ROCK STAR AIDS RESEARCH
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Saturday, July 30, 2011
Fishing Derby Food Update
Just wanted to let everyone know about the food that has been provided for the fishing derby at the fishing park on Saturday. Everyone is invited down for Community Day at the park. Lunch is being provided by Jimmy Johns, Firehouse Pizza, EP's in East Peoria is going to have a salad bar and Uncle Bob's Ice Cream is providing lots of Ice Cream!
Fishing Derby is from 10-12 with lots of prizes, the rest of the day is just for eating food and open fishing to anyone who wants to come down and fish or relax outdoors.
The lunch is free, the derby is free, and absolutely everyone is invited to come on down! Hope to see you all there!! The park is located right next to Dixons Seafood in East Peoria.
Fishing Derby is from 10-12 with lots of prizes, the rest of the day is just for eating food and open fishing to anyone who wants to come down and fish or relax outdoors.
The lunch is free, the derby is free, and absolutely everyone is invited to come on down! Hope to see you all there!! The park is located right next to Dixons Seafood in East Peoria.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Fishing Derby This Saturday!
This Saturday, July 30th we are hosting a free fishing derby for kids under 16. Everyone is invited to come and spend the day at the Hooked on Fishing Park in East Peoria.
The derby starts at 10 am and lasts until noon. Prizes will be awarded to mini-anglers who catch tagged fish and also for the biggest fish! Should be alot of fun and we can accommodate several hundred anglers comfortably so there will be plenty of room, come on down.
Also after the derby you are invited to spend the afternoon fishing with your family or just relaxing outside at the park. We have a covered pavilion and an awesome walking trail around the levy overlooking the Illinois River. Fishing instructors will be onsite and can help teach anyone how to fish, but I do stronly encourage you to come and spend time with your own children fishing. Take off a Saturday from the rat race and bring your kids out for a day they will not forget this summer.
Here is a short video that has some pictures and explains just a bit more about the park for those interested in what we do down there.
Oh yeah, we will of course have food and drinks and prizes on Saturday. This fishing derby and community day is being sponsored by Uncle Bob's Ice Cream, Jimmy Johns, Firehouse Pizza, EP's Timeout, Brewers Distributing, Culver's, Weaver Ridge Golf Course, Avanti's, Burger Barge, Presley's Outdoors, Bob Grimm's Chevrolet, Moon's Dentistry, Herman Brothers Lake and Land Management, Prairie Home Alliance, Fortner Insurance, Cefcu, and Heartland Outdoors!
If anyone out there would like to help out with this event and future events, please make sure to contact me directly at nate@hblakemanagement.com or hookedonfishingpark@gmail.com. We could always use more prizes for this event, more food, more drinks and more volunteers down at the park! Quality experiences outdoors are few and far between these days..
Hoping eventually to have every local business involved helping out with the fishing park. The more people we can get involved the more people we can accomodate down at the park. To date we have taken more than 3500 senior citizens and children fishing free of charge over the last 3 summers. That number could easily be met in just one summer with more people involved helping out!!
The derby starts at 10 am and lasts until noon. Prizes will be awarded to mini-anglers who catch tagged fish and also for the biggest fish! Should be alot of fun and we can accommodate several hundred anglers comfortably so there will be plenty of room, come on down.
Also after the derby you are invited to spend the afternoon fishing with your family or just relaxing outside at the park. We have a covered pavilion and an awesome walking trail around the levy overlooking the Illinois River. Fishing instructors will be onsite and can help teach anyone how to fish, but I do stronly encourage you to come and spend time with your own children fishing. Take off a Saturday from the rat race and bring your kids out for a day they will not forget this summer.
Here is a short video that has some pictures and explains just a bit more about the park for those interested in what we do down there.
Oh yeah, we will of course have food and drinks and prizes on Saturday. This fishing derby and community day is being sponsored by Uncle Bob's Ice Cream, Jimmy Johns, Firehouse Pizza, EP's Timeout, Brewers Distributing, Culver's, Weaver Ridge Golf Course, Avanti's, Burger Barge, Presley's Outdoors, Bob Grimm's Chevrolet, Moon's Dentistry, Herman Brothers Lake and Land Management, Prairie Home Alliance, Fortner Insurance, Cefcu, and Heartland Outdoors!
If anyone out there would like to help out with this event and future events, please make sure to contact me directly at nate@hblakemanagement.com or hookedonfishingpark@gmail.com. We could always use more prizes for this event, more food, more drinks and more volunteers down at the park! Quality experiences outdoors are few and far between these days..
Hoping eventually to have every local business involved helping out with the fishing park. The more people we can get involved the more people we can accomodate down at the park. To date we have taken more than 3500 senior citizens and children fishing free of charge over the last 3 summers. That number could easily be met in just one summer with more people involved helping out!!
