Camper with the Family

Family time is the best time.  My GF and I, headed up to my Grandparents camper at Fish Lake Beach in Volo, Illinois, to hang out with some of my family. 

We arrived just in time to join in on a hay ride around the campgrounds.  Not everyone joined us.  My Grandma stayed behind to wave at us when we rode by.  Everyone but 3 people on the hay trailer were a part of my family.  We were the best group that the residence of Fish Lake Beach ever experienced, hands down.

We always know how to have a blast.

When we were nearing the campers behind my Grandparents.  My Grandma was standing outside with a sign that read "Homeless - Need Family"....Hilarious!! We all got a great big laugh out of that.  Ain't she a riot!!

She cracks us up!

After the hay ride, a few of my cousins and I headed down to the lake with our fishing gear.  My cousins have all fished before, so, they all sort of know what they're doing.  My cousin Giacomo (Red Shirt), and Jeff (Not pictured) have more experience than Michael aka Big Red and Sam.  This lake had a terrible fish kill when we had our polar vortex winter, and some have told me it has bounced back through stocking, but I am not too positive about it.

The fishing was tough, as expected.  I was the only one to hook up with a fish, and boy, oh boy, was it a whopper.  After trying several streamers, I switched flies to a small san juan worm, and I cracked the code to Fish Lake Beach.  

Trophy catch.

After fishing, my cousin Jeff and I headed to the store to restock the firewood back at the camper.  Once we returned there was a fire already started, and we all started to make use of it for a snack.

Hot diggity dog.

Awww...here's me pictured with the person that hates all of my jokes, my lovely GF. :)

My Love.

Here we have pictured myself with a few of my many cousins.

We're a pretty awesome group.

As the evening turned into night.  The campground was having a Ho Down type dance at their pavilion a stones throw away from the camper.  Before we all headed over there, we made some pot pies.  Butter, bread, pizza sauce, and some cheese.  Close the pot pie, and stick it in the fire, and viola, a great meal. 

I've always enjoyed a good campfire.

I apologize, but there were no photos taken of my dancing.  I know you're all disappointed, but what I do have, is photo with my very awesome, special, and beautiful Grandmother. 

My Grandparents are part of the reason I love the outdoors as much as I do.  As a kid they used to take me, my sister, and my cousin Sharese camping with them all of the time.  They used to have a pop up camper, and belonged to a group who would travel together to different campgrounds. 

She doesn't read my blog, but in the event that she does - I LOVE YOU!!!

Love this woman!

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