Heidecke Lake 5-11-2010

Geese at Heidecke

I met Mike Matlock at Heideceke Lake around noon on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010. The skies were cloudy and every once in a while a small rain drop would find its way down from the clouds. It looked to be a perfect day for fishing. The water temperature was only 55 which was quite a drop from the last time either of us had been there.

First Cast, First Fish

As we left the cove, I realized I had left my cameras in the car in plain sight. I turned around, went back in and retrieved them before we headed off to our first spot.

My first Walleye of the day

I stopped the boat well before the shoreline we were going to fish and mentioned that the drop off we were approaching was sometimes good for a fish or two. Sure enough, I landed a small Striped Bass on my very first cast.

One of my Smallmouth

Within moments, Mike had a Smallmouth Bass on. He put it in the boat, unhooked it, and quickly released it. With two quick fish in the boat, I was hoping that was an omen for a good day.

Inspecting the power lines

We weren't fishing for more than a couple minutes when a helicopter buzzed over us. It was inspecting the power lines that run over the lake. Heidecke used to be a power plant cooling lake, but the plant has since been demolished, removing the former source of artificial warmth and current that helped grow giant fish all through the northern Illinois winters.

The wind picks up

I made a comment that the wind was not as strong as was predicted, which was dumb since the wind really picked up as soon as I made that comment. Keeping the boat positioned so Mike could have a good angle at the shoreline became a little more difficult at that point.

Mike with the best fish of the day

I put another fish or two in the boat including a keeper walleye. But then a short time later, Mike tied into it's grandmother. This was a real good sized walleye. The fish came up and we could clearly see the lure in the fishes mouth. The fish went down again and I heard Mike exclaim, "oh", as if he had lost it. But the line quickly tightened back up letting us know the fish was still there. The fish came back up and Mike asked me to net it since now the lure was in the fishes back. I've only seen that happen one other time where a fish was hooked, threw the lure, and still managed to hook himself - and that was a Catfish. After a picture or two, the walleye was in the live well with the other one.

Channel Catfish

We continued fishing, and once things slowed we doubled back and drifted the same area again. We caught more fish but fishing was a little slower. Mike landed a big Channel Catfish that went back in the water and I had one stretch where I hooked three Smallmouth almost in a row but only put two in the boat. None of the Stripers I caught were worth bragging about, but they were fun nonetheless. I only had one possible musky take a crank bait off the end of my line.

Feathered Fishing Guide

As we made our drift, we came across a couple of diving birds that neither of us had seen before.

A pair of diving birds

They would float in the waves, then disappear under the water.

Diving under the water

The sounds they made as they communicated to each other reminded me of a small puppy playing with his buddies.

About to release a small Striper

Once it was time to go, we headed back in and pulled the boat out, then proceeded to the parking lot to remove the fish from the live well so Mike could take them. As I was trying to get the bigger fish that Mike caught, its gill plate put a pretty good slice in my thumb. Then when I handed the fish to Mike, it got him too. My wife said she would have liked a picture of us standing there sharing the same towel to wipe the blood off. We probably did look kind of funny.

Another fish about to be landed

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.

Bear Goes Fishing

More photos from this trip:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/06302009.htm

My wife and I decided to take the dog out on the boat on the Des Plaines River for a couple hours this evening. He always wants to get in the boat when I'm working on it in the yard but it's up too high on the trailer for him. Today he got his chance to go for a ride. I've seen a lot of dogs in boats before and one thing that always bothers me about it is when guys keep the dogs out there all day long. That's not good for a dog so we decided we'd try a couple of my normal spots then head back. We didn't know what to expect since this was a first for us too.


When we got the boat in the water and the dog in the boat, the first order of business was to put a life jacket on the dog. He's a great swimmer and loves to swim in the pool so the main reason for the life jacket was in case he did jump in the water, I'd have a handle that I could use to easily grab and lift him back in the boat.

At first he seemed like he didn't know what to make of being out on the water. He stayed next to my wife (who did a awesome job taking pictures - I didn't take any for once) until we got to our first spot. As soon as I started casting, he knew I was up to something that was going to be good so he came up front and waited. I hooked a big fish almost right away and as the two guys on a nearby barge were cheering me on, the fish got away. The dog was wondering what that was all about at this point. I lost a couple more fish and he let me know he was going to get bored with this real quick if I didn't come up with something interesting.



We moved on to another spot and I hooked and lost another fish. Even my wife was wondering what was going on with me because before long it was fish 7 and Bill ZERO.


We moved again and I switched lures. This time when I hooked a fish, it stayed hooked. The first one was a small Largemouth and the dog was very curious about it. It was his first fish. I've seen guys put the fish on the floor of their boats for the dogs to play with, but we decided we'd teach Bear how to be a good fisherdog and treat the fish properly. He sniffed at them and even licked a couple, but he was not allowed to bite or hurt them in any way.

The first time I threw one back, we thought he was going in after it. He was really curious about the fact that there were living creatures in the water. Now he was having fun. He waited patiently by my side as I cast the lure hoping the next cast would produce another fish.


Before long I had a Drum in the boat......

Then a nice Largemouth......

By this time he was really into what I was doing. Both my wife and I were amazed at how he had taken to the boat and fishing so well. I kept checking my locator and before I knew it, the dog was using it to find fish too.

Another few minutes passed and I had another fish in the boat. Bear wasn't as interested in the Smallmouth. "Too small" is what we were sure he was thinking.
Since I caught the first fish, Bear spent almost the entire time right by my side encouraging me to catch another.
Lucky for me I was able to catch a lot of fish in a short period of time.


"Now that's more like it".

We moved back to first spot where I had lost my first big fish. The guys from the barge said "back for that fish, huh" as I moved past them and into position. Bear took his position right next to me once again. He waited patiently as I cast around the area.


And then it happened. I had a good solid strike from what I knew was a good fish. I pulled back on the rod and Bear got excited. I asked my wife to get the net because I knew there was going to be no hoisting this fish up into the boat. She got the net out and by this time I had the fish to the side of the boat. Bear was looking over the side trying to get a look at what was going to be coming to the boat this time. He saw the fish and just looked at me. I know he was thinking "Finally, a big one".

I maneuvered the fish towards my wife and she scooped it up like a pro. I was impressed considering that was the first time she'd ever had to do that and it's not as easy as it looks. Both the dog and I walked around the console and I took the net with the fish in it. It turned out to be a real nice Hybrid Striped Bass.

Bear came back up to supervise. Once the fish was removed from the net, Bear inspected it and gave me a look of approval before the fish was released.

Once the fish was back in the water, I packed up the three rods I was using and we started heading back. My wife spotted several deer and some other wildlife along the banks as we made our way back to the boat ramps.

The water temperature ranged from the upper 70s to 90 at one of the discharges we went by. It was cloudy the entire time and we felt a drop or two of rain, but the sprinkles held off until we got home.

Today was a real treat for me being able to have both my wife and dog join me on the water for a little while. My wife did a great job taking the photos and it was nice for me because I didn't have to worry about handling a fish and a camera at the same time. I'm glad the fishing was so good because maybe the dog will be excited to go with me again in the future.

Heidecke Lake - June 15, 2009

Heidecke Lake - June 15, 2009

Today's Photos:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/06152009.htm

Expect some wind today.

When I got to the lake about 5 minutes past 7:00, Jim was already on the water and waiting for me. We headed out to our first spot as I've done the last few trips and let the wind try to take us along the bank. This saves gas and wear and tear on the trolling motor. Despite the wind wanting to push us into the bank, Jim did a great job controlling the boat and keeping us in the right zone to target the fish. After a while though it seemed we were throwing at the wrong target because fishing was very slow.

Off we go.

The forecast was for light east winds and mostly sunny conditions but we were blessed with a nice blanket of clouds and a little more wind than was predicted. The fish didn't see it that way because they were few and far between. Eventually I hooked up and brought one to the boat.

A small Striper.

A short time later, Jim hooked up and had a real nice Walleye in front of us but if came unhooked and got away. The birds along the shoreline were busy looking for fish and crayfish and every now and then I'd notice a blackbird with a crayfish he'd managed to pull out of the rocks.

Somebody who caught more fish than us.

We brought a few more fish to the boat and every now and then we'd make a second pass on an area where we had caught or hooked something. Each time it seemed like it was for nothing but at least we tried. We switched lures and caught fish on a few different ones but nothing seemed to really get them going today.

Me with another one.

Jim finally hooked another Walleye and was able to put it in the boat.

Jim with a nice Walleye.

A couple more fish and it was time to go.

As we headed in, I threw a cast towards a point and hooked a good fish. It fought hard but when I got it to the boat it was able to shake the lure. The fish was one of the better Walleye I'd seen at the lake and it would have been great to put it in the boat but it didn't happen. We spent another hour hammering that area trying for another one but struck out.

We did manage to find an interesting looking snake resting in some of the rocks along the cove. He had the right idea.

The water temp was as high as 74 in a couple spots and the level was still up from the previous weeks rains. The air temp hit the upper 70s before we left. We put maybe a dozen fish in the boat including Walleye, Stripers, White Bass, Drum, and a Crappie. No monster fish today (except maybe the one I lost on the way in) but it was still a great day on the water.