Goodbye East Coast Fishing
Wednesday morning we woke up at 3:45 am and headed for the harbor. The forecast called for bright sunny skies so we knew the morning topwater bite would not last nearly as long as it did the day before. Its funny how only the second day ever of commercial striped bass fishing for me and I am already an expert on all things striped bass... Self-proclaimed, but thats basically how I operate. I am a quick learner, ask a million questions, and retain every bit of fishing related intel.
The topwater bite lasted for only the first 30 minutes of light, and then the stripers moved out into deeper water...When the bite is on for topwater, you dont waste any time taking pictures. Here are some photos after the topwater bite was over and the sun was shining:
Then we headed out to deeper water to jig fish for them. Was a great new learning experience to jig for stripers in 80 feet of water. Basically in freshwater fishing you have to keep the bait in the strike zone for as long as possible to be successful. Freshwater fish need all the help they can get to bite your bait. In saltwater its the complete opposite! If you want to catch lots of saltwater fish you need to briefly show your bait in the strike zone and then real it away as fast as humanly possible to get them to come chase and strike! Goes against everything in my nature, but just drop the diamond jig down to the bottom and then rip and reel it up as aggressively and lightning fast as you can. If you dont get one to bite, than drop it down and do it again. The faster you go the more bites you get.
We had a ball jigging stripers! Big fish after big fish:
Once we started catching fish, every boat within 5 miles started congregating into the hot spot. The schools of stripers would move around and so would all the boats:
Occasionally if you would keep your jig down near the bottom too long a small shark would eat your bait. I brought one into the boat for a picture. He was grinning from ear to ear to get his photo taken!
This boat had all three of their anglers hook up all at the same time! Kind of cool. We had lots of doubles, but never could get a triple. You might have to click on the picture to see it better.
So we stayed out on the water as late as possible, but had to catch an evening flight out of Boston. We jumped in the car and rushed straight to the airport and had just enough time to grab a terribly overpriced chinese meal at the airport before loading onto the plane. We even didn't order drinks with the meal cause that would of costed an extra $6.18 plus tax for the both of us and that was for water or soda.
That chinese meal costed $22.36 without drinks. That same exact, only better tasting meal here in Central Illinois would of costed $12.50! Probably was green, organic, natural east coast chinese. Its no wonder everyone out there is skinny and cranky! Their food (except their lobsters and striped bass) is terrible and overpriced.
Anyhow we made the plane and got back to Midway and I was home sleeping in my own bed at 1:10 am. I had to shower though first, cause boy did I stink riding home on the plane with fish slime and even a few scales on my clothes!!
Being up from 3:30 am and jampacking a full day of fishing and traveling all the way till 1 am sure makes a guy tired. I am going to need to go on a vacation just to recoup from this vacation. Instead I had the priviledge of answering voice mails and emails all day long. My customer service was terrific today, but for some reason I didn't make very many sales?? Sir your pond is fine, quit worrying so much and scoop up your dead fish! Sheesh, thats like the fifth time you left a voice message......
BTW, FYI, (Im getting good at texting codes, might as well start applying them to the blog). Anyhow fish are dying all over across the state of Illinois. Many ponds just aren't geared to handle this hot of weather for this long with no relief even at nighttime. Rain and cold fronts that do come only make things worse and thats usually when a big fish kill will happen. Several hot hot days in a row followed by a cold front or rain storm. On a serious note, if your fish are dying, give me a call and I can help figure out exactly what happened and ways to remedy the problem for the here and now as well as ways to help fix the problem for the future.
The topwater bite lasted for only the first 30 minutes of light, and then the stripers moved out into deeper water...When the bite is on for topwater, you dont waste any time taking pictures. Here are some photos after the topwater bite was over and the sun was shining:
Then we headed out to deeper water to jig fish for them. Was a great new learning experience to jig for stripers in 80 feet of water. Basically in freshwater fishing you have to keep the bait in the strike zone for as long as possible to be successful. Freshwater fish need all the help they can get to bite your bait. In saltwater its the complete opposite! If you want to catch lots of saltwater fish you need to briefly show your bait in the strike zone and then real it away as fast as humanly possible to get them to come chase and strike! Goes against everything in my nature, but just drop the diamond jig down to the bottom and then rip and reel it up as aggressively and lightning fast as you can. If you dont get one to bite, than drop it down and do it again. The faster you go the more bites you get.
We had a ball jigging stripers! Big fish after big fish:
Once we started catching fish, every boat within 5 miles started congregating into the hot spot. The schools of stripers would move around and so would all the boats:
Occasionally if you would keep your jig down near the bottom too long a small shark would eat your bait. I brought one into the boat for a picture. He was grinning from ear to ear to get his photo taken!
This boat had all three of their anglers hook up all at the same time! Kind of cool. We had lots of doubles, but never could get a triple. You might have to click on the picture to see it better.
