Monee Reservoir - June 6, 2010

Deer in the lily pads

I hit the Monee Reservoir with Chris Nolan early Sunday morning. We were the first ones there and the first ones out in a rental boat. The weather forecast from the night before was for possible showers and clouds. None of either were anywhere to be found. The water was 72 degrees and the skies were clear as could be since cold front had passed through the night before bringing tornadoes just to the south.

Chris unhooks the first fish of the day

We started fishing in a spot I usually do pretty good in but we didn't get a thing. After fishing there for a few minutes we moved to the next spot and Chris caught the first fish of the day on a crank bait which was also his best of the day.

My first fish of the day

We moved on and I soon had my first fish of the day on. It hit a plastic worm tossed into an open pocket in the lily pads. A short time later, Chris had another fish in the boat which was caught on a different crank bait.

Small turtle sunning itself

We moved on and found that it was getting harder and harder to control the 12 foot aluminum row boat we were in due to the increasing wind speed. Chris spotted a nice Northern Pike swimming along the weed line with its head out of the water. He threw a lure 15 feet in front of it, but the fish was still spooked and it took off.

My best fish of the day

I did the best I could do with the transom mounted trolling motor I brought which was much more powerful than the ones you can rent. As we were moving against the wind, I felt a fish pick up the plastic worm and set the hook on my best fish of the day.

Another Largemouth Bass about to be released

The fish fought hard and jumped higher than any Largemouth I'd ever seen before. A short time later it was in the boat for a couple photos before it was released to fight another day.

Turtle climbing onto a log

We made our way back around to where we started and fished the area again since it usually produces a good fish for me. Not today though. We gave up on it and moved on to the north half of the lake.

My last fish of the day

As we made our way between an island and the north bank, Chris spotted a fish thrashing around in the weeds. We couldn't get it to hit anything so we kept moving. Before we got too far away from that spot, I tossed the plastic worm just outside the weed line and felt a fish pick it up. It didn't take long to get my last fish of the day to the boat.

Turkey Vulture over the lake

Because the trolling motor had been running non-stop all morning due to the wind, the battery began to show signs of tiring. We decided to head back before the battery was completely dead so that we wouldn't have to row.

Monee Reservoir