12/15/14 (My Birthday)
Time On Earth: 52 years, 2 hours, 45 minutes, and 23 seconds.
Stopped down at the Kish for about an hour before work.
Didn't catch crap, but it's not too often I get to get out on my birthday.
Of course it had to rain on me.
Air temp 47 degrees.
HEADER PIC

WELCOME
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Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
11/3
11/3/14
PRY12 Gage @ 5.76ft.
Broke Out the Spin Gear Again
Picture take on 10/21/14 |
Reached in the trunk of my car and pulled out my shining rod, so that's what I went with.
With the cooler overnight air and water temps, I decided to just fish a tube all day.
Picked up two (2) smallmouth by dabbling the tube down-stream along a current seam beside an eddy. I fished this area first from the down-stream approach but got nothing so it
seems that the dabbling thing was the ticket.
No real size to the smallmouth, both about 12 inches at best.
It's nice to still be catching smallies this far into the year.
Forgot my camera at home, so I sure am glad I didn't run into Brutus.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Julie's Tree
10/30
Took the long rod out again today and hooked into a big fat skunk.
Before leaving I snapped this pic.
There is kind of a little story that goes along with this picture.
There is kind of a little story that goes along with this picture.
JULIE'S TREE
(a fading landmark)
Near 30 years ago this tree stood tall
(a fading landmark)
Near 30 years ago this tree stood tall
It's branches and leaves
reached out over the Kishwaukee River
like a warm summer's rain frozen in time just above the rivers flow.
A time when Julie and I had first met, we spent an afternoon under this tree enjoying the coolness of its shade,
a line in the water, and the sounds and sights of the
great outdoors.
Peace.
I don't believe this tree will make it through another Winters thaw, or
high waters from the Spring rains.
The tree stands at the point of the Kishwaukee confluence where the north branch
meets the south branch.
Over the years high waters have washed away most of the land surrounding this tree.
On the lefthand side of the picture you cans see a hunk on land, then a long space, and
then the land on which sits Julie's Tree. That "long space" use to be all land connecting
to where Julie's tree stands, but high waters blew that section of land out.
Now every year more and more land gets washed away.
A river is ever changing.
When I return in 2015 I expect the tree will be gone.
JULIE'S TREE (1985 - )
reached out over the Kishwaukee River
like a warm summer's rain frozen in time just above the rivers flow.
A time when Julie and I had first met, we spent an afternoon under this tree enjoying the coolness of its shade,
a line in the water, and the sounds and sights of the
great outdoors.
Peace.
I don't believe this tree will make it through another Winters thaw, or
high waters from the Spring rains.
The tree stands at the point of the Kishwaukee confluence where the north branch
meets the south branch.
Over the years high waters have washed away most of the land surrounding this tree.
On the lefthand side of the picture you cans see a hunk on land, then a long space, and
then the land on which sits Julie's Tree. That "long space" use to be all land connecting
to where Julie's tree stands, but high waters blew that section of land out.
Now every year more and more land gets washed away.
A river is ever changing.
When I return in 2015 I expect the tree will be gone.
JULIE'S TREE (1985 - )
10/29, ONE MISSION
10/29
ONE MISSION
My plan was to to hike to this one particular spot and pull out one (1) smallmouth with the long rod.
That would make me happy.
I stayed out a couple more hours and never got another bite.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
10/27 Fly Rod
10/27
Decided to breakout the fly rod after being inspired by Jim last weekend, plus he hooked me up with some little-bitty-incey-wincey rings to tie onto the end of my leader so that I could tie on a short
piece of braided tippet that is easier for my eye to see compared to the normal mono that is usually used. The fly I selected to use first was a creation of mine that resembles a tube bait that I use when fishing with the spin gear. I like the way the fly looks but my one concern is the circle hook I used for tying the fly. I have never really used circle hooks so I was not sure how the hook set would be when the smallmouths hit. I tossed the fly out and it did not take long to get a hit. Of course I also got a miss but I kind of expected to miss not having used the fly rod in quite some time. After a couple more hits and misses I went ahead and tied a Clouser which also had the circle hook. Got a hit, set the hook, fish on! I ended up catch 4 smallmouth on this day and enjoyed swinging the long stick once again. The little ring Jim gave me worked good with the braid tied on and I look foreword to getting out a couple more time with the fly rod before the snow starts to fly.
I enjoyed the day so much that I have begun to organize my fly tying equipment to maybe do some fly tying over the winter months. A big THANKS goes out to Jim for getting me going again on fly fishing.
Fly rod
piece of braided tippet that is easier for my eye to see compared to the normal mono that is usually used. The fly I selected to use first was a creation of mine that resembles a tube bait that I use when fishing with the spin gear. I like the way the fly looks but my one concern is the circle hook I used for tying the fly. I have never really used circle hooks so I was not sure how the hook set would be when the smallmouths hit. I tossed the fly out and it did not take long to get a hit. Of course I also got a miss but I kind of expected to miss not having used the fly rod in quite some time. After a couple more hits and misses I went ahead and tied a Clouser which also had the circle hook. Got a hit, set the hook, fish on! I ended up catch 4 smallmouth on this day and enjoyed swinging the long stick once again. The little ring Jim gave me worked good with the braid tied on and I look foreword to getting out a couple more time with the fly rod before the snow starts to fly.
I enjoyed the day so much that I have begun to organize my fly tying equipment to maybe do some fly tying over the winter months. A big THANKS goes out to Jim for getting me going again on fly fishing.
Monday, October 27, 2014
10/25
10/25
Jim's Last Dance of 2014?