So we stayed out on the water as late as possible, but had to catch an evening flight out of Boston. We jumped in the car and rushed straight to the airport and had just enough time to grab a terribly overpriced chinese meal at the airport before loading onto the plane. We even didn't order drinks with the meal cause that would of costed an extra $6.18 plus tax for the both of us and that was for water or soda.
That chinese meal costed $22.36 without drinks. That same exact, only better tasting meal here in Central Illinois would of costed $12.50! Probably was green, organic, natural east coast chinese. Its no wonder everyone out there is skinny and cranky! Their food (except their lobsters and striped bass) is terrible and overpriced.
Anyhow we made the plane and got back to Midway and I was home sleeping in my own bed at 1:10 am. I had to shower though first, cause boy did I stink riding home on the plane with fish slime and even a few scales on my clothes!!
Being up from 3:30 am and jampacking a full day of fishing and traveling all the way till 1 am sure makes a guy tired. I am going to need to go on a vacation just to recoup from this vacation. Instead I had the priviledge of answering voice mails and emails all day long. My customer service was terrific today, but for some reason I didn't make very many sales?? Sir your pond is fine, quit worrying so much and scoop up your dead fish! Sheesh, thats like the fifth time you left a voice message......
BTW, FYI, (Im getting good at texting codes, might as well start applying them to the blog). Anyhow fish are dying all over across the state of Illinois. Many ponds just aren't geared to handle this hot of weather for this long with no relief even at nighttime. Rain and cold fronts that do come only make things worse and thats usually when a big fish kill will happen. Several hot hot days in a row followed by a cold front or rain storm. On a serious note, if your fish are dying, give me a call and I can help figure out exactly what happened and ways to remedy the problem for the here and now as well as ways to help fix the problem for the future.
Z Fish Report (7/28/11)
At 6 miles, or even closer, the 85 degree blue water is still following the 100 fathom line. The offshore fishing is also holding; with a couple of sailfish a day average per boat, yellowfin tuna to 40 pounds, and quite a few dorado in the 10 to 25 pound range.
The inshore roosterfish action, especially for 30 pound plus roosters, is still the hot ticket here. It is fantastic, maintaining a 5 to 7 fish per day average per boat. The average could be higher, but there simply is not enough time in the day to catch more of these hard fighting fish, which take anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour for each one.
Fishing with Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos, Erick and Stephanie Lansdon of Eugene, Oregon caught 5 nice roosters (with Stefanie releasing an estimated 60 pounder), a jack crevalle, and a nice dorado for dinner. On their way back to the pier, Adolfo called me on his cell phone telling me “I have a huge area of very large and very hungry gallos located…now would be the perfect time for a fly fisherman…Get me a fly fishing client!”
I lucked out and complied. Chad Hansen of Boise Idaho next fished with Adolfo. He got 3 large roosters on the fly, with one huge fish (over 60 pounds) breaking the leader near the boat.
Ed Kunze
The following is a trip report Eric Lansdon emailed me about his two day fishing experience here in Zihuatanejo:
The Day began with more than a little apprehension by my bride of a little over a week. The first day of fishing in Zihuatanejo hadn’t quite gone exactly as planned. Although I will say that the weather did not cooperate much either. We booked a trip through an online website, and as dumb Americanos, we thought we had it all figured out. The bottom line is we shouldn’t have even gone out that day. The ocean was quite similar to what I am used to fishing out of Winchester Bay Oregon in July- a rolling 6 foot swell (at times 8) with about a foot or two of wind chop. The panga we fished on the first day was not exactly the most comfortable of a ride as we plowed into the oncoming swell for quite some time. Sparing many details, I will say the fishing equipment was poor, the boat was unkempt, yet the skipper was a genuinely nice guy. We ended up with a yellowfin tuna after a couple hours, and I pulled the plug - lest I get a divorce before my honeymoon was over.
This experience led me to call on Ed, who lives in Zihuatanejo, and was referred to me through a friend. Our trip was winding to an end, and I knew we had to give it another try. We had to. Ed set me up with Adolfo on the Dos Hermanos for a day of Rooster Fishing. Ed told me that Adolfo was the best. I believed him, and we were stoked. My wife, however, was a little guarded.
We met Adolfo at seven at the municipal pier, and the first thing I noticed was his gear. Everything was right. Nice rods, nice reels, clean boat, organized tackle….This was a good sign. Furthermore, Adolfo and his deckhand Jesus (pronounced Hey-soos), were immediately very friendly. My Spanish is limited, but I try. Their English was limited, but they gave it their best too, always with a smile. We liked them immediately.
As we made our way out of the Bay and into the open ocean, Adolfo put us into the trough, and gave us a most comfortable ride. After a breathtaking ride along some of the prettiest beaches surrounded by dolphins and sea turtles, we arrived at the spot. As I got up to the front of the boat, I could see porpoises feeding up ahead of us, and baitfish popping along the backs of the swells just before they crashed on the sand.
