Oh, how I've missed you!

Went fishing with 2 of my buddies to a lake that they frequent one evening. They were both tossing frogs and wacky rigged worms. After 15 minutes of casting some medium sized flies to entice some bass, I switched to a small fly that I knew would catch some bluegill. I've been neglecting the panfish as of late, so, the switch was refreshing. I almost forgot how much I enjoyed catching those buggers!

Missed these feisty little fish!

Took advantage of the colors in the sky to capture this badass shot of my buddy FatGordo.

Who doesn't love a nice sunset shot.

Ohio Smallie

While visiting my best friend who lives just outside of Toledo, Ohio, I was able to fished the Maumee River one day for about 45 minutes. The river is huge! The section I fished was wide. It had a mix of deep pools and shallow sections.

I was being a rebel, and did not purchase a fishing license, so, it was going to be a very short outing. I was tossing a black spinnerbait with a Colorado blade. In my short time I was able to hook up with a beautiful smallmouth bass. I hooked up with 2 of the biggest white bass I have ever seen, but I was unable to bring them to hand, and they self released after going airborne. I also, snagged a line that had a live gar the end of it, but I wasn't able to get the line close enough to grab, so, I could help set the fish free. Bummed about that one.

Looking forward to returning out there for an extended trip, and getting a fishing license, so, I'm not looking over my shoulder after every cast.

Birds of Prey

Whenever I am out driving around, fishing, kayaking, or doing whatever. I am always on the lookout for birds of prey. I keep a pocket book in my car, so, I can better identify what I had seen while driving, or when I get back from a fishing outing. 

Here's a shot of a Red-tailed Hawk that I am quite proud of. Captured this while the sun was setting. The hawk was eyeballin' me and took off shortly after this photo. Thanks, for the profile shot!!

The pocket guide I use.

(National Audubon Society Pocket Guide: North American Birds of Prey)

Ice Bucket Challenge

So, as these videos on social media popped up everywhere, I had my fingers crossed that no one would nominate me. Well, someone did, and me being a good sport, I participated. Instead of donating my money to ALS, I will be donating to Autism awareness. I just wanted to share my video with all of you. 

....and remember people...It's not stupid....it's nice :)

Buzzing in darkness

3:30 AM is either late in the into the night, or early in the morning. It all depends on how you look at it.

Clocks wrong. The hammer will fix it!

For me 3:30 AM is early in the morning, and for the past 2 weeks, I have been fishing for about 30 minutes before I go into the gym for my morning workout.

There's just something really peaceful about fishing when you have nothing but the moon and stars providing you light. The lake I fish is always calm and almost glass like each morning. The other day I was joined by 2 hooting owls, who talked me into fishing for an extra 10 minutes.

Watch out for those skunks...and not the fishing kind.

For these quick outings I primarily use either a spinnerbait, or a buzzbait. I always start off with the buzzbait, because, there's just something extra cool about casting that lure into the darkness and being able to hear it chug along. The best is when you hear the bass blow up on it, and even better is when you hear a blow up and you can no longer hear the chugging of the lure. FISH ON!! 

Beware of the shadows.

Ninja fishing!

I'm going to try tossing a big popper with my fly rod next!

One of those days...

Have you ever had one of those days, where it seems nothing wants to go your way?

The Subaru all loaded up for it's first of many trips.

Well, I had one of those on a recent trip to the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

The target species - Musky with a side of smallmouth bass.

I enticed 2 follows from the same musky in the first 20 minutes with a fly I tied, but couldn't get the shiny green beauty to commit. As the day went on, I had another musky follow, and then I was able to get one to commit, but me being over excited about the take, I lost focus and didn't strip set the hook, and went with a hook set I would normally do for bass. I realized the second I lifted my rod. The fight lasted about 3 seconds after that, and then my line went slack. D'oh!

Orange Crush - 8/0 single with an articulated shank.

I was able to hook up with multiple smallies, but just couldn't bring them to hand. I had a 4 +lber smash one of my flies, and then swim behind me, back around, between my legs, back around me, back out, and back through my legs before coming unbuttoned. All of the others came unhooked when they went airborne. After 9 hours of wading we went back to the car to grab some lunch, and I switched to my baitcaster and an inline spinner. New set up - Same story. Hooked up with multiple smallies, but they just didn't want to stay on. It became quite comical.

I know what you're thinking...you use barbless hooks - Correct - But on the flies that I recently tied for this trip, I completely forgot to smash the barbs on them.

Oh, well...there's always next time!

At least my buddy The Fat Gordo was able to hook up with a bunch of those beautiful Northwoods smallies, and I was able to take some pictures of them. 

Flexin'

I love my GoPro camera!

All in all it was a great trip, and it definitely won't be my last. Unfortunately, I will be sending in my rod to Redington for repair. 2 of the pieces came apart while casting and the male ferrule on one of the pieces snapped at the tip. Thank goodness for their warranty.

End of an 10.5 hour wade. - Exhausted.

Step by Step - CARF Crappie

Here's a step by step of how to tie a small but big crappie pattern I've been tying up lately for bass, pike, and possibly musky.

Step One - Self explanatory.

Step Two - Tie in nice size hunk of white craft fur to use as a tail.

Step Three - Silver crystal flash.

Step Four - Black holographic Flashabou.

Step Five - 2 natural grizzly hackle feathers. One on each side.

Step Six - Reverse tie in some black buck tail.

Step Seven - Add more silver crystal flash.

Step Eight - Reverse tie in another small hunk of black buck tail

Step Nine - Tie in some white craft fur. Make 2 wraps and work it around the hook shank with your fingers before making more secure wraps. (I ran out of black thread....Oops!)

Step Ten - Dumbbell eyes towards the front.

Step Eleven - Palmer some silver polar chenille up to the back of the dumbbell eyes.

Step Twelve - Tie in some black Senyo laser dub to make the head.

Step Thirteen - Whip finish.

Step Fourteen - Beer yourself or go fishing....or both at the same damn time!

Material list

1. 5/0 aberdeen hook
2. White craft fur
3. Crystal Flash - Silver
4. Flashabou - Black
5. Natural grizzly hackle feathers
6. Black buck tail
7. Hareline Polar Chenille - Silver
8. 6.3mm dumbbell eyes
9. Hareline Senyo laser dub - Black

The DPR

It's that time of year when I hunt for teeth. I'm referring to Northern Pike, and Musky. I have caught many pike, but musky seem to elude me. I know that I'm not alone.

This one time I hooked up with a musky, but that was about it. I was bass fishing, and had an 8lb test leader on. My prayers of a the hook being set in the perfect place were not met. I was broke off right in front of me.

I took my kayak out for it's first float of the year on the Des Plaines River (DPR). The outing was short, and upon arriving at my desired put in, I was upset to find that the chain with the closed sign was still up.

Plan B.

Before I put my kayak in the water I made a few casts near a big storm pipe, and I was greeted with an explosion, but no hook up. Then I casted straight out into the river and watched a pike about 17 inches short strike my single pike fly about 5-9 times. It was quite comical.

Belmont Ave.

It was going to be a short outing with the sun starting to set earlier as Fall quickly approaches. I decided to paddle up river and float, anchor, and fish my way back. I ended up going 1 for 3, hooking up with a hammer handle.

Shark week or pike week

Not too long ago a friend of mine hooked up with a pike estimated at 34 inches, a real trophy for the DPR, but there are rumors of 37 +inchers roaming these waters. Looking forward to a weekend outing where I have nothing but time.

Bitchin'