It was a fun, warm, October day and Jim brought to hand probably what was by far the
nicest looking smallmouth of the day......
Saturday, October 25, 2014
10/22
10/22 - Time Spent With Brandy
Because I caught the damn thing in the very same exact spot that I caught the first one, that's why.
Those two fished ended up being the only fish of the day, but it was a nice
Fall afternoon to spend on the river with my Brandy. Soon Brandy will be going away for the Winter
and I will miss her, so it's nice to have this time together.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
10/20 - 10/21 Fall Fishing
-----------------------------------------
On Monday, 10/20, I accessed a creek from a point further upstream than I have ever done. No fish were caught on this day, but the creeks characteristics are sure favorable for smallmouth. Need to try this again come late Spring 2015 before the weeds and bush get too thick.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
A Video Original....
No fish were harmed during the making of this video.
Mainly because no fish were caught on this day.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
10/9
Reel Bad Start ending @
Hot Pool

Short time in the spot light for that setup. Back to the car to switch with my main GSX.
Back in the water and I start off throwing a tube. I had no hits after about 10 minutes with the tube so I switched up to a topwater popper. I worked an area by tossing the popper tight to the shore and again after about 10 minutes, no hits. Normally if there's a topwater bite, I'll see some sort of action pretty quick. 10 minutes and no chases, splashes or anything, the topwater ain't gonna go.
I tied a tube back on and started wading upstream work the banks and any structures I ran across.
Okay, I've been wading upstream for quite sometime now and I haven't even gotten a bite.
Kind of been getting my ass kicked, but it's such a nice day it's hard to get too upset about it.
I came to a large island in the middle of the river and decided to hit the channelized side where
a few downed trees had been sitting. I started to get hits but no hookups. Must've been small ones.
I couldn't get anything on the hook from the downed trees so I made my way upstream to a hole that I just believed had to show me the money. This area is very rocky with a swift current standing in water just below my waist. The rocks beneath my feet were slippery so one wrong step and I could go down. There is a nice little eddy along the bank that I thought would hold fish, I'm hoping it does as this spot is what all my efforts thus far have been for.
I ended up pulling 8 smallmouth from this pool all of which were over 13" with the 3 largest being
a 15 inch and two 14 inchers.
I fished the pool out and decided to call it a day and took a dry creek bed through the forest to access the walking path so I could return to my car faster.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
10/7
10/7
Solo Wade
Breaking In The New Waders
16" October Smallie |
Had to get out and try the new waders.
No leaks!
The sky was overcast so I started out tossing
a topwater popper and picked up 3 smallies
right off the bat with the largest going 15".
After about 45 minutes and a couple more fish on the top, the sky cleared up and the sun came out, and the topwater bit came to a halt.
I tied on a tube and continued making my way upstream, picking up a couple dinks here and there.
I came to a large pool and got a heavy tug on the line. it seems the fish picked up the tube and is just holding it. I reeled in a bit and could tell that something heavy was on the end of the line.
I hauled back to set the hook and the line went limp. Damn it! I pulled out a 1/16 oz bullet weight and slipped on the line and then tied on a new hook and rigged it with a new tube. Tossed it all back in the same sport and again a heavy THUMP. I drew in the slack on my line and again could feel something big and heavy on the end of the line. Pulled back hard with the rod and the line went limp. WTF!
Again I tied on all new stuff and tossed the rig back into the same area and again I got bit off.
Not exactly sure what was sitting in that pool but I decided that it was not a smallmouth and I
would leave the pool to whatever the heck it was in there. What ever it was it's got a mouth
full of tubes and I didn't think there would be much chance of it hitting again. I had just loaded up my spin reel with brand new 8lb Berkely Crystal Fire Line, so whatever is in that pool has teeth.
I made my way upstream and picked up a few more smallies with the largest going 16 inch".
Ended the day with 10 smallmouth brought to hand.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
New Waders
10/4/14
New Pro-Line Neoprene Waders |
Their cheap neoprene waders are made by Pro Line and I was able to pick a pair of the Marsh Creek series up for $110.00. Many people probably think I'm silly for not throwing down some good money for a good pair of waders, but the thing is, I don't like to wear waders and never do until Fall weather and temps set in and also in the early Spring before the water temp begins to warm. I hope these waders hold up a bit better than the Guide Series, but if they don't it's no big lose. Definitely worth the gamble.
I also picked up some new Berkely Crystal Fire Line to put on a couple reels that are running low.
That should let me finish out this 2014 year and get a good start on the 2015 season.
I HATE COLD WEATHER!
That should let me finish out this 2014 year and get a good start on the 2015 season.
I HATE COLD WEATHER!
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