I was told to cast as far as I could toward the beach, keep my rod tip up, and reel as fast as I could. After a few shots, I was beginning to feel like I had it down, but I began to worry about my wife, as I knew she wouldn’t be able to stand in the front of the boat and do this. I didn’t know that Adolfo had her hooked up with live bait, and was coaching her up on the particulars. I had one really good strike where a fish followed, crashed, and missed. It was one of the most exciting things I have done as a fisherman. On the very next cast, I hooked a smaller one and landed it a short while later. A couple of moments later, just as I was feeling bad for my wife, I look toward the stern and see a needle fish fly out of the water, and I hear Stephanie laughing. I guess she was doing just fine without me.
The next rooster crushed my white and red surface lure about five minutes later. The lures we used were not poppers as I know them as they do not have a blunt end. Rather, they look like short fat cigars that walk across the surface. This fish followed my lure this time, and I could see his rooster like fins behind the bait as it gave chase. In my life, I have never seen a more aggressive bite than this. We were locked up for the next half hour, and when we brought him aboard, I was stunned and tired. After we released him, Stephanie hooked a Jack Crevalle, and I took this time to watch her fight it. I didn’t get to rest long, as I was to tie into yet another 35 lb rooster minutes later. Unfortunately, this fish inhaled the lure and was bleeding when we landed him.
Just as I got back into position at the front of the boat, Stephanie had hooked up again. This fish was different, however, as we didn’t see him immediately. Rather, it was a run, followed by a run, followed by a run. When we did see him, we knew he was special. After about an hour, Stephanie landed a 60lb rooster, and Adolfo said “Erik, welcome to my country!”
This was quite possibly the prettiest fish either of us had seen, and we both agreed to get a replica fiberglass mount made in his honor.
I will say that I have caught marlin, halibut, salmon, and an eight foot sturgeon. These guys have nothing on the rooster. Hands down, hardest fighting fish I have ever experienced. Our totals for the day were five roosters, four needle fish, the jack, and a beautiful Dorado that probably went about ten pounds.
Adolfo is the man. He is not only an amazing fisherman, but a true gentleman. Quite simply, he is the kind of guy you want in your camp. And, he is very, very fishy. There are very few professionals out there who have “it”. This guy is one of them. The harbor is loaded with pangas and many of them charge less. Fishing with Adolfo on the Dos Hermanos was one of those experiences that was truly priceless. You can’t put a number to it. And in about three months, we will have an awesome reminder of our honeymoon hanging on our wall.
The inshore roosterfish action, especially for 30 pound plus roosters, is still the hot ticket here. It is fantastic, maintaining a 5 to 7 fish per day average per boat. The average could be higher, but there simply is not enough time in the day to catch more of these hard fighting fish, which take anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour for each one.
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| Stephanie with her nice rooster |
Fishing with Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos, Erick and Stephanie Lansdon of Eugene, Oregon caught 5 nice roosters (with Stefanie releasing an estimated 60 pounder), a jack crevalle, and a nice dorado for dinner. On their way back to the pier, Adolfo called me on his cell phone telling me “I have a huge area of very large and very hungry gallos located…now would be the perfect time for a fly fisherman…Get me a fly fishing client!”
I lucked out and complied. Chad Hansen of Boise Idaho next fished with Adolfo. He got 3 large roosters on the fly, with one huge fish (over 60 pounds) breaking the leader near the boat.
Ed Kunze
The following is a trip report Eric Lansdon emailed me about his two day fishing experience here in Zihuatanejo:
The Day began with more than a little apprehension by my bride of a little over a week. The first day of fishing in Zihuatanejo hadn’t quite gone exactly as planned. Although I will say that the weather did not cooperate much either. We booked a trip through an online website, and as dumb Americanos, we thought we had it all figured out. The bottom line is we shouldn’t have even gone out that day. The ocean was quite similar to what I am used to fishing out of Winchester Bay Oregon in July- a rolling 6 foot swell (at times 8) with about a foot or two of wind chop. The panga we fished on the first day was not exactly the most comfortable of a ride as we plowed into the oncoming swell for quite some time. Sparing many details, I will say the fishing equipment was poor, the boat was unkempt, yet the skipper was a genuinely nice guy. We ended up with a yellowfin tuna after a couple hours, and I pulled the plug - lest I get a divorce before my honeymoon was over.
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| Eric |
We met Adolfo at seven at the municipal pier, and the first thing I noticed was his gear. Everything was right. Nice rods, nice reels, clean boat, organized tackle….This was a good sign. Furthermore, Adolfo and his deckhand Jesus (pronounced Hey-soos), were immediately very friendly. My Spanish is limited, but I try. Their English was limited, but they gave it their best too, always with a smile. We liked them immediately.
As we made our way out of the Bay and into the open ocean, Adolfo put us into the trough, and gave us a most comfortable ride. After a breathtaking ride along some of the prettiest beaches surrounded by dolphins and sea turtles, we arrived at the spot. As I got up to the front of the boat, I could see porpoises feeding up ahead of us, and baitfish popping along the backs of the swells just before they crashed on the sand.
