Back On The Water

Des Plaines River - October 11, 2010

 

Two Pelicans on a Stump

 It's been a while since I've been on the water. For me, being off the water for any length of time is very difficult. It's just one of those things I need to do. I've had some neck and shoulder problems recently so I figured it would be best give things a rest - not that it helped any. Also, for the last year and a half, lack of steady work has allowed me to fish during the week when things are less crowded. Now that I'm back to work full time, I'm back to fishing on the weekends and holidays with the crowds. Today was the Columbus Day holiday so I was able to get out. I had a tough time deciding where to go. Long story short - I went back to the Des Plaines river since it's close and I wasn't sure how long I'd last out there.  

Calm Morning

I put the boat in the water and headed off to a nearby spot where I figured there would be fish holding. It was a beautiful morning with a few clouds, light breeze, and air temps in the low 60s. The water temp was a lot warmer than I expected for a mid October day - high 70s. That told me the power plants up river would be pumping full steam. I went the other direction though.
 

Sunrise

As soon as I got to my spot I began casting a crank bait along a drop off. I could see fish jumping all around but quickly noticed they were carp. Jumping carp usually do not bode well for a good day of bass fishing on the river. I had a small fish hit the lure but lost him right away. A short time later I snagged the crank bait in the rocks. I began to try pop the lure free like I usually do when I get hung up, but something didn't feel right. I kept this up as I got closer to where the lure was stuck and thought I felt a couple of pumps on the other end. I pulled back and the lure didn't budge - until it took off in the other direction. I scooped a nice Flathead Catfish into the net after a good battle. Unfortunately that was the only fish I caught there, but it was certainly nothing to complain about. I placed him back into the water after taking a few photos.



Flathead Catfish

I ran to another spot where I figured I'd find fish and managed to catch a nice Freshwater Drum. I was hoping for a decent bass and was a little disapointed when I got a look at what it was. Still, it wasn't anything to complain about. I released this fish at the side of the boat without bring it aboard.



Freshwater Drum puts up a good fight

A short time later I caught a small Largemouth Bass and released it without a photo since it wasn't anything to brag about. A few minutes later I decided to run up river after catchng another one slightly smaller than the first.

I wanted to stop at one of my favorite spots but there was a long line of barges tied together that had it blocked off. There was no way I was going to be able to get at it so I kept going as far as I could go until I reached the lock.



Turkey Vulture glides over the river

I began fishing away from the lock chute and caught more floating weeds than anything. There was no avoiding them. My only hope was that a fish would hit the lure before the lure would pick up some of the debris that was very plentiful in the water. There were no takers though.

A few Turkey Vultures were gliding right over my head and didn't seem to concerned about my presense. Acoss the river I noticed two more in a tree. Usually I start seeing Bald Eagles about this time of year on the river but I didn't see a single one today. then again the weather has been unseasonably warm.


Turkey Vultures in a tree

As I made my was away from the lock, a tug approached pushing a couple of barges. The doors opened and the rushing water created enough current to wash a lot of the weeds out. The two guys standing at the front asked if I had caught anything. I replied that I landed a nice flathead and a couple small ones but that was it. Since I hadn't gotten a bite other than a nice Green Sunfish that hit a lure that way too big for him, I moved to another area.



Green Sunfish

I hooked a couple more bass at my next spot including a couple nice Largemouth, and a Smallmouth, but only managed to put another dinky Largemouth in the boat. After beating up the area pretty good, I realized that the many gar that I was seeing had probably chased out what I was after. I saw Gar in all shapes and sizes and hooked a couple of them too. I brought one about 30 inches to the side of the boat and luckily he got away before I was going to have to unhook him.



A small Channel Catfish

By this time I was starting to realize I'd better quit before I over did it, so I hit one more quick spot on the way back. Too bad I wasn't fishing for Bluegills because I found the motherlode. There were some big ones mixed in with the crowd that was holding along a weed edge. I fished the area for a few minutes and after landing a small Channel Cat, I decided to pack it up and head for home.


Bluegills everywhere

I never did catch what I was after, but still had a decent day. I suppose even if I would have struck out it was still a nice day to be on the water. I still kind of wish I had taked the time to drive another hour and a half to fish Powerton Lake, but that will have to wait until February when it opens back up for boats, since it will be closed for the season by the time I get another chance to get out again.

The Wrong Kind of Record

Heidecke Lake - May 3, 2010

The rain in the distance that never made it

I got to the lake about noon and right away I knew where I'd start my fishing based on the wind direction and speed. Rain was forecast for the afternoon but it set up about 20 miles east and moved away leaving a bright and sunny afternoon.

High Wind or Storms Forecast - Use Extreme Caution

I put the boat in the water, raced to my spot and started fishing. I don't think I was fishing for more than 10 minutes when I felt a hard tap on the end of the line followed by a couple of tugs. Then the water exploded in the distance showing me I had a big Musky on. The fight lasted about five seconds before the fish bit right through the line and was gone with my lure.

A small bird walking the shoreline rocks

The same thing happened several more times throughout the day. I saw a total of four of the Muskies that I hooked so those are the only ones I'm counting as Muskies. One was a monster of a fish, another looked about the size of the one I caught last trip, and the other two were smaller. There were a couple more fish that bit the cranks off the end of the line that might have been Walleye, but I never saw them. My record for landing Muskies at Heidecke was three in one day. I also lost one more that day. If I would have been targeting them, I would have tied on a little Tyger Leader material and probably landed most if not all of them.

Freshwater Drum

As for the fish I did catch, the first was a Drum. It was a plump sixteen inch fish that put up a fight, but later on I caught his mama who put up even more of a fight.

Green Sunfish - Little Fish, Big Appetite

I also caught a Green Sunfish that wasn't much bigger than the lure I was throwing. I'm not sure how he managed to open his mouth that wide, but he did. That would be the most humorous fish of the day.

Smallmouth Bass #1

I put two Smallmouth in the boat. The first was a nice fish and the second was a little smaller. Both were quite acrobatic and jumped a few times before being hoisted aboard. Both were quickly photographed and released.

Smallmouth Bass #2

The geese were very aggressive towards each other today. As I went along the bank, they were chasing each other and fighting over who knows what. Red Winged Blackbirds were already looking for crayfish in the rocks and the gulls were sitting on the railroad cars keeping an eye on everything else that went on.

A small Hybrid Striped Bass

I hooked and lost three or four small Hybrid Stripers or White Bass, and caught one. It's tough to tell them apart when they're small unless you actually get them in the boat. At least these fish didn't take my crank baits with them. So for today I think I set a record for the most fish hooked and not landed during a trip. And for some reason I can't wait to get back out there and try again. The water was still 62 and there was a 20 mph southwest wind that made it easy to drift and cover a lot of water quickly. The air temp reached the upper 70s which made it a very comfortable day to be on the water.

Heidecke Lake - April 20, 2010

Calm Afternoon at Heidecke Lake

I pulled into the parking lot at Heidecke Lake around 3:00 pm for a couple hours of afternoon fishing since it wasn't looking likely I'd have another chance to get out this week. I was surprised to see an almost full parking lot. As far as fishing goes, I wasn't expecting too much since I never do very well at this lake when its sunny. On top of the bright sunshine, there was also very little wind keeping the lake almost like a sheet of glass.

Small Striped Bass

I ran to an area of the shoreline that did not have any other boaters around and began to beat the shore line pretty good. I saw a lot of Freshwater Drum cruising by, and even a few Common Carp getting ready to begin their spawning ritual. It took a while, but I eventually tied into and landed a small Striped Bass

A Real Nice Walleye

A short time later I had another fish on the end of the line. This one was much bigger and put up quite a fight. I had the net within reach and decided to use it once I saw that I had a good sized Walleye clamped onto my crank bait. I scooped him up, took a couple photos, and released him to fight another day.

A little Smallmouth Bass

The next fish took a while to find. I was almost ready to go try another spot when a small Smallmouth Bass tried to make off with my crank bait. After a quick photo, he was back in the water too.

A nice Musky

Shortly after I got to another spot that I wanted to try before I had to head back home, another good fish hit the crank bait. This time I knew I had a good fish on. It fought hard and made a few powerful runs before I got it close enough to see I had a good Musky on. I grabbed the net and quickly realized that the fish wasn't going to fit, and before I knew it, the lure got tangled in the net with the fish thrashing next to it. Luckily I was able to get my hand under the fish before he got away.

Released to fight again another day

After a few quick photos I lowered the Musky back into the water and he took off like a torpedo. I untangled the lure from the net, put everything away, and called it a day. So for not expecting much, it turned out to be a great outing. The water temp was 62 and the air warmed to 65.

LaSalle Lake - October 14, 2009

LaSalle Lake - October 14, 2009

More photos from today:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/10142009.htm

Cold, Rainy, and Foggy

When I left the house it was cold, dark, and a moderate rain was falling. I left the cover on the boat for the ride to the lake hoping that the spray from the other vehicles on the highway would not wind up on the windshield and upholstery. The interior stayed clean, but the exterior was filthy by the time we got the boat in the water.

Boat Ramp Out of Order

The parking lot for trailers was empty when I got there. I was a little late due to being held up by a train in Seneca. It stopped just short of the last car clearing the crossing, then sat there for a while before it backed up and cleared the crossing before stopping again.

Neither the road leading into the lake, nor the parking lot are paved so when it rains it can be very sloppy. We were concerned after we saw the "Do not Enter" sign in front of one of the ramps and discussed going back towards home and fishing the river again. After a closer look at the sign we figured out that it was only for the one ramp because of a hole that had developed near the bottom of it. The fact that there were no other boats there also concerned us because they have a tendency to close the lake to boats if its windy. More on that later.

Empty Lot

There was a lot of thick fog blowing across the lake with the cold east wind. Both Mike and I were surprised at how brutal it was considering that there didn't appear to be much wind at all on the way there. LaSalle is a cooling lake for the LaSalle nuclear power plant. It's 2,600 acres of water that is built on high ground so that it catches the wind to keep the water cool. This means it can get very dangerous out there too.

Fog and Rain

Mike caught the first couple of fish. His first fish was a nice Largemouth. A little later he hooked a catfish and kept it in the water until it got loose. He didn't want it in the boat. Mike also wound up with a nice Smallmouth and a couple more Largemouth before we were done.

Mike with the best Largemouth of the day

Fishing was a lot tougher than we expected. Usually fishing at LaSalle is phenomenal when there is a good cloud cover and a good breeze. Not today. We worked several areas with no luck but Mike was able to pick off a fish here and there while I hauled water.

My first fish of the day - Freshwater Drum

When we got to the warm water discharge canal, I grabbed a rod with a blade bait and promptly caught a Freshwater Drum. As we worked our way into the warm water (which was only in the low 70s) we thought we'd at least catch a couple small catfish. Neither of us got a bite so we moved on.

Me and my best fish of the day

I didn't catch my Smallmouth until we were almost done for the day. The fish hit right at the boat and took off. I didn't let him go very far and when I got him back to the boat I hoisted him up out of the water, unhooked him, and posed for a photo before releasing him.

Not the best of days - but my favorite kind to fish

As we were leaving we saw two boats launching. We were concerned that one of them was taking a baby out in those conditions. Judging by the issues they were having getting their boat in the water, then off the rocks after it got away from them, they did not seem to be experienced boaters. That lake has taken several lives over the years and today was not a day for the inexperienced to be out there. Usually they close the lake to boats if it gets windy because 6 and 7 foot waves can materialize very quickly.

To see some of what this lake is capable of dishing out, take a look at these links:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/lasallesign2.htm

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/w38.htm

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/w14.htm

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/w15.htm

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/w20.htm

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/w5.htm

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/w4.htm

Des Plaines River - September 22, 2009

More photos from today:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/09222009.htm

The morning looked perfect for fishing. It was cloudy and foggy, and there was a light mist blowing in the south breeze. I don’t get too many perfect days like this to go out. I got to the ramps before the sun was up and headed out to follow the same route I did last time.

Fog and light rain

By the time I made it to the first spot I planned on fishing, it was light enough to do away with the lights on the boat so I put them away before I made my first cast. I caught several fish in that area, but no big ones. I hooked a real big catfish on a crank bait, but he popped off about 10 feet from the boat.

Typical Smallmouth for today

After I was done with that area I headed off to the opposite end of the river but stopped at another spot I haven’t fished this year before I got there. I hooked one good sized Largemouth but he got away. A short time later, the same thing happened. The fish was slightly smaller, but it was still a good fish and that convinced me to add a new task to my to-do list. That would be getting rid of the Sure-Set hooks on several of my lures. I’ve lost more fish that I can count with those hooks and just don’t have that problem with standard treble hooks.

One of the Largemouth that actually made it into the boat

I gave up on that area and continued my run up river. Once I got to my destination, I caught a couple small fish and decided I’d go fish below the locks. I hooked and lost another nice fish up there but never brought anything to the boat. I cut my time up there short because a 3-wide barge was having some kind of difficulty in the lock and had to back out. I didn’t know how far he was going to back out so I figured I’d give him one less thing to worry about and headed back down river a little ways.

After fishing my next spot for about 10 minutes, I connected with the only fish I’d see in that area. It was a giant Gar. I had gotten my Bass net out first thing but it was way too small for this fish to fit in. I dropped the net on the floor and played the fish at the side of the boat until he popped free and took off. Gar are fun to catch, but they are slimy and can really stink up the carpeting in your boat so I generally unhook them at the side of the boat.

At the opposite end of that area, I tied into another good Bass that jumped right away and tossed the lure. I was really frustrated with that crank bait at this point but the fish were hitting it. I ran down to my last stop and managed to land a good Freshwater Drum on the lure that the bass were so good at tossing.

Freshwater Drum

I didn’t get any other hits but I could see shad being chased so I switched to a plastic worm. After a few minutes a fish picked it up and took off with it. I pulled back and the fight was on. As soon as I got the fish close enough I could see by the way the plastic worm was still on the hook that the fish wasn’t hooked. Sure enough he spit the worm and was gone. I was angry for not setting the hook like I should have and that cost me the best bass of the day.

The next fish that picked up that worm got his eyes crossed. I got a good hookset on this fish and it turned out to be a big Flathead Catfish.

Lifting the fish out of the net

I got his head in the net and juggled him up into the boat. I decided that I was done for the day after photographing the fish and letting it go.

Flathead Catfish

My outboard started beeping at me so I’m guessing I sucked up some of the plant material that’s floating around the river and making it hard to fish crank baits in a lot of places. Tomorrow I’ll take it apart, flush everything out and make sure everything is as it should be before I put the boat back in the water.

Deer through the fog

The water temp ranged from 76 to 89 at one of the discharges. It sprinkled quite a few times during the day but I only had to go for the rain gear once. For the day I think I caught 20 to 25 fish which really isn't anything to complain about.

Heidecke Lake - August 28, 2009

More photos from today:
http://www.catchphotorelease.com/08282009.htm

Perfect fishing day

I knew fishing would be slow because of the bait fish that are always abundant this time of year, but I decided I'd give the lake a shot anyway. Sure enough, fishing was pretty slow. I caught a few Drum and lost a little Smallmouth that threw the crank bait.

Baitfish on the locator

The highlight of the day was seeing a bird of prey. I'm not sure exactly what species it was ( thanks to Mary Hennen of the Field Museum of Chicago for identifying it as a Peregrine Falcon named Sloopy. She was able to look up numbers on the bands on its legs), but I first spotted it underneath a railroad car. I took several photos as I went past it. I got about 50 yards away from it and it took off and landed about 50 yards in front of me on top of a railroad car. I didn't think much of this until it happened again a couple more times. Could this bird have been following me?

Bird of Prey (Peregrine Falcon) under a Railroad Car

When I got home and looked at the photos on the computer, I noticed bands around birds legs. That had me wondering if the bird had been rehabilitated or domesticated.

On top of a railroad car

Regardless, it was a unique experience to see a bird like that up close, and to have it follow and watch me. Hopefully it wasn't thinking of me as a possible meal. :-)

Bird of Prey posing for the camera

When I was angling the boat to try to get a better photo, I destroyed the prop on the trolling motor. Not only did it shear the pin, but it embedded the parts of the pin into the prop and cracked the inside. It's a good thing those pins are designed to shear before anything else gets damaged. I put the spare prop on but decided to call it a day anyway.

One more picture before it's time to go

Despite not catching many fish, it was a wonderful day to be on the water. There was almost no wind and it stayed cloudy. The air temp was in the mid 70s and the water temp was only 71.

Freshwater Drum

100+ Fish

More photos from today:
http://www.catchphotorelease.com/08212009.htm

After not being able to fish for almost a month, I finally got out to the Des Plaines River on Friday August 21, 2009 and made up for lost time. I had the boat i the water by 7:00 am and was very happy to see some pretty good cloud cover moving in. There wasn't really any wind when I launched, but after the clouds were overhead, the wind picked up pretty good and before long there were whitecaps all up and down the river.

Clouds moving in

At the ramp there was a mass of floating pond scum. It clung to the trailer as I pulled up the ramp and headed for a parking spot. Once I was on my way, I headed to my first usual spot, but found several barges parked along that shoreline. I couldn't get anywhere near my spot so I kept going to spot number 2.

Scum blowing into the ramp

At spot number two I caught a nice Freshwater Drum right away. Then in no time at all I had a couple of very small Smallmouth Bass in (and out) of the boat. That was it for that spot. To get into that spot, you have to pass another spot that looks like it would hold a lot of fish if the conditions are right. I always cast a few times to it, but have never really caught anything there....until today.

Freshwater Drum - First fish of the day

My first cast to the spot resulted in a very small Largemouth Bass. The next cast had me reaching for the net. I had a real good fish on. I landed it and it turned out to be a big White Bass. A couple casts later and I had another slightly smaller one on.

Typical White Bass for the day

I stayed in that spot for over two hours catching fish after fish. Most of the White Bass, Largemouth Bass, and Smallmouth Bass I caught were on the small side, but every now and then I'd put a good a good one in the boat.

Largemouth Bass

Once things slowed down there, I moved to another spot that's always good for a few fish and caught a couple more. Again, they were on the small side, but fun to catch.

Smallmouth Bass

I jumped spots a few more times and continued to catch quite a few fish. I lost track of the time and when I finally looked at my watch I realized it was a little past my usual quitting time. Since the fish were still hitting pretty good, I kept fishing.

Most of the fish were caught on crank baits, and when I run into a good bite, I try to make it a point to throw something at them that I don't normally use. This helps me develop confidence in the bait if I catch something on it, and lets me know I have another option if I ever run into the same conditions in the future. So besides the usual cranks, I caught fish on some plastics I haven't used before. Fishing those in the wind was a little tricky because the wind would put a bow in the line which prevented a solid hook set. For the day I'm sure I caught over 100 fish which makes this one of the best trips in quite a while.

On the way up and down the river I noticed a lack of wild life. I usually see quite a few creatures there, but this time there weren't any to be found. I saw a Belted Kingfisher and a Green Heron along the river, and the usual Turkey Vultures flying overhead, but that was about it.

Here comes the rain

Back at the ramps it started raining just as I got the boat on the trailer. I wound up having to scrub the scum off the boat and trailer in the rain once I got home. Fortunaly it stopped long enough for me to get the interior dried and get both covers on before the thunder, lightning, and heavier rain showed up later.