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.

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.

Camping

So, I went camping at Jellystone.

There was a big group of us. My GF's 2 brothers and their families, and her cousin and his family.  We played basketball, spent some money at the arcade, met Yogi Bear, and Boo Boo, and all kinds of other fun stuff.  A good time was had by all.

My favorite part about camping is in the evening and night.  There's just something about a nice cold beer and a campfire that really relaxes me.

Beer and campfires go together like peanut butter and jelly.

There is a downfall to campfires and kids, for me anyway....and that is marshmallows.  I hate marshmallows! Gross!!  I do love the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, and would totally befriend him, but I just cannot stand marshmallows.

Let's just be friends.

There were 2 lakes on the campground, but due to an influx in rain during the week, they were both blown out and overflowing.  Now that I think about it, a few day prior to our arrival, a tornado touched down not far away from the campground, and my GF's brothers were worried that they were going to be closed.  I was able to take my GF's brothers fiance's boys fishing, and they even caught fish...at the same damn time!!!!  How awesome of a guide am I, that the boys doubled up on some warmouths.  I was proud.

My lovely GF cooking up some bacon. Can't have enough of that stuff.

Before we left for the trip, I started to put my extensive collection of decals and stickers to use by decorating my Nautilus Reels Yeti Cooler.  I spent more time on this than I probably should have.  There are a few spots open, but they're already reserved. Actually, I have already filled them in, and just haven't updated the photo.

Deeking out the Nautilus Reels Yeti Cooler.

I forgot how to count.

Needing to fill an order for a dozen Zebra Midges. I grabbed my size 22 hooks, beads, wire, and my newly acquired half hitch Rite Bobbin (Review to come after extensive use). I thought I had counted out 12, but when I was finished, I only had 11 flies, and of course I had already put everything away....I've been trying to keep my desk as organized as possible.

My last Bells Hop Slam. Sad face.

Maybe a few too many of these led to me miscounting the flies.

Hop Slamming Some Buggers!

One of my favorite craft beers was recently released - Hop Slam by Bell's Brewery. A few of my friends took a road trip to the brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They informed me that the brewery and local stores were sold out of the beer, so, my only hope was to wait until it was distributed to the Chicagoland area, and even then I wasn't guaranteed to get it.

Fortunately for me, my GF and her mom are awesome, and were able to find a 6 pack for me! Woo-Hoo! A big THANK YOU goes out to them!

Hop Slam glassware

Poured myself a few of those that night, caught up with a show I started watching with the GF, and tied up some buggers for my personal stash. Loving the Vedavoo bench basin! 

These buggers do well for me on the lakes and ponds that are in my area.

Here's the material list:

1. Black Marabou tail

2. Two Strands of silver crystal flash

3. Olive medium chenille for the body

4. Black Saddle Hackle Feather for the head

5. Cone bead (put on before any of the other materials)

Sticker from @WYCOFLYCO on Instagram

Chorizo stuffed Jalapeño Poppers

If you have ever watched Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, you may have seen an episode where Guy Fieri was at a burger place in Chicago. The name of the place is Kuma's Corner, and the burgers there are outstanding! Not only are the burgers delicious, the appetizers are just as good, too.

Here's a step by step on how to make these poppers. I do them a bit differently than Kuma's, and they come out just as good...in my opinion.

Ingredients

• Jalapenos
• Chorizo
• Whipped Cream Cheese
• Panko
• 1 Egg
• Beer (Optional) 

Step One - Open beer and take a sip. (Optional.)

Step Two - Make sure you have all of the required ingredients. If you don't, then improvise. I forgot to get panko, and was too lazy to go back to the store, so, I improvised and used Italian bread crumbs instead.

Step Three - Cut the tops off of the jalapeno peppers and clean them out.

Step Four - Cook the chorizo sausage.

Step Five - In a bowl mix the cooked chorizo sausage with the whipped cream cheese.

Step Six - Drink Beer. (Optional.)

Step Seven - Fill the jalapenos with the chorizo sausage and cream cheese mixture.

Step Eight - Prepare a bowl with the 1 egg, and another bowl with panko.

Step Nine - Take a jalapeno and soak it with egg, then coat it with panko, and place on a baking tray. Repeat until finished.

Step Ten - Pre-heat oven to 400 degree's, and bake the jalapenos until golden.

Step Eleven - Take them out of the oven.

Step Twelve - Drink beer and eat.

Done.

Not pictured is the finished product. It's because my GF bought a deep fryer, and I tried to use it for the first time with these poppers, because, Kuma's Corner deep fry's theirs. In the past I have baked mine, because, I never had a deep fryer, and they have turned out awesome. Well, not the case with the deep fryer. I was very disappointed with the finished product. I chalk it up to it being my first time using the deep fryer. I will post a picture the next time I make them.

Shout out to my beautiful sister, Jennifer, for getting me a case of one of my favorite, hard to attain beers. Zombie Dust from 3 Floyds in Munster, Indiana.

Goose Island Bourbon County Bourbon Stout

Goose Island's Bourbon County Bourbon Stout. A delicious 14.2 % ABV that has a ridiculous amount of flavor. If you come across it, and haven't had it, I highly recommend that you purchase it, and give it a go. I'm not much of a bourbon fan, but the first time I had this stuff, I was like WOW. I believe this beer is best when it's at room temperature. It allows all of those flavors to come out even more.

The popularity of craft beer has sky rocketed, and has gotten out of control. I was only able to score 1 bottle this year. I'm sure I will find some more as the days go on, but I am not one to stand in those "Black Friday" type lines for anything, let alone beer. Ha!

Are there any others out there who enjoy craft beer?

Camp food

Just going over some itinerary with Dave (Urban Assault Fly Fishing) for our upcoming Musky Country trip. Got me thinking about food...

I'm always jealous of the meals that Jeff (High Plains Fly Fisher) has cooked up on his trips. I'm curious what everyone else enjoys cooking out there.

What are some of your favorite campfire grilled meals?

Some chicken I cooked up on a Missouri float trip.

Grandparents Camper

Helped open up my grandparents camper at Fish Lake. Did some cleaning and helped with all of the heavy lifting to get it all ready for Memorial day weekend when the whole family usually goes up to get together.

Lot's of memories at this camper, and it's very hard to believe they've owned it for 14 years now.

Before this permanent camper/trailer, they had an old pop up camper. They belonged to a camping group that went to different campgrounds every year around the states of Illinois and Wisconsin. They're one of the reasons I learned to love and appreciate the outdoors.

Looking forward to making more memories with the family sharing laughs and stories around the campfire, taking my cousins fishing at the lake, and just having a good old time with the family.

F3T - Wilmette, Illinois

There were only a couple of films that really grasped my attention.

1. Urban Lines
2. Blackwater: Devils Gold
3. Riding High: The Science of Tarpon

All of the films were great, and had some nice story lines, history, and cinematography. It's just those were the only 3 that were for me. (Remember: Everyone has different tastes)

All in all, it was an excellent night. Met some awesome people, discovered a new favorite beer (Three Floyds Brewing - Alpha King...Delicious!) and I even walked out of the theater a winner of one of the giveaways. Can't beat free stuff!!!

I won a TU hat, Heart of the Driftless DVD, some stickers, and an Orvis Gale Force Sling Pack. How awesome is that. Now all I need is the regular sling pack, and I will own all of them. Haha

I love me some free stuff...especially if it's fishing related.

I am already looking forward to next years F3T!!