My buddy Dave (Urban Assault Fly Fishing) shot me a text message on Friday asking if I wanted to float the DPR on Saturday morning. I was in!
I was about 15 minutes late arriving to the launch, because, I had forgotten my waders at the house, so, I had to do a little back track. All this talk of "Geezers" is starting to get to me (Howard & Mel). It was sunny, and the temperature was in the mid 30's, the weather couldn't have been any better - Who am I kidding! It could have been 80 degrees outside, but with it being mid January, 30 is the new 80.
We floated a section that both of us haven't done before. It was a local part of the river, that I have shore fished extensively. It was really interesting and awesome fish places I couldn't reach from the shore. One of the highlights of the trip was floating under a major expressway in these parts, I-90. There were all kinds of things going on, because, this section was down the street from O'Hare Airport. Planes, trains, and automobiles surrounded us.
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| Photo by: Dave |
Here is the very same low head dam I posted about in my previous post about racing stick boats. The river seemed to be flowing at normal levels. The banks were icy and muddy. There was a lot of animal activity. We saw a group of 5 female deers, a huge red tailed hawk/owl (Debatable...we couldn't figure out what it was when it flew across river, but it was huge).
Dave was the only one to hook up. He was tossing an articulated double hook fly he tied the night before that had 2 tungsten beads, to help better work the deep pools. Sure enough this pike came from the bottom and took his fly. I had one strike on the day, and that pike was super lazy. It only went after my fly, because, it needed to play its predator role in the Eco system, but I did not hook up with that pike. It gave a half hearted tail flap/wave to me and drifted away.
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| Dave jamming on the pike guitar...and getting pooped on. (Check out his knee. HA!) |
Looking forward to the next outing!
30 is the new 80. :)
ReplyDeleteIt sure is! I bet you can remember back to your days of living up North.
DeleteCool man. We need to get up for some fishing + beer + Kuma's Korner this spring when i'm in town.
ReplyDelete-SB
MOST DEFINITELY!!! Kumas is hands down my favorite burger joint. Count me in for an outing, Sam! We could get quite a few people out. My buddy Dave (Urban Assault Fly Fishing) has a canoe, I have a kayak, we could make it work.
DeleteLet's be careful when you're dissing Geezers. The only forgetful Geezers are Mel and Howard.
ReplyDeleteHaha it shows in the comments below.
DeleteI totally agree with Mark. Hey, Justin, I forgot what I was going to say about your Pike trip. Hmmmm..........................................
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with my memory Steve! I could float all day and not even think about fishing. Seriously, I used to be a real white water guy.
DeleteHaha you guys crack me up! I could easily float that river and not fish. There are so many interesting things to see!
Deleteno canoe = no the fish...
ReplyDeleteAlmost the whole river is fishable from the shore. I spent a few years pounding the shores and fishing before I got a kayak and a friend with a canoe.
DeleteAre pike cold water fish? are they active during the winter? 30's sounds unbearable! My favorite part of winter is watching it on tv from California!
ReplyDelete30 is a treat in January! Feels like Spring out there. The pike become very very lazy and lethargic. They find the deep holes and just sit there. In the summer they hide in the cover of the fallen trees closer to the shore and are much much more active. It's a blast!
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