Driftless Winter 2016: BOB'S BITCHIN' BBQ

After Day One of my Winter Driftless trip, my buddy Adam, and I were in dire need of some food and drink.  While I was driving, Adam, was naming off places he was finding near our hotel in Dodgeville, Wisconsin....

McDonalds - No.

Burger King - No.

Hardee's - Hell No.

Culvers - Maybe.

A&W - Maybe.

Bob's Bitchin' BBQ - Did you just say bitchin'?  Really?????

I think we were both sold on the name alone, and I mean, how could you resist some barbecue.  After finding it and driving past, it didn't look like much, but once we stepped inside the place was big, and it was PACKED.  Everyone in Dodgeville and surrounding towns must have been there.  The Hostess told us it'd be an hour wait.  Starving, but intrigued by the place, we decided it was a good idea to grab a beer at the bar and wait.

The BBQ was definitely Bitchin' 

The food lived up to expectations.  I forgot what Adam had, but I ordered the sample platter and chose the beef brisket, smoked sausage, and smoked pork chop.  It came with cornbread and 2 sides of your choice, and I chose the mac n cheese, and sweet potato fries.  They had a bunch of different BBQ sauces that they make on the table.  All of them were great, but my go to was the habanero bbq sauce.

It never had a chance.

Well worth the wait, and would definitely make a return trip there in the future.

Minimum Cowbell

Ah...feels good to have dug up some motivation, and with that I sat down at the vise and tied up one of my favorite streamers.  A fly I have named "Minimum Cowbell."  It's a play on another streamer pattern named "Maximum Cowbell" created by Nick Granato.  Nick's pattern is articulated with 2 hooks, and mine has only 1...do you get the name for mine now?

White meat.  Dark meat.  All will be carved.

Ready to hunt for bass, trout, and whatever else is lurking.

What's a trout or panfish fly box without some San Juan Worms.  A fly that everyone has in their box and loves, but doesn't admit it.  These flies simply catch fish.  These ones are for my personal stash.  I also fancied up the black bead head SJW with some black ice dubbing behind the bead. (size 14)

Windy City Fishing BBQ at Beck Lake

This past weekend, I was invited out to a local lake that I have never fished before, to participate in a small gathering with some guys from a local fishing forum that I frequent WindyCityFishing.  The man organizing this shin dig is Kevin aka "Bassman29" but he should also be known as the Grill Master! ...or cigar man, because, he owns Utopia Cigars (Great place BTW and he is extremely knowledgeable.)

Grill Mater Kevin

I was at a Lake X this Spring with DanK and Kevin showed up to fish, but he also brought his grill, and grilled us up some sausage when we took a break around lunch time.  Man, what a great guy!  If you're reading this, Kevin, thanks, for the hot dogs!!!

Before cheese was added.  Kevin is a master of char...and I love charred burgers.

These sausages were absolutely delicious!

It was a fun outing.  I seriously got almost next to no fishing in, because, I spend most of my time talking with some new and familiar faces.  It's always great to put a face to a screen name behind the many reports that are put up, and to see who is reading your stuff.

There were quite a few Ascend kayaks that showed up.  Here is mine and Kevins. Awww aren't they cute.

A fellow Windy City Fisher, Keith, has this really badass kayak.  It's called a "SCANOE."  I have never heard of these, and I thought that it was a nickname for his boat, but I was wrong, it's the actual name.  There's a lot of DIY mounts on this water craft.  Those seats are definitely not stock, they're from the bar stools at his parents house...and yes, they still swivel.  My other favorite part is his outriggers.  2 Scotty mounts on each side paired with crab pot floats.  WHAT!!!

THE SCANOE!!!!!

I wish I was able to stay longer than I did, but I had to leave early.  I caught zero fish, but had many many laughs.  After I had left, I learned that there were a few fish caught, and the biggest one of the day went to Keith.  I don't have the picture here, but I'll link you to the post.  It was a very nice LMB.

CLICK HERE FOR REPORT OF THE DAY

More SCANOE with Kevin and Keith.

Looking forward to the next BBQ, and I'll be sure to clear my entire schedule for it!

Tube Flies

Recently, I won a contest hosted by Misfit Fly Co. and was sent a goodie bag of their misfit holo heads, and an some tube tying material.

So, far I am really digging these! Not a lot of material to tie on, and you can create a big body or small body using the discs that you can add to the tube.

Here are my first 2 attempts. I am very happy with the first attempt, except I think it could have used a smidge more material. My second attempt was the complete opposite. It could have used less.

Oh well, there's always next time! Can't wait to tie more.

1st attempt is about 5-6 inches long.

Biggest fly I have tied to date. I will most likely trim it about an inch, but we'll see.