A little wacky

Caught my first bass on a wacky rigged worm using my spinning rod this weekend. I caught a few more after it. Now that's a lot of fun!!!! I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally hook up with a bass utilizing this method.

Bass Stache

Senko Stache

IRON FLY - CHICAGO BURBS

If you're looking for a good ole bitchin' time, then mark your calendars for June 4th (next Thursday).

IRON FLY is going down at T-Woods (Thornwoods) in Wood Dale. 6 PM start time for mini games until the main event.

T-Woods (Thornwoods)

1051 North Wood Dale Road

Wood Dale, IL 60191

If you're into fly fishing, fly fishing curious or none of the above, come on out!! Everyone and anyone is welcome to participate, especially, those who have never tied!!

I've got some awesome swag to giveaway, and the only way to have a chance at it, is to be there!!

Memorial Day Fishing

This past Memorial Day I did quite a bit of fishing. Before I get to how my day went, I would just like to say, Thank You, to all of those who gave their life for our country.

I started the day off at my favorite creek. The weather was all over the place. It was cloudy, drizzling, sunny, down pouring, sunny, cloudy, drizzling, etc.... I didn't mind the weather too much. I was prepared with my rain coat. The fishing was excellent. I caught 2 smallies, and 1 shad. I was tossing a damsel like fly in an olive color. The fish seemed to like it. After spotting 2 really nice sized smallies, I went home to make myself an early lunch.

Once lunch was done, I hung out with these 2. Per the usual, we ran around the house and played tug of war, and that lead to a nap, to wait out the down pouring rain.

Once the skies cleared up, I took the pups on a walk, and then I grabbed my spinning rod, so, I could fish the backyard lake. Hooked up with the bass pictured below on a wacky rigged Senko in the purple color. I hooked into a bigger bass soon after, but it proved to be no match for my skills, because, she snapped my line. I guesstimated it to be 4-4.5lbs. I think I tried to over power the bass...whoops.

As the evening progressed, I decided to take a short drive with, Bo, to check out my honey hole. There was a ton of top water activity across the lakes surface. I decided to toss a black popper, and the crappie just could not resist. The swan was not impressed....STOP LOOKING AT ME SWAN!

Thank you, again, to all of those who gave their lives for our great country.

Aren't they cute

These 2 are hard to capture in a picture together. I was finally able to get another picture of the two of them. After this shot, they were running around all over the house like the 2 goofs that they are.

Bo Marley on the right, and Easy Daisy on the left.

Almost a 10 lb bass...almost.

While the GF was getting ready before we went out, I stepped out back with my fly rod. I had the same olive woolly bugger tied on, and didn't bother changing it. Just checked my knot, and began casting. The crappie were still having a love fest with that bugger, and I caught a ton of them. I also caught some more small bass. These small bass are unlike other small bass I've caught before. Check out how thick they are! I wonder what their fattening up on.

This bass was almost 10 lbs....almost. I had to photoshop it smaller, so, it would fit in the picture.

Mixed Bag

Over the weekend I did a little fishing in the backyard lake. Had a few things to do around the house, so, I had to stay close. There was also quite a bit of rain in the forecast, so, I didn't want to press my chances on my free time.

The backyard lake was on FIRE! I tossed around a size 6 olive woolly bugger, and I never had to change it. The fish were all over it. Bass, crappie, bluegill, and green sunfish/warmouths. I think the ratio of crappie to bass was 8:1.

So, I've had a few talks about this fish. In the past I have always referred to these as warmouths, but others say that their greenies (green sunfish). I've looked them up on the Google, and everything points to them being a greenie. Forever, I have called these warmouths....what are they!?!?!?!?!

New Grill

My GF and I picked up our new grill right from the Weber Grill plant in Palatine, IL. When we were checking out grills, we both fell in love with the Gourmet Spirit series of Weber Grills. You will see why later in the pictures. My GF had a family hook up on Weber Grills, so, after a quick phone call we were able to save a few bucks, and pick up our grill the following week.

We got the grill back to the house, and staged on the deck. I had planned to put it together right away, but the lake was just calling my name. So, I set up my 5 wt and stepped out of the backyard, and fished for a short while. The crappie bite was hot, and I was also able to hook up with a few decent small bass. The small bass that I caught all had some size. They were eating very well.

Right when I finished my short outing, I was all set to set up the grill. Nope! Received a phone call from my GF, and she needed to be picked up, because, she locked her keys in her trunk at Home Depot. After picking her up, bringing her to get her spare key at her parents, we were back at the house, and I was finally ready to get building.

After a late night setting up the grill, it's finally finished. I brought the grill outside and it looked picture perfect with the lake in the background. Now that it was all finished, and I had the day off, I grabbed my fly rod and went fishing.

The grill has 3 burners, and a cast iron grate. I'm a big fan of cast iron pans, and I fell in love with the cast iron grates. I've always grilled on the regular steel grates, but I figured this would be a nice change.

The center grate is removable.

...and it comes with a cast iron griddle. They also sell other accessories that fit the center separately, like a wok, pizza stone, and a searing grate.

I look forward to sharing my grilling adventures!

Happy Mothers Day

I just want to wish my mom, a Happy Mothers Day. I'm cooking today, so, I hope that everything turns out just as good as all of the amazing food that she makes.

Me, my Mom, and my Sister.

And a Happy Mothers Day to all of the Mothers out there!

High Water Floating

Recently, I was invited out to float the Fox River with Kurt from a Tight Loop magazine and Sean from Rushing Waters. I was pretty excited and nervous at the same time. I was excited, because, I have never fished from a drift boat before, and I was just thinking of all of the knowledge I could gain from these two experienced fly anglers. I was nervous, because, having never been in a drift boat before meant, I didn't know how to row a drift boat, and I was well aware of the new guy rule when it came to rowing. I should also mention, I was scared of everyone seeing my non-tight looped casting abilities.

The weather looked picture perfect, but man, was that wind howling! There were some storms that passed a few days prior to our float, so, the water levels were up about 2 feet, if I remember correctly. We were all in search of smallies, the occasional pike, and maybe even a surprise musky...but we weren't holding our breath.

With the high water there were quite a few flooded areas. This is where the carp were all feasting and soaking up the sun, and we even spotted a few pike in spawning mode. We switched our tactics and tried sight fishing for these golden behemoths, but were not able to find any takers.

The fishing was tough, and 1 smallie was boated all day by Kurt. He hooked up with it on a very nice cast underneath a bridge. The smallie was right where it should have been.

All in all it was a great time. There were a bunch of laughs, a few beers, ciders, and doughnuts. Another "THANK YOU" goes out to Kurt and Sean! Thank you, for not making me row on such a windy day, giving me the front of the boat, and teaching me proper drift boat etiquette on poach casting. Haha

I owe you guys big, next time!

Blue Skies

This past Saturday (05/02/2015) I fished in the GLKFS first event of the 2015 season.

Location - Lake Delevan in Wisconsin. I've never fished it. The water was crystal clear and you could see 20-25ft down.

Start time - 0630.

Target species - Northern Pike.

My results - I arrived and launched 35 minutes late. I missed 5 pike, and ended my day skunked of all species. All 5 follows came on a smaller black baitfish pattern of mine with my fly rod. The lures I was tossing with my baitcaster didn't even warrant a follow. The day was not a complete loss, I did win a Backwaters Fishing Assault Hand Paddle as a raffle door prize. It was a gorgeous day to fish, and my tan lines prove it.

Fist full of feathers, flash, and fur.

Sunday. I needed to stick around the house to help with some of the outside work, so, I lined up my new featherweight and Abel reel fiberglass set up and got to casting. 

My line from Shadow Fly Fishing came in, and after lining it up, it doesn't even load my rod well at all. I figured the 7 wt WF line would be great for my 5/6 rod, but I think there has to be some sort of error, and was sent a lesser weight line. My sinking 5 wt line loads this rod better. I've got to email someone about that.

Well, I managed to miss a bunch of crappie, but I did get to land one. Bo Marley came over to give him a once over, before I tossed the little fish back.

Bo Marley approves.