I was told to cast as far as I could toward the beach, keep my rod tip up, and reel as fast as I could. After a few shots, I was beginning to feel like I had it down, but I began to worry about my wife, as I knew she wouldn’t be able to stand in the front of the boat and do this. I didn’t know that Adolfo had her hooked up with live bait, and was coaching her up on the particulars. I had one really good strike where a fish followed, crashed, and missed. It was one of the most exciting things I have done as a fisherman. On the very next cast, I hooked a smaller one and landed it a short while later. A couple of moments later, just as I was feeling bad for my wife, I look toward the stern and see a needle fish fly out of the water, and I hear Stephanie laughing. I guess she was doing just fine without me.
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| Adolfo, Stefhanie, and Mr. Jack Crevalle |
The next rooster crushed my white and red surface lure about five minutes later. The lures we used were not poppers as I know them as they do not have a blunt end. Rather, they look like short fat cigars that walk across the surface. This fish followed my lure this time, and I could see his rooster like fins behind the bait as it gave chase. In my life, I have never seen a more aggressive bite than this. We were locked up for the next half hour, and when we brought him aboard, I was stunned and tired. After we released him, Stephanie hooked a Jack Crevalle, and I took this time to watch her fight it. I didn’t get to rest long, as I was to tie into yet another 35 lb rooster minutes later. Unfortunately, this fish inhaled the lure and was bleeding when we landed him.
Just as I got back into position at the front of the boat, Stephanie had hooked up again. This fish was different, however, as we didn’t see him immediately. Rather, it was a run, followed by a run, followed by a run. When we did see him, we knew he was special. After about an hour, Stephanie landed a 60lb rooster, and Adolfo said “Erik, welcome to my country!”
This was quite possibly the prettiest fish either of us had seen, and we both agreed to get a replica fiberglass mount made in his honor.
I will say that I have caught marlin, halibut, salmon, and an eight foot sturgeon. These guys have nothing on the rooster. Hands down, hardest fighting fish I have ever experienced. Our totals for the day were five roosters, four needle fish, the jack, and a beautiful Dorado that probably went about ten pounds.
Adolfo is the man. He is not only an amazing fisherman, but a true gentleman. Quite simply, he is the kind of guy you want in your camp. And, he is very, very fishy. There are very few professionals out there who have “it”. This guy is one of them. The harbor is loaded with pangas and many of them charge less. Fishing with Adolfo on the Dos Hermanos was one of those experiences that was truly priceless. You can’t put a number to it. And in about three months, we will have an awesome reminder of our honeymoon hanging on our wall.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
pack it up
The Mogan Man hits the road again this week and he's bringing as many friends as he can with him. First stop, Bradenton for the Mogan Tour. Next weekend, everyone we know is flash mobbing Jensen Beach for that wacky weekend we call Mogan Mania. Pack your bags and come along for the ride!
Let the countdown begin! Mogan Mania is only a week away. Can you stand it? Mogan Maniacs from near and far will pour into River Palm Cottages next Friday to spend a weekend full of friendly fishing fun and festivities. Everyone is invited, so just show up! There's the Meet & Greet Happy Hour on Friday, Family Fun Fishing Showdown Saturday morning, with the Feast and awards party that evening. The Feast is a potluck style dinner so bring your best concoction and a huge appetite! Sunday morning there's usually a coffee gathering at the Chickee to say good-byes before departing for a last minute fishing trip or long trip home. The weekend is a flash in the pan but the memories last a lifetime!
There's still work to be done before we go on vacation. We're bringing the Mogan Tour to Dick's Sporting Goods in Bradenton this Saturday 11am – 4 pm. Come out and meet the AF Crew and get an autographed picture from the Mogan Man himself. We'll have some FREE stuff! Don't forget to drop off your $10 donation to Project Snook and get a bottle of Blair's Boat Wash from Star brite. Pick up a $10 coupon before heading to the checkout lane and save some cash.
Another one of the Mogan Lounge Lizards graces the Mogan of the Week. He just bought a 7'6" Flats Blue rod last week and is already puttin' a whoopin' on the local redfish population. Colby Price, thanks for livening up the Lounge! We always look forward to your contributions of pictures and fish tales.
Packin' a few extra tail feathers,
BillBird
Summer Time, the livin is easy!
So for the past few weeks the summer livin has been easy! Lots of good fishing and good fun! There's no doubt it's been hot, but the fish have had cool squirts of water on them every day and has kept them active. The river has stayed with a pretty medium flow to it with some windows of lower water. We've been clobbering them on attractors and soft hackles. The streamer bite has been great in periods of low light as well and on occasion fish have been willing to eat a dry. Here are a few pictures of some boys and girls who have been enjoying the summer bite. As we creep into August and September the hopper bite should get great. The higher flows are truly to our advantage if you want to try and fool some fish 
on the surface with foam and rubber! In addition, the Hybrids are surfacing on Greers Ferry and feeding hard on threadfin. So, dont forget there is some awesome fishing to be done the rest of the summer!
on the surface with foam and rubber! In addition, the Hybrids are surfacing on Greers Ferry and feeding hard on threadfin. So, dont forget there is some awesome fishing to be done the rest of the summer!
