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.

First Fish of 2010

January 13, 2010 - Des Plaines River

More Photos:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/01132010.htm

Cold Morning

2010 Started out cold for us. When I left the driveway with the boat in tow it was a balmy 13 degrees outside and the wind was already blowing pretty good. My concern was the launch ramp at my destination. My partner for the day, Jim Lukancic, had made a trip to check out the parking situation a couple days earlier and found that despite the heavy snow of recent, they were kind enough to leave some space for those boaters who were crazy enough to venture out in the cold of January. The water was open, but the the ramp had a good coating of ice on it.

A very careful launch

Our first task was to clear away enough snow and ice so we could safely launch without dunking my truck. I brought a shovel, ice breaker, and salt which came in handy. Despite that we played it extra safe by placing a big log at the bottom of the ramp after the trailer tires were in the water to prevent the truck from hitting water should it slide despite our efforts. You can never be too safe.

Adult Bald Eagle plays in the early morning sky

We saw a few Bald Eagles fly by before we had the boat in the water.

Bald Eagle Nest

Jim pointed out that he saw one land in a tree and sure enough, there were a couple more in the air around the same tree off in the distance.

Young Bald Eagle

After we had the boat in the water, we idled out of the cove. Mist was rising off the water and the tugs were already pushing the barges around. The engine hadn't been run for almost two months so I continued to idle for a bit. I very slowly worked my way up in speed as we headed toward our destination which was the tree where we saw the eagles.

Tug Boat in the fog

I was armed with a new 650-1300mm lens that my wife had given me, and was eager to try it out. Before we made it to the tree, we saw two more young bald eagles that were playing over the water.

A young Bald Eagle soars over the River

I discovered very quickly that it was difficult to sight my target while in the boat due to the strong winds that kept us bobbing in the water. A tripod is must even on dry land with a lens like that. But despite all that, I still got one photo of a bird in that tree. I'll come up with a better system for using the lens in the boat some other time when it is warmer.

Adult Bald Eagle

We headed off toward our first spot. As we crept up on it we saw another Bald Eagle across the river in a tree, but the sun was directly behind it so I didn't even try for a photo. The water was as cold as its ever been there and we struck out. Since this was our first trip of the year, we wanted to make sure we caught something so we quickly decided to head toward where Al Bernicky and I caught our first fish last year.

A Belted Kingfisher

As we approached the area we were about to fish, we noticed more eagles and also that mist rising off the water had frozen on the trees and brush creating a very scenic winter wonderland.

Winter Scene

I was able to photograph another Bald Eagle before we started fishing, and also a big owl. I didn't realize it was an owl until I saw the photo at home on the computer.

Owl

We made one pass through the area and Jim caught the first fish which turned out to be a Largemouth Bass. After the first fish was in the boat, we tried another nearby area and Jim quickly put the second fish of the day in the boat which was a nice White Bass.

First Fish of the Year for Jim

White Bass for fish #2

The lure I was throwing was getting smacked, but it was like the fish were swimming up to it and batting it away. I finally caught a Smallmouth Bass before we moved back to our previous location.

My first of the year - Smallmouth Bass

My next fish hit like a freight train. It fought hard and Jim was ready to grab the net when we finally got a look at it. "Forget the net and just take a couple photos while it's still in the water", I said, hoping it would free itself before I'd have to hoist it up into the boat. It was a chunky Smallmouth Buffalo. It fought hard for its size but failed to free itself.

Smallmouth Buffalo

Jim caught another decent fish later which turned out to be a nice Catfish. Before we were done for the day, both of us had put a couple cats in the boat. I had another Smallmouth and Jim had a couple more fish too.

Jim puts another fish in the boat

Both Jim and I had also hooked and lost good fish. I could tell by the slime on the end of my line that one of them was another good sized catfish. We had 5 speices total for the day. Fishing was slow, but it's the middle of January and we're out fishing open water. That's nothing to complain about.

Me with a Catfish that is about to be released

We headed for the opposite end of the river but were greeted by floating chunks of ice as we got closer to the Kankakee River. We idled around a little and took some photos before spotting more Eagles and trying for photos.

Floating Ice

Freezing River Bank

I did not want to go much further because I was concerned that if a large enough chunk of ice broke off, it could float out and trap us so we turned around.

You don't want to get caught behind a big chunk of this

Despite the wind never letting up, it turned into a nice day. It warmed into the low 30s and the sky stayed blue. The warmest water was 60 at one of the discharge areas we fished and as cold as 33 elsewhere.

