Des Plaines River - September 24, 2009

More photos from today:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/09242009.htm

Sunrise over the river industy

My friend Al Bernicky and I hit the Des Plaines River Thursday morning. The purpose of this trip was to catch fish, and also to make sure I corrected the problem that was causing the outboard alarm to sound. Fortunately the owner’s manual was very clear as to what I needed to do and everything worked fine. There's a reason they tell you to read the entire manual before you operate the machinery.

Sun through the approaching clouds

We ran through the fog that was rising off the water to our first spot. On the way I took the usual sunrise photos and let Al take the wheel so I could get some good photos. We beat up that area pretty good and all we got out of it was a small Largemouth that hit my crank bait.

Largemouth Bass doing the tail-walk

On the way to the next spot I let Al take the wheel again so I could shoot some video. There was still some fog rising up off the water and it looked pretty neat. I also got some video of a Bald Eagle in a tree way off in the distance and a snake that swam out to greet us.

Bald Eagle in the distance

I combined the day’s photos with the video and put his together from it:

Al suggested another spot I’ve fished before where I’ve had mixed results and that was where the fish were. Al out-fished me two to one in that spot. We threw crank baits, jigs and plastics worms and only the plastic worm struck out. I had a couple fish pick up the worm, but couldn’t hook up.

Al with the first decent Largemouth of the day

After the bite slowed, we moved on to where I’d caught fish the last few trips. We beat up that spot with pretty good but it was pretty much for nothing. If I remember correctly, we both got a fish there, but nothing to really brag about.

My best Largemouth of the day

We hit a couple spots I’ve never fished before on the way back with no luck. In one spot the Shad were so thick you could have walked across them. I also got a couple photos of a sunken boat that was sticking out of the water.

Someone had a bad day a while back

We ran back to where we caught fish and they were still there. The bite was actually a little better and Al still caught more fish. We were throwing the same lure for a while but Al had the magic touch. I caught fish there, but he caught the biggest two of the day.

Typical size Largemouth for today

We stuck it out as long as we could until I had to be on my way so that I could get to where I needed to be later that afternoon. The water temperature was a little cooler than the last trip at 76 to 86 at the one discharge we fished. It was cloudy all day with very little wind which made it really nice to be out there. With any luck, Al and I will get back out there in the near future.