I Hate Cotton Candy

In the Fall edition of A Tight Loop Magazine there is a video of me tying one of my favorite pike/musky predator flies.  I hate cotton candy, and the colors on this fly, to me, resemble just that, so, it is deemed my "I Hate Cotton Candy" fly.

And here's an old video of me attempting to play the jaw harp for the first time.  You decide what I do better...play the jaw harp or tie flies. ENJOY!!!

If I didn't provide you with that description, there's a good chance you would have thought it was me trying to impersonate Arnold Schwarzenegger reciting vowels.  Am I right, what did you hear?

WADERS

My Bass Pro Shop White River waders I've had for the past 3/4 years have begun to fall apart this summer.  Last year a small leak started in the neoprene boot on my right foot.  I know there was no fixing that, and it really didn't bother me much.

Well, this summer the leak became worse, and then another leak started somewhere on my right leg started....and before I can find and fix that one I stared leaking in the left leg, and above my wading belt near my pockets.

For the past 2.5 months I've still been using them, but at the end of the day, I'm pretty much wet from the belly down.  I wasn't soaked, and it doesn't get that way immediately, so, it was still tolerable.

With winter looming, and some plans (hopes) to get out there and do some cold water/weather fishing, I think it might be time to retire those leaky waders.  That leaves me with the dilemma of choosing a new pair.  There are so many out there with different prices, construction, and negatives.  I just don't know which way to go.  I've done a ton of reading and research on review, and even picked a few of my friends brains about the ones they own.

Here is what it's been narrowed down to....

I'm leaning toward the Orvis Encounter waders, because, there are 2 Orvis stores in my area, and in the event that I don't like them I won't have to go far, but one of the bad things I have found about them is they have poor boot construction on their seams.

What waders are you all using?  (Maybe there's a pair I failed to look at or consider.)

Pros - Cons of those waders?

Does anyone have any experience dealing with Orvis Customer Service for their waders??

In advance - Thank you, to all who provide me with their insight!

****Note - I have tried LL BEAN waders in the past, and they just don't fit me right, and I am well aware of their no questions asked return policy.

a Tight Loop Fall Edition (I contributed)

The Fall Edition of a Tight Loop Magazine is out, and yours truly has a little article in there about the Des Plains River and the Northern Pike I love to fish for.  I also have a fly tying video in the magazine, as well.  

My buddy UA Dave (Urban Assault Fly Fishing) has a great pictorial in there from his most recent trip to the boundary waters.

One of my favorite articles is "Ball O' Crap" by Matt Jennings

Check it out!!

---->CLICK HERE<----

Let me know what you all think!!!

Fish Da Kish

     My homie DanK asked if I wanted to fish, and I said, yes.

He asked where, and I said, I'm down for where ever.

DanK said, the Kishwaukee, it is!

He fished the "Kish" for the first time a weekend prior, and the smallies and pike kept him busy, so, he was eager to return.  I, on the other hand, was simply excited to see some new waters.

Having done a bit of homework...I asked my buddy Kurt from "a Tight Loop" magazine about some intel on the river, and he gave me a quick run down of what to expect, and he mentioned 1 fly - a yellow and white clouser, tossed on a 5 wt.

Armed with my 5 wt, a freshly tied yellow/white clouser minnow, and my ultra light spinning rod, with a 1/16 jig and a white twisty tail grub, I was ready for the Kish.

The start of a great day.

Check out that water clarity!!!

The water was low and crystal clear.  The day was started slow.  There were quite a few places that we had to get out of our kayaks and drag them, because, the water was so low.  In the areas the water was not low, you can betcha we caught some fish!!!!

The smallmouth just could not resist the freshly tied yellow/white clouser or the white jig that I tossed with my spinning rod.  It was one of those days where you just couldn't wipe the smile of joy and excitement off of your face.  Thanks, for the tip, KURT!!!

Tons of fun!

REPPIN' THAT #PIGFARMPINKIE

One of the bigger ones you'll find in this river.

