Late Fall Live Bait Walleyes

 Every year in the Midwest there is this awkward time between open water and ice. Many anglers put the rods away and park on the couch.

Fish can be caught during this time, especially walleyes. Around the dams of the Fox River each fall are walleyes. The best approach is having an industrial pair of neoprene and getting out there with them. If  the conditions are right they can also be caught from shore.

We started fishing in the dark to make sure we had the top shore spots. I would have preferred to wade however it is time to retire my old Hodgemens. This pair is more Shoe Goo then neoprene at this point and it is always a gamble if they are going to leak each time out.

Since it was in the teens when we arrived a layered dress approach was needed. I had 3 bottom layers four top layers, two pairs of gloves, hand warmers, and of course a Beard Head.

We used our live bait drift rigs. These rigs consist of a Raven float, Raven shot or similar, Raven specialist hooks.(octopus hooks size four or six) The rod I used was a Bass Pro Shop 8.5ft Float and Fly rod paired with a Shimano Reel. For more details on this rig  click here.

HeadHead

We managed to catch about 15 fish between us. That sure beat sitting on the couch. The walleyes were small but we had continuous action for a couple hours. When you find yourself stuck in angler’s purgatory grab your longest spinning rod some quality floats and some live bait and get yourself some late fall live bait walleyes.

Missed some of my videos?

Frozen Kayak Fishing

November Yakin'

Pivothead SMART

IONLURES introduces new C3 Balsa Premium Crank bait

IONLURES Formerly know as Zen introduces new C3 Balsa Premium Crank bait

Both DupageAngler.com and Pondboy’s Angling Adventures have been blessed with a new sponsor. I have had the pleasure of being able to throw one of these beautiful C3 Balsa baits.

I went out and it was a brisk 39 degrees and the wind was chucking at 25. Although I had a new bait to throw, I was not expecting much. I figured the bass would be in their sweats and on the couch with no intention of paying my offerings any attention.

Riprap and Crank baits have a love hate relationship. Bass love the cranks and cranks hate the riprap. Many a crank bait has sacrificed itself at the alter of the riprap when a good bite is on.

The first of what would be five bass came one after the other. They were all dinkers but in 39 degrees and with the wind I was stoked. I had only been out for an hour when tragedy struck! The rocks had a death grip on my new crank bait!!!!! Who has not gone through this? I snapped, yanked, and pulled for about ten minutes, then SNAP!! The lure was 8 feet away from shore and if it had been warmer I would have gone after it. My heart is broken.

My heart is broken for a few reasons. Let us just start at the overall quality. Some baits as soon as they sit in your hand you can just tell it is awesome and solid. The paint job was flawless and the eyes one on each side are built to last. One of the best things is the way the rings and lip are built, you will not have to fine-tune this bait. The one I had was the lime in a shad pattern. It dives from 3-5 feet and weighs 3/8 oz. The nice sharp quality hooks did their job as well. These baits you can easily  see that they are hand built with some sophisticated tech.

I am looking forward to the future of IONLURES and what they are going to keep bringing to the table with these high end stealth balsa wood baits.

Fall Des Plaines River Pike

After reading DuPageAngler.com member Sooner’s BLOG on Kayak Pike Fishing, Jcrappies, Darkstar and myself could not take it any longer and decided to take the hour drive in the dark to the Wheeling area to fish for northern pike.

There are not many pike in the Naperville area so this is not a species I get to fish often. When I was younger I used to go to Canada once a year so at least I knew how to fish them. We put in at sunrise and it was 37 degrees. I had to sport a Beard Head to keep warm for the first couple hours until the sun was up.

Right off the bat Darkstar has what looked to me a nice pike swipe and miss at his Danny Spinner with a yellow blade. I threw spinners baits, the standard mepps, spoons, swim baits and some cranks without any luck. Since is has been cold and this was our first time I was praying that one of us would score.

I put on a Danny Spinner with a bronze blade praying for just one hit. We came up to a four foot deep wooded bank I made a cast parallel to the bank. I start telling DS that this stretch looks pretty good and as soon as I finished my sentence I get slammed!!! Most of the pike I have seen have been smaller so I was not expecting much. Then it realized it was hooked and I see this huge head come up shaking like mad! Whoa….. A few moments later I had her tired thank god JC had a boga grip. The pike was beautiful and measured at 31 inches. A great pike anywhere. It was awesome

That would be my only fish. Jc had to leave and just as he was paddling away DS caught a nice hammer handle on his Danny Spinner! Unfortunately that was it for the day. We fished hard but God only gave me that one hit I was praying for.

We will definitely be back in the spring when conditions are better and things are a little warmer.