father’s day and my Birthday. For my birthday I always take a day off. This year thanks to the great friends I have found at DuPage Angler.com I had partners in crime take off the day as well. Jason (aka Darkstar) and Ted Yates (soonerbass) both agreed they would join me along with my brother-in-law Al.

Well the winter weather again this year has been a disappointment to say the least. Warm weather and unsafe conditions have taken their toll on the ice angling community. I set my alarm and I was quickly off to sleep anxious to start fishing in the morning. This morning mind you, I have planned for weeks and talked my buddies into as well. At 3:30am I wake up to pouring rain!! YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME! I pick up my sell and let the guys know that it’s off, we are done, and we are sleeping in.

I could not sleep, so I look outside and no rain. Well I figure I should go see the damage on to the ice at my local pond. To my surprise the pond is not totally destroyed and safe. The shore was wet but that’s it!! So I quickly make some calls and both Sooner and DS are back in.

Our first two ponds are a disappointment. The first we could not find fish, the second thin ice, but the third was the gold! Ds made it to the ice first and crossed the thinner shore ice that was covered with 4 inches of water and started making Swiss cheese of the lake with his ION auger. I go to pull my shelter on to the ice and got a shock! I was walking backward and did not notice this hole in the ice!! Maybe a beaver hole I am not sure but in a city second my left leg is completely submerged and my ass is on the ice!! HOLY COLD ICEMAN!! Thinking on my feet, well once I got to my feet I hid in my minivan and put on the extra pair of snow pants I brought. Then yelled “which of you is wearing more than one pair of socks?” Thanks Ted for the donation to the pondboy fell on his ass foundation.

We decided to fish the suspended fish we found in 6.5 foot of water. The crappie bite was great thanks to Little Atom Wedgees and Nuggies. The plastics out fished any other presentation. In fact I did not even open my spikes and waxies! It was a blast everyone was catching fish. The bluegills were not as easy to get on the line but we managed to trick some of them as well. Both the full size Nuggies and the micro Nuggies worked. I really love the red and orange colors.

After fishing a while the guys went and got pizza for my birthday!! What an awesome meal on the water! Thanks guys.

Well when the guys brought the food on the ice they discovered the shore ice was getting worse and worse due to the climbing temps and the sun now beaming down on the lake. We had to either cut our day short or risk not getting back to shore.

We very carefully got ourselves and our truck load of equipment off the dying ice and called it a day. Although it was not the all day fishing marathon I had planned we managed to find some ice and some fish. I had a great time with friends as well. Not a bad birthday angling adventure.

LITTLE ATOM LURES