Luke Clausen, Larry Nixon and Big Fish here in Central Illinois

Luke Clausen and Larry Nixon are two of the very best bass fisherman in the world. Larry is the old wise fisherman who has been at the top since well before I was born. Luke is the young bachelor living the dream of traveling the country fishing for a living and hunting for fun. They have been here deer hunting in central Illinois for the last week and they are all business when it comes to deer hunting.

Here is a pic of Luke's deer he shot at Otter Creek last year:


Since Larry didn't harvest a Buck last year here is a generic pic of him for those wondering what he looks like:


As soon as they connect this year with a monster buck I will be heading out to snap some photos for Heartland Outdoors. Ryan Pudik who does alot of our land renovation work is taking them hunting at all of his best hunting farms. Here is a pic of the deer Ryan harvested just one day after Luke left last year. Luke had his eye on this deer a couple times, but couldn't seal the deal before he had to leave.


Anyhow, I had dinner with Luke and Larry on monday evening and had a great time and gleaned tons of information! I paid very close attention to everything those guys said and while I didnt come away with top secret information on how to win the next bassmasters classic, I definitely learned valuable information just from being around some very successful and intelligent fisherman. To make a living in the fishing industry is no easy task!

The rest of my days this week have consisted of lots of electrofishing and sampling of fish populations. Those fellas spend days on end figuring out where bass are during the course of a day, through changing weather patterns, and during the various seasons on different bodies of water. I have to learn all that same stuff too, I just can do that much quicker and catch a whole lot more and bigger fish using electricity rather than an artificial lure for bait.

Everyday I am on the water I learn something new about fish and their behavior patterns. I won't bore you with any more details, but I can definitely verify the old saying that 90% of the fish live in 10% of the water. The big key to that saying is that the 10% of the water those 90% of the fish live in changes on pretty much a daily basis. Luke said his biggest key to success and favorite thing about fishing is figuring out the pattern while on the water.

I figured out some patterns this week and was able to find a few big fish and lots of little ones swimming around:



This crappie was supposed to be down in the deep basin of the lake with all of her buddies, but instead felt like hanging out up near the surface by a fallen tree. I guess the weather was supposed to be in the 40's this time of year but instead was in the 70's.

Hopefully I will have some good hunting pictures and stories to write about in the next few days. Word out in the woods is that the deer are starting to really move around and rutting activity is picking up tremendously despite the unseasonably warm temps.