Bald Eagle flies over us

I've fished enough in cold weather to know how to take care of a boat in those conditions. The most important thing is to drain ALL the water out of the boat. Since no one else was around and we wouldn't be in anyones way, we stopped on the ramp with the boat tilted back end down. I pulled the plug and opened the livewell valve just in case. Sure enough a little bit of water poured out and I decided that I'd leave the plug out for the trip home. Normally I leave it out until the start of the next trip to prevent any accumulation.

I also lowered the outboard to make sure it was drained. The last thing you want is water to freeze in something and crack it. Especially your engine. Never assume you didn't get any water in the boat. If you stop suddenly, the backwash will find its way down into the bottom the boat. Also, condensation accumulates a lot faster than most people realize. By draining off any water in the bottom of the boat and out of the lines, you can prevent a very expensive repair bill.

Water under the bridge

Bear Goes Fishing

By William D. Anderson

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Catch Photo Re...

By William D. Anderson

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Best day of Sauger fishing I can remember

More Photos from todays trip:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/10202009.htm

Launching before Sunrise

My original plan was to go look for King Salmon and possibly an early Lake Trout on Lake Michigan Tuesday, but I got an email from my friend Jim Lukancic and decided to take him up on his invitation to fish the IL River instead. I met him at his house about an hour and a half before the sun was due to rise and we headed off in the darkness to fish a stretch of the river I've never been to before.

The sun rises as the clouds move in

The video at the bottom of this post doesn't do justice to the great day we were about to experience. When we got to the ramp there was a large group of hunters waiting to take off. Throughout the day we'd hear the occasional shotgun blasts, but they were a long way off from the water we fished.

Jim with a nice IL River Sauger

Jim ran his boat to the first spot and he was right on as far as where he thought the fish would be. We caught a lot of fish there including Sauger, White Bass, Freshwater Drum, and one Yellow Bass. Jim caught a couple real good fish there but it took me a little while to get into the swing of things. I left my jacket in my car and was concentrating more on the fact I was freezing than fishing.

Jim puts a White Bass in the boat

As we fished that spot we saw flocks of Geese flying south and I was wondering why the Pelicans were flying north. A young Bald Eagle flew by as a crow began yelling his displeasure at the intrusion into his air space.

Are we there yet?

After fishing that spot for a couple of hours, Jim explained that he knew of another spot where there would be fewer, but bigger fish and we decided to go check that area out. Lucky for me Jim offered to stop back at the ramps so I could get his extra jacket before we made the run to the next spot.

Immature Bald Eagle takes flight

On the way to the next spot we saw several young Bald Eagles. Some were in trees and others were playing tag in the air above the trees. Different species of birds were congregating in different areas. It seemed each species had their own little neighborhood on the river.

One of my best Sauger for the day

Jim was right about the next spot. The first time I dropped my jig, I pulled up a small White Bass. A little later I'd pull in my first big fish of the day. Fishing was a little slower, but the fish we caught were definitely bigger as my next fish was pretty much a clone of the one I had just released.

Another Sauger about to be released

Jim wasn't about to be outdone and pulled another good one from that spot. As a barge passed us, I noticed lots of silver carp jumping out of the water next to it. I picked up the video camera and made an attempt to capture it. During the warmer months, boaters have to be very careful because the vibrations from outboard motors will send the Silvers flying into the air and they've been known to break windshields and injure boaters and skiers.

Another nice Sauger from the IL River

Jim wanted to show me one more spot before we headed back. Again he was right on. We caught fish, but I think the brief appearance the sun made, and the fact the wind died down helped to slow fishing. Even though it slowed the fishing (or more likely moved the fish), it was enough for me to unbutton the jacket and life vest I had put on the stay warm. We still managed a few nice fish though. I even caught a small Bullhead to make for our fifth species of the day. The Spirit of Peoria steamed by and we discussed running to one more spot to try for a Bass but decided we'd better hit the road instead. It was going to be an equally long drive back.

Another good Sauger

The day had gone from a cold cloudy morning in the mid 40s, to a partly sunny afternoon in the mid 60s. We drove through a brief rain shower as we left, but by the time I got home, it was still nice enough for me to wash down my boat from the last trip I took with it. My dog was glad to help with that task.

Afternoon Traffic

Thanks to Jim for inviting me out. It was a great day of fishing and conversation.