The Snortle Strikes
GULPER GONE DOWN ?
Seek 'Em With A Snortle
fish seem to eat when they can
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.. Light is penetrating the water just fine but, the Pac-Fish action is just now becoming apparent. This is probably because weed beds are just a bit deep for the sensitive bugs that inhabit them to be awakened by the requisite photo-period for maximum intense activity... The wind has been coming on strong a skosh early too. So action is truncated by less than desirable conditions earlier in the mid morning than most fishers would like.
.. All is not lost if the gulpers abandon the surface. Stay with your selected weed forest and go down. Traditionally, the neighbors use small buggers, leeches, and the local favorite the Snortle.
--The Snortle, (spelling can vary,) is a typical silli-legs pattern that is tied variously by different artisans. The recipe for the one shown above is:
Tail: 2 silli-legs about the length of the hook,
Body: peach Antron ribbed with scarlet Antron twisted on top,
Thorax: coarse hare's mask with two pair of silli-legs,
Hook size: 8, (unusual,) to 14, (a tough proposition.)
.. The most common variation is like the standard variety with black wool yarn substituted for the scarlet Antron. Some of the neighbors use a copper or lead wire under-body.
.. The fly is fished on a short, (5 or 6 foot leader and counted down to the weed tops or sides of the subterranean forest. A slow herky-jerky retrieve is the common action used. Brave and intrepid fishers let it sink into the edge of a weed bed and retrieve with a 2" - 3" motion with a 5 or 6 second pause in between.
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asian carp vs the great lakes
One of the best documentaries I've seen yet on the asian carp and the problems we face in the great lakes region. Well worth the time to watch it. This story came from the Detroit Free Press.
Great Fishing Today Despite Rough Seas
Summer brings hot days and great fishing action as well as family members for holidays. Shown here is Tracy's niece Victoria, 15 years old with her first saltwater fish, cutting a good impression on the waterfront.
The family were out aboard "Rebecca" despite 18 knot winds today they fared well. Joe Dubeau aged 13 managed to release a 100 lb sailfish that took him twenty minutes to bring to the boat.
The whole family were all smiles back at the dock.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Dunure
I tried for some bait briefly at the weekend and a local rock mark which is normally pretty good for Mackerel but even these proved hard to get. I managed a few Coalies and a stray Launce hardly what I need for a next weekend and meagre tally for an hours hard feathering when you need about 20 Mackerel .....sometimes you just need a boat.
27/07/11 - Glebe - pool 1
Weight – 111lb 4oz
Catch – 25 Carp
Weather – Mostly sunny and light breeze
Match – MFS Float only – 7th out of 16
24hrs before this match it was fully booked with 20 anglers. However, on Monday 1 dropped out due to a bad back and the other because the first was his lift. Mark was unable to fill the spaces, so 18 for the match. Uh no, after managing to track down 1 non attendee who forgot!! The 4th drop out however with the best (and genuine?) excuse. 5 miles from the fishery he had a car accident…. with a police car – ouch!
With a north/north easterly breeze, I really fancied a draw in the middle of the lake, since there was more likely to be ripple on the water. I was last to draw, with only 18 & 26 left in the bucket, I really wanted Herbie to draw 26, but he didn’t, which meant I was on 26 for 2nd time.
Whilst setting up I was concerned about the flat calm condition, with the ripple starting in front of Nick Merry on p24. As for p18 it looked spot on and I was a touch envious.
Today was all about keeping it simple concentrating on catching shallow, feeding caster. Unfortunately the day was anything but simple. As well as 2 shallow rigs, 2 rigs to fish the 5m line (1x paste and 1x corn) and 1x paste margin rig were set up. I really didn’t fancy the margin today, because the water looked a touch clearer than last time. I did give it a few minutes, but was soon binned. The 5m also failed to produce, so all fish came shallow at 13-14m.
The opening 2 hours was a case finding something that worked. There was plenty of fish coming to the feed, but getting them to take the bait was turning into a mare. I tried various shallow rigs, from only a couple inches to 2ft. I was thankful I brought my pellet waggler rod and fished a loaded puddle chucker, finding it best to fish with a 12” hooklength with 3 or 4 floating maggot to create a really slow fall. In the flat conditions the waggler definitely seemed to be best.
The 1 thing I will say about the Glebe carp is they are fit. I’ve never come across fish that run so hard, I had 1 that managed to straighten a B960 and Mark had a couple straighten a carp feeder hook.
