Opeka 4/29

Hit Opeka again after work for about an hour and a half after work today

Again, focused on wind blown shorelines.

Got this 14" bass on a red eye shad. Blue/chrome pattern

After work bassing, 4/28

Temps around here dropped from 80s to the low 40s in a matter of days. I figured this would have a negative effect on the bass bite, but I wanted to give it a shot anyways.

I hit Opeka again after work. Figuring that the wind blown shorelines would hold the warmest waters, I walked to the far westerly side of the lake. I worked a 1/2 oz red eye, lipless crank parallel to the shores on the ledge of the drop. First bass landed at 6:25pm. A little guy at 12"
I switched up to a swimbait and got another little guy around 7:15



Called it a night shortly after. No lunkers today, but good to have some action

Offshore Waukegan IL 4/27

Today was a very abbreviated boating session off of Waukegan. It was also my first time off shore for the 2009 season


Went with Hank and his pals Richard and Marion. Our 6 am start was delayed to 9 due to severe 35 mph winds coming straight south.

We ended up trolling for an hour and a half before calling it a day, due to more winds. Weather man and radio was calling for gales hitting up to 60 mph so we called it a short day. We'll be back Saturday.

Worked shallow water - 15-25'

First fish (not pictured) was taken on a monkey puke spoon on a dispey, 8 feet down

Second fish was taken on a yellow board, dodger fly combo. A tasty coho! Can't wait for Saturday for attempt #2

Lake Opeka 4/26

It's been a fun winter and spring so far, targeting trout and salmon. Today, I decided it would be time for a new season - bass fishing!

Grabbed my bait caster setup, put on some new power pro, and fished today from about 2pm - 445pm with my pal Keith.

We primarily fished the wind blown shorelines, casting almost parallel to the shore line. Got my first hit about 15 mins on on a chrome/blue 1/2 red eye shad, and lost the fish just as I was about to lip it. Dang it! It was a nice bass too.

Shortly after, I connected with a little guy - probably about 12-13" on the same bait. My first bass of 2009 -

Soon enough, Keith got one. It was about 14". Keith was working a bleeding shad trap, 1/4 oz in a chrome color as well.


Keith popped #2 for him soon after - this was a nicer bass. I'd guess around 18", and a healthy 3#


Before leaving, I wanted to hit one point with a big swimbait. That's when she hit. Nice 18"er, probably a little more than 3#s or so


Fun fishing. I ended up with about 4 solid bird's nests and two lost traps, but it was fun to put the trout/salmon gear away and go for some bass

Mike

Busted by DNR! Skokie Lagoons 4/23

I checked out the Skokie Lagoons last night after work. Worked some timber areas in and around channels looking for an evening bass, but no luck.

It saddened me to see some bucket heads out in force. One guy had 5" crappies in his bucket and 4-5" sunfish. I bit my tongue and kept walking through the woods...

then I saw this - a plain clothes DNR and 2 uniformed officers nailing a group of bucketheads. I'm not sure what they did or what kind of trouble they were in, but gear was definitely taken away.


Well done officers!!

I'm really happy to see and hear about a stronger DNR presence in the CCFP this year!


This was a very quick, inconspicuous shot I took as I walked past them...

Montrose / Root River 4/19

4/19 -

Started the day powerlining on the Chicago lakefront with pals Dan and Keith. Overcast skies, a light drizzle, I thought for sure we were going get on some fresh spring coho. Upon arriving, the lake was very, very calm. Got two powerlines rigged up by 10 am and fished til 1:30. Not one bite!!

We had to regroup, and change scenery. The lakefront wasn't popping today.

After stopping for lunch, we got on the road and headed to Racine. Got lines in the Root around 4pm, which gave us a few hours to go after Chrome.

Water flow - 87 cfs
Water Temp - 49.5 degrees
Location - ?????? I will say this though - we were below the Weir.

I hooked into and landed my first steelie around 4:30. There was a DNR guy around and he took a look at my fish and took a couple of quick measurements. I didn't really get a great picture to show the body of the fish (which was more football shaped), but the DNR guy recognized a fin clip and identified my fish as an Arlee! My first Arlee! 25" and 6.5 lbs. Fish was CHROME!!

Keith hooked into a battle scarred buck shortly after.

We hopped around a few spots and saw some fish on their redds.

We popped into a couple, and Dan was still looking for his chance to battle some Root Chrome.

Then around 6:30, he hooked into a lovely hen. Nice work Dan!

While talking with the DNR officer, he mentioned that yesterday seemed to have been the best day of Steelhead fishing he has seen all season. I don't know how much the river will rise (and flush out a bunch of fish I'm sure...) but time is running out!


Mike

Tax Day Powerling

Montrose, 4/15

I was able to get a powerline wet from 6am - about 9. Not a single bite. I didn't see any other fish caught until I was wrapping up. The guy next to me caught a smaller coho... maybe 1 - 1.5lbs. This season of powerlining has been rather disappointing to me in my books. I'm still looking for that 5 fish, limit day.

I would've stayed out longer but I had to get on my way to work. I was lucky to squeeze in some time this morning.



Mike

Montrose 4/12

Here's a shot of today's fishing outting on the Chicago Lakefront. It was a fantastic day to be outside. Sunny, sort of warm... a lot of runners and people walking along the lakefront. Too bad there wasn't any fish!

I was able to fish from 12:30 or so until about 3:30 before I had to head off for Easter dinner plans with the fam. I saw a total of one fish caught today from a powerliner.

And yes, that's a fire extinguisher in this pic :) . I use it to shoot one line out about 150 yards into the lake.


Mike

Root River 4/11

The 4 am wake up from the alarm clock was pushed to 12:30 after spending Friday night enjoying 50 cent draft night at a local pub :)

It also felt good to sleep in on a weekend.

Called my pal Dan around 1ish this afternoon and asked if he wanted to join me on the Root River for some wading and then we were off.

I immediately hooked into a monster steelhead on my 2nd cast this afternoon. After the third aerial the fish popped off. Broke my line!! I was just bragging to someone too the other day about how I haven't had a fish snap my line in almost a year! Sure enough, after I mention it, I put a hex on myself.

We worked various holes and explored new territory along the river. Other than that first hookup, today was pretty slow.

I told Dan I wanted to try one last spot before we left and he hooked up and landed a beautiful 3-4lb female. Nice job Dan!

The fish were extremely active just below the weir on their rock beds at sunset. It was a pretty site to see. I need to start carrying a camera capable of recording video.

Brief stop at the Root 4/9

I wish I had today off :(

4/9 - Working the late shift, and knowing that I didn't have to be in the office until 10 or so, I woke up a little after 4am and got started on the root around 6. I was able to put in 3 hours of fishing. Man, that place was packed, especially around the weir. I wasted too much time in the crowd. I saw 1 or 2 confirmed steelhead caught and a good amount of giant suckers.

Around 730 I decided to move further downstream and away from the crowd. Had a fish on very briefly (maybe 5 seconds) and spit the hook. But I was plenty encouraged.

Hooked up and landed a beautiful 7-8lb hen soon after. Those river steelies put up a heck of a battle! Fish was caught on a float, 2 feet deep, running ktown gold.

Tried for a little while longer and then had to hit the road and go to work.

Braidwood 4/7

Today I had to visit a client in Peoria. On my way out there, I passed a sign for "Braidwood IL" an immediately had the thought for some after work fishing.

On my way back to Chicago, I pulled off on the Braidwood exit off of 55 and did a google earth search of Braidwood Lake since I was completely unfamiliar with it. Found the lake, and spotted shoreline access on the NE corner of the lake.

Fished from 530-7 pm, tossing cranks and working some spinners but no luck. Did see a few fish surface; not sure what they were. Still cool to check out the lake.

Alma, WI 4/5

Got invited to go to a wedding this weekend in Wabasha, MN. Turns out the town's claim to fame is being the set location for "Grumpy Old Men" and was reminded of it pretty much at every local business. I couldn't go the weekend without fishing, so I brought along a rod and did some fishing in Alma WI on a fishing float. It's basically a dock anchored in front of a dam that is accessible via a ferry that runs every 30 mins or so. Anyways, I toughed out snow and bitter winds to get on a few fish. Just as the action was getting good, I had to leave for a wedding breakfast. Oh well. Kept a few sauger for dinner.

Minnows on "river rigs" did the trick for me.

Alma Wisconsin

I'm about an hour away until I leave the office and head to the Mighty Mississippi in Alma Wisconsin. I hope I catch some big ones!

Powerling on Chicago Lakefront

The Root River played an April Fools day joke on me today, except it wasn't a joke. I REALLY wanted to get another shot at the spring running steelies but with all the rains I scratched that idea. Went to plan B - Powerlining!!!

I was joined by Cam today and we hit up the Lakefront outside of Montrose Harbor. Winds were gusting up to 25 mph out of the southwest and made powerlining a bit of a challenge, but we were committed to getting some fish today. Cam was also looking for his very first Coho out of Chicago and a new edition to his work in progress Lake Michigan Species photo book.

Got the first line shot out and rigged up, and began setting up line #2 when the first bell went off. Fish was on for a few seconds, took a leap about 60 yards off shore, and was gone :evil:

A minute later bell #2 goes off. Fish on! Landed a beautiful 23" 3.5lb Coho. We were in business.

Soon after that fish Tom landed his first Coho on his recently-built powerline rig. Nice work Tom!

The bells were pretty consistent today. Even though the winds were tough, we still had good action. Ended the day going 4 for 9 (a couple popped off close to shore, a couple more were briefly on and got off). It was very tough to get solid hooksets with the huge bows in our lines created by the wind.

All in all, it was another awesome time fishing the big pond.

Enjoy the pics!

Root River 3/29

Yesterday's Coho session on the Chicago lakefront was next to disastrous with monster rollers and then a downpour that left me drenched. As I mentioned in an earlier post, powerlining was scratched for today.

And... I slept in on Sunday, which was fantastic.

But, could I manage a weekend with such limited fishing? Of course not!

My pal Keith gave me a call this morning and kindly invited me out to join him on the Root River, to which I gladly accepted.

Upon arriving, Keith hooked into a spawned out, hen. Finally! A fish! I had taken a couple scouting trips in late Feb / early March without a fish successfully landed. Rootpro had given me hope!






Soon after Keith got his, I hooked into a pretty brown hen that gave me a good battle after shooting down stream. What a great fight and what a beautiful fish...





About ten minutes later, I hooked into another fish. Another awesome battle followed. This Steelie went airborne a couple of times and had my drag screaming.

Shot 1 -





And this was a pretty cool shot as well






Keith then hooked into a huge steelie that took a shot up river and went airborne and spit the hook on him


So in all, not a bad day. Seemed like the action picked up when the sun poked out of the clouds. If the rains aren't too bad this week and the Root has a decent flow, I might give it another shot; otherwise, I'll be back on the lake front powerlining.