I just love floating the rivers in Fall.  The change in colors just makes everything so scenic and beautiful.  With the arrival of off the Fall season, there were a ton of leaves on the water, so, between the two of us, we caught well over a hundred leaf fish.  High Five!

FALL.

Fall on the Kishwaukee River.

I wasn't the only one to hook up with some fishy friends.  DanK found his fair share of smallies with a small jerk bait, and skirted jig.  He caught the biggest smallie of the day on a jig, while I was fighting a 30 lb carp that was foul hooked with my 5 wt.  The carp shook free after a 4 minute fight and sleigh ride.  DanK was also able to find and hook up with 3 pike, and one even stole a hook from his lure, and he didn't even know.  He had a pike hit his jerk bait 15 times without a hook up, and that's when I noticed he was missing one of the hooks from his lure. Ha.

Biggest Northern Musky of the day.

Biggest smalljaw of the day.

Solid fish.  He's been after this one for years!

Oh, I also, caught a chunky little largemouth bass.  Check out those colors!

Love those predominant markings.

It was a solid day of fishing, especially, on new water, and always a pleasure fishing with my boy DanK.  Smallmouth bass galore and 40 minutes from the house, it's a no brainer...I'll be back (Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator voice). 

Thanks, to SkiFish, for showing DanK the Kish, and to DanK, for passing the knowledge.

HAHA!!!!

WCF DPR FLOATILLA

This past Labor Day weekend, I got out with a bunch of guys from a local fishing forum - WindyCityFishing.com.  I believe there were 13 of us that made it out to the Des Plains River with kayaks and canoes.  It was a great time.  I got to meet some good people from the forum that I haven't met, yet.  After the float there was food and drink provided by a few guys.  

Big thanks, to all of them for throwing this all together.

I made a video of the outing.  Everyone contributed to the video, so, I can only take credit for throwing it together.  Hope you enjoy it!  Hopefully, I'll be able to make the next one.

Northwoods Exploring: Part 2

Forever exploring the North.

2 lane roads, tall trees, endless amount of rivers and lakes, and no ambient light to hide the stars at night.  These are just a few of my favorite things.

There's just something special about finding beautiful places like this at random.

Smallmouth, musky, pike, trout, New Glarus beer, and cheese curds.  A few more of my favorite things.

I fished a few places along this river with some great success.  I was able to entice some fish at 3/4 spots.  The next time I head up, I'm going to spend some more time at these areas with my kayak and waders.

Here's a small pike that came out to play.  I asked where Mom and Dad were, but his lips were sealed.

Another spot warrented some hefty bronze smalljaws.  Oh how I love these river brutes, and the fight they put up.

This one had some real battle wounds.  Hawk?  Eagle?  Snapping turtle?  Musky?  Pike?  Whatever it was, the wound was fresh.

Cannot wait to get back up there.  I know my Subaru Outback enjoys the dirt gravel logging roads. 

Until next time.

Poppin' for Pike

Got our for a float with some cool dudes.  Met up at a boat launch on a Northern stretch of the Des Plains River (DPR) about 7 AM.  Spotted this at the boat launch out of the corner of my eye, and got a good lauch out of it.  I have a simple humor, and I'm a little upset, I didn't think about this. HA!

Here's looking at you!

The Float Crew this trip......

Urban Assault Fly Fishing - Dave

Marcus - DPR Pro

No Intro needed.

Not pictured are Dan and Saul.

4 Kayaks, 1 Canoe, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Dave tied up some big weedless frog flies, and gave me one.  It's just a super sized version of a Gutless Frog pattern, and they're awesome!  Both Dave and I tossed the top water for awhile.  I had a small pike fly completely out of the water trying to eat it...It was AWESOME!!  Unfortunately, none of us hooked up with any top water pike.  I was 0 for 3 or 4...I forget.  Dave hooked up with 2 pike, and I forgot how the others fared.

9 AM...is it too early for a cold one on the river????.................NAHHHHH

Thanks, for bringing the brewski's, Dave!! I got 'em next time.

UA Dave and a solid DPR Pike.

DanK got a good shot of UA Dave and I in his canoe approaching the take out spot, and getting in some lasts casts.  This is the very spot that I caught my first pike on the DPR.  T'was a good float Gents.  You would have thought with the overcast conditions that the fishing would have been popping off, but it wasn't.  Next time!

DPR...IT'S BACK!!!

We've had an extremely wet June and mid July here in the Chicagoland area.  That means that one of my favorite fisheries has been blown out or not to my liking to fish.  Finally, the rain let up for a few days, and the Des Plains River returned to it's normal levels, and allowed me to finally get some fishing in.

One of my favorite shirts to wear out on the DPR is a $3 shirt with a shark on it for "Shark Week."  Well, this past Spring I was checking out the clearance section of a store and stumbled across this gem of a shirt.  It's a Shark Week shirt, and it says "I <3 Snuffy"...I'm not familiar with Snuffy, but someone told me that's what they named one of the seals at the infamous spot where Great White Sharks fly out of the water.  The best part about this find is that it was another $3 shirt! SCORE!!  I couldn't wait to wear it out on the DPR, and I finally received my chance.

SNUFFY and PIG FARM INK

There were 4 of us that day...DanK, Keith, and Piker Mike.  We floated a section that Keith was familiar with, and it proved to be tough.  DanK, Keith, and Piker Mike tossed spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, and some other lures.  I tossed some flies, with the occasional soft plastic swimbait (I wanted to try something different).

Cleaning up all of the missed pike. :)

I ended the day with 3 pike caught all on a firetiger baitfish pattern of mine on a size 2 hook.  Nothing with crazy size, but the normal hammer handles that love to keep me busy.  I really with all of the ones that missed came back for a 2nd run.  DanK hooked up with 1 little "pickle" and missed about 25 others using a buzzbait.  He was really determined to hook up with all of his pike top water.  Keith caught the biggest one of the day toward the end of the float trip, and missed quite a few others.  Piker Mike finished the 8 beers he brought too early and didn't even see pike.  I'm sure he had some unseen follows, the pike are getting hungry!!

This one exploded out of the water when it hit my sub-surface fly.  Great strike!

DanK got caught playing with his Pickle!

Great company to go on a float with.  Looking forward to our next outing Gents.

Catch n Release

We're Huntin' Musky

Friday 7/24, I received a text from my buddy, Mario, informing me that Friday night basketball has been cancelled.  Damn.  Then I received a text from my buddy, Mike, that said, "Open seat if you want to chase some Ski's today.".....Yeah!!!

We put the boat in at 6 PM, and what a perfect time.  There were still a few pleasure boaters out and about, but they were decreasing in numbers as time went on.  The waves in the lakes were starting to go down, and it was a cool sight to see.  I've never seen these lakes without waves.  It was a beautiful thing.

We started out casting inline spinners, and then we began to toss some big top water lures that splash down in the water like a cannonballs.

My new favorite July beer.

As the night progressed, we did not see any fish.  There were a few other musky hunters out, and they were having the same luck that we were having.  

It was getting late, and the time was 11:30 PM, and we were just talking about heading back.  As I was making a few more casts into the darkness of night, one of my casts did not find water.  Instead we could only hear the not so joyful sound of leaves.  I just casted an expensive lure of Mikes into a tree.  No other words can describe how I felt other than "SHIT."

We tried everything from the boat, and then Mike decided to climb the tree...and he did.  Turns out, I cast the lure so far, that it went beyond the tree that was nearest to the water, and into the tree behind it.  Hilarious...but not really.

Motoring to another fishy spot.

There were no fish caught, no follows spotted, but there were a few beers drunk, and a good time had.  

 How's that old saying go - "That's musky fishing."

Big THANKS goes out to Mike for inviting me out.

Weekend Floats

SATURDAY 7/18

I was hoping to fish early and beat the heat, but that plan did not work out. I woke up late. It was forecast to be cloudy and 70/80 until Noon, and then it was going to be clear skies, sunny and in the 90's. I got to the Des Plains River around 9:30ish, unloaded my kayak, and paddled upriver.

What a workout! The water was high, stained, and moving fast due to some recent storms we've had. That did not make paddling up river easy at all, but I toughed it out. I brought some beers with me, and that helped offset the calories I burned paddling. Haha.

A local Chicago brewery - Revolution Brewing - Fist City

There's a very busy road that runs along the river, and it's appropriately named River Road. I started to hear some rumbling, and figured it was just some semi trucks hitting one of the many potholes. Started to hear it some more, and I saw the sky get a little darker west. I quickly checked my phones weather app, and nothing. Same forecast as before. Then I heard the rumbling, again, but that time I was damn sure that it was thunder. The fishing was terrible, so, I decided to just paddle back the rest of the way. The wind picked up and it started to drizzle as I approached the launch.

Right after I got my kayak and gear loaded, and sat down in my car, it started to downpour. LUCKY!

SUNDAY 7/19

I arrived at Busse Lake around 8 and fished until 11:30...I think. Ha ...I really don't remember looking at the clock.

I had an are of the lake known as CWB all to myself. The rogue storm from Saturday churned the water up, so, it was murky everywhere. The water was up, too, so, the weeds that I normally fish with a frog were all submerged. I tossed a frog with my casting gear, and some flies out in some open water parts of the lake. I was receiving a skunk, so, decided to call it a day.

On the way back to my put in, I decided to make a few more casts before I paddled the 25 yards to the take out. Boom! I was rewarded with a froggin' bass, and beat the skunk!

Decided to wear a Hoo Rag so that my racoon eye tan lines don't get any worse.

CPR

All in all, it was a rather interesting weekend. That rogue storm was really something else. I should also note that I'm happy to hear that some friends that were out fishing on Lake Michigan were able to make it off of the water before it got too hairy out there.

Side note - My farmers tan is looking killer!!!

Creek Time

My buddy DanK and I decided to meet up for a wade on our favorite small creek. I was up extra early, so, I decided to fish the backyard lake a little bit, and work on my wacky rigged worm technique. Caught a decent one before I called it quits and hopped in the car to leave.

I was tossing a fly on my 5wt, and DanK was using his spinning rod. There was no action on the creek, and with the rising sun, the temperature started to rise. It was not making for a fun wade. Now if we were catching fish, I wouldn't mind being in my waders sweating my butt off, but as a skunked outing loomed over our heads, I just wanted to be out of my waders.

DanK under one of the many bridges we cross on this urban creek.

We decided to fish on until we reached our determined turning point on the creek. Immediately, DanK got a follow from a very small pike, and then on his next cast he hooked up. At first we were both thinking it was the pike, of course.

FISH ON!

....but it actually turned out to be a quilback! I have only ever seen 2 of this species in my time fishing, and both have been caught by, DanK. He's like the quilback whisperer. Haha

Big Quilly Style

As we approached where our cars were parked, BOOM, we doubled up to end the day. Pretty awesome. I was able to shake the skunk in the final moments.

Doubled Up!

After we finished up the wade, we headed on over to my house. DanK hasn't seen the new place, yet, and I've been ranting and raving about the fishing I have in my backyard. DanK is like a Jedi Master with a jig and soft plastic trailer. He was tossing a Tight Rope Jig with a small crawfish pattern plastic as a trailer, and he killed it! 

BOOM

I never knew there were bass of this size in my backyard lake until DanK started landing monsters. With every bass he caught, it seemed like they just kept getting bigger. It's really good to know this exists in my backyard. I have yet to catch these big ones, but I sure do like knowing their in there, regardless if I catch them or not.

Biggest one of the day. WOW.