After 3 hours I had 15 fish and after the initial slow start was pleased with my progress, but the following 3 hours became difficult again. The main issue was the Puddle Chucker floats I was using. I had 2 were the clear plastic body popped off the loaded weight attached to the line. The 3rd puddle chucker used had a longer body and wasn’t right for the job. I also went through a period where I lost a few fish, which didn’t improve my mood.
I was disappointed to finish with only 25 fish, but surprised to weigh over a ton. Mark drew the end peg 30, but also had the same problem catching shallow, but his 29 fish weighed 163-0, included 50lb from the margin so obviously some bigger stamp fish.
Nick won from p24, mostly shallow taking advantage of the ripple. As for peg 18, Herbie weighed 111-8 pipping me to the section money by 4oz – gutted!
This was the 6th match in as many days on the lake and the weights still remained impressive and with a more favourable wind, I’m sure there would have some bigger weights.
Immediately after the match I was pretty p****d off, not only because I missed out on a pick up by 4oz, but I knew hadn’t my waggler’s failed I would have caught more. Now is the next day and putting everything in perspective that’s 2 visits to the Glebe and 2 tons, whilst I was disappointed, I was unlucky not to have the ripple and I know I would have caught more. So despite the difficult condition, I think the method was right. Ben on peg 28 fished the pellet waggler, as well as fishing on the deck, but struggled for 51lb.
1st 198-12 – Nick Merry – peg 24
2nd 163- 0 – Mark Poppleton – peg 30
3rd 159- 4 – Holwell – peg 1
3rd 159- 4 – Pete Bailey – peg 4
5th 113- 8 – Tim Suttle – peg 14
6th 111- 8 – Herbie – peg 18
7th 111- 4 – Ken Rayner – peg 26
8th 107- 0 – Clive Pritchard – peg 20
Catch – 25 Carp
Weather – Mostly sunny and light breeze
Match – MFS Float only – 7th out of 16
24hrs before this match it was fully booked with 20 anglers. However, on Monday 1 dropped out due to a bad back and the other because the first was his lift. Mark was unable to fill the spaces, so 18 for the match. Uh no, after managing to track down 1 non attendee who forgot!! The 4th drop out however with the best (and genuine?) excuse. 5 miles from the fishery he had a car accident…. with a police car – ouch!
With a north/north easterly breeze, I really fancied a draw in the middle of the lake, since there was more likely to be ripple on the water. I was last to draw, with only 18 & 26 left in the bucket, I really wanted Herbie to draw 26, but he didn’t, which meant I was on 26 for 2nd time.
Whilst setting up I was concerned about the flat calm condition, with the ripple starting in front of Nick Merry on p24. As for p18 it looked spot on and I was a touch envious.
Today was all about keeping it simple concentrating on catching shallow, feeding caster. Unfortunately the day was anything but simple. As well as 2 shallow rigs, 2 rigs to fish the 5m line (1x paste and 1x corn) and 1x paste margin rig were set up. I really didn’t fancy the margin today, because the water looked a touch clearer than last time. I did give it a few minutes, but was soon binned. The 5m also failed to produce, so all fish came shallow at 13-14m.
The opening 2 hours was a case finding something that worked. There was plenty of fish coming to the feed, but getting them to take the bait was turning into a mare. I tried various shallow rigs, from only a couple inches to 2ft. I was thankful I brought my pellet waggler rod and fished a loaded puddle chucker, finding it best to fish with a 12” hooklength with 3 or 4 floating maggot to create a really slow fall. In the flat conditions the waggler definitely seemed to be best.
The 1 thing I will say about the Glebe carp is they are fit. I’ve never come across fish that run so hard, I had 1 that managed to straighten a B960 and Mark had a couple straighten a carp feeder hook.
After 3 hours I had 15 fish and after the initial slow start was pleased with my progress, but the following 3 hours became difficult again. The main issue was the Puddle Chucker floats I was using. I had 2 were the clear plastic body popped off the loaded weight attached to the line. The 3rd puddle chucker used had a longer body and wasn’t right for the job. I also went through a period where I lost a few fish, which didn’t improve my mood.
I was disappointed to finish with only 25 fish, but surprised to weigh over a ton. Mark drew the end peg 30, but also had the same problem catching shallow, but his 29 fish weighed 163-0, included 50lb from the margin so obviously some bigger stamp fish.
Nick won from p24, mostly shallow taking advantage of the ripple. As for peg 18, Herbie weighed 111-8 pipping me to the section money by 4oz – gutted!
This was the 6th match in as many days on the lake and the weights still remained impressive and with a more favourable wind, I’m sure there would have some bigger weights.
Immediately after the match I was pretty p****d off, not only because I missed out on a pick up by 4oz, but I knew hadn’t my waggler’s failed I would have caught more. Now is the next day and putting everything in perspective that’s 2 visits to the Glebe and 2 tons, whilst I was disappointed, I was unlucky not to have the ripple and I know I would have caught more. So despite the difficult condition, I think the method was right. Ben on peg 28 fished the pellet waggler, as well as fishing on the deck, but struggled for 51lb.
