1/3 of 12 = HELL

It has now been pretty much 4 months since my last smallie catch.
Most of the winter I had high hopes of an early spring. Hell, we barely had any snow
on the ground on January 31st. Then February happened. From day one this February month has
been a bitch. The area received  12" of snow on Feb. 1st., followed by sub-zero temps which
ran the entire month all the way to today. I'm about sick of February.
On a good note, I met up with fishin' pal, Jim, for some breakfast and a run out to
Gander Mountain. Jim gave me a fly box he picked up that had an image burned onto it that
Jim thought looked like me with my Rushmore hat on. Thanks, Jim!

I was able to get away to Apalatchicola Florida for a few days of warmth. I didn't do any fishing
while down in the little oyster town, just had a few drinks and as much fresh shrimp as I could 
stick in my mouth. While visiting some of the shops, my wife picked me up a nice fishing journal.
I plan to use this journal as a written log on my search for Brutus.

I'll be glad to see this month of February in the past. Needless to say my
"high hopes" for an early spring have just about diminished, along with my hopes of topping my 1st. smallie catch of 2014 on April 19th. You can bet your ass I'll be trying, but I gots me a feelin' we are heading for high waters for most of the 
spring.

Jan. 17, 2015
PRY12 Gage - 6.27

2015

Here we go with a new year and another season of chasing down Brutus, the 20 inch Kishwaukee River smallmouth. The air temp on this day (1/17/15) were near

40 degrees, so I decided to make my way down to the Kish to enjoy the warm weather, stretch my legs a bit, and to just spend some time with my old friend, the Kish.

The river is about 90% froze over with a few spots that are opened. 

I walked the trails of Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve and made my

way across the springs and snapped a couple of pics. The natural spring water temps keep

at a constant level which is somewhat above the freezing point so these springs never freeze,

and are warm enough to support algae growth.

I did scout out a couple locations on the Kish for early Spring smallmouth. :)

12/15/14 - TOE - 52Y,2.75hr.23sec.

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.

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.

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.

JULIE'S TREE
(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 -     )

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 made the easy hike to a pedestrian bridge that runs over a dry creek and followed the dry creek to the river, which would put me just downstream from the spot I planned to hit. Before stepping foot in water, I examined the area to plan my best approach. I decided to cross the river to a sandbar that laid directly across from my spot. This section of the Kish is fairly wide, very rocky, and has a swift current. Once on the sandbar I examined the area once again before making my approach. I started carefully making my way cross stream to the spot I planned to hit, making sure that I had a good, strong, foothold with my set foot before taking my next step. The spot I wanted to hit was an eddy that in the past has help fish this late into the year. I got within casting distance, stripped out some line, let my fly drift downstream pulling the line with it to a distance I thought I would need to reach the eddy. In one motion I hauled back and made my first cast, landing the fly on the upstream topside of the eddy. BAM! First cast, 15 1/4 inch smallie. Mission complete.

I stayed out a couple more hours and never got another bite.

10/27 Fly Rod

10/27

Fly rod

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.