1st 198-12 – Nick Merry – peg 24
2nd 163- 0 – Mark Poppleton – peg 30
3rd 159- 4 – Holwell – peg 1
3rd 159- 4 – Pete Bailey – peg 4
5th 113- 8 – Tim Suttle – peg 14
6th 111- 8 – Herbie – peg 18
7th 111- 4 – Ken Rayner – peg 26
8th 107- 0 – Clive Pritchard – peg 20
milwaukee river smallies redemption part 2
Part 2-
After a quick snack, I was back after a few more bass to round out my morning of smallie fishing on the Milwaukee River. The early part of the morning had gone great and I was really starting to feel like I was making some progress dissecting this immense river. This was my first completely wet wade wearing only swim trunks and a pair of old sneakers. I was cool as a cucumber all day long and only needed to drop down shoulder deep when I even suspected it was hot out. The river was running cool and clear and I felt comfortable even though a tad creeped out about what I may rub up against. Do you ever really know what’s hanging out in those deep pools?
New Water-
The new water that was recommended to me, came from a member of the DTA (Driftless Trout Anglers, the best trout forum around). This guy is from Minnesota and saw my earlier blog posts from the Milwaukee River. He instantly knew what stretch of the river I was fishing and shot me an email regarding his exploits in the area along with a few tips. It was info that was much appreciated, so I wanna thank you. I bumped into him on a Dane County stream earlier this summer but didn’t realize who he was until we posted about our days on the DTA. Talk about really having a huge fishing search radius! From the twin cities to mad town, the mil and everything in between! And I thought I traveled to find fish? Mucho respect brother, mucho respect!
In general, this section of river held faster and shallower runs with a lot more chutes and funnels. The water, ripping threw the narrower areas, was propelled out the other side with almost a white water effect. It was a much more difficult wade that left me pretty banged up from the heavy rock bottom and a few near stumbles. To shallow there for cranking so I opted for a nothing special, white spinner bait. It was the perfect tool to pick that water apart, plus no hanging up in the weeds. The fish here were in the textbook spots. The tail outs from the fast current produced when ambush spots were present. Smallies caught from the current areas sure fought harder then those taken from pools. Also, I picked off numerous fish by burning the spinner over those “pot holes” or minor depressions in the river bed. The pools were only a few feet deeper then the surrounding water but inevitably held some good fish. The back side of boulders and current breaks were also good bets. Fifteen fish wasn’t bad for a morning out on the river, and finally decided to call it a day. I don’t know where this weekend will take me, yet. If I do end up back on the Milwaukee rest assured I will explore her deeper and further than ever before.
After a quick snack, I was back after a few more bass to round out my morning of smallie fishing on the Milwaukee River. The early part of the morning had gone great and I was really starting to feel like I was making some progress dissecting this immense river. This was my first completely wet wade wearing only swim trunks and a pair of old sneakers. I was cool as a cucumber all day long and only needed to drop down shoulder deep when I even suspected it was hot out. The river was running cool and clear and I felt comfortable even though a tad creeped out about what I may rub up against. Do you ever really know what’s hanging out in those deep pools?
New Water-
The new water that was recommended to me, came from a member of the DTA (Driftless Trout Anglers, the best trout forum around). This guy is from Minnesota and saw my earlier blog posts from the Milwaukee River. He instantly knew what stretch of the river I was fishing and shot me an email regarding his exploits in the area along with a few tips. It was info that was much appreciated, so I wanna thank you. I bumped into him on a Dane County stream earlier this summer but didn’t realize who he was until we posted about our days on the DTA. Talk about really having a huge fishing search radius! From the twin cities to mad town, the mil and everything in between! And I thought I traveled to find fish? Mucho respect brother, mucho respect!
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| a scenic stretch of the milwaukee river |
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| a milwaukee river bluff |
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| burning a spinnerbait for milwaukee river smallies |
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| last bass of the day |
Commercial Striped Bass Fishing!
Up at 3:30 am this morning. Headed out to do some commercial striped bass fishing on the Atlantic side of the Cape. Here is an early morning shot of the old school harbor:
You know Cape Cod is pretty much one of the coolest places on earth for a fish geek like myself. The only problem with the Cape is that Boston is only one hour away and pretty much every major city on the East Coast is nearby. Big cities bring lots of people and I pretty much don't like people in general.
We motored out to a remote beach and spotted a bunch of birds dive bombing baitfish. Instantly hooked up the moment our big diamond jigs hit the water! Crazy. Insane. Unbelievably Awesome. My first striper was a 10 lber, but it was too short to keep. They have to be 34 inches long to be legal fish and we caught tons of 32" 10 lbers. Here are some pictures of short fish that had to be released:
We also caught a handful of bluefish today as well:
So altogether we caught and released about 45 short fish in the 8-10 lb range. Along with the short fish though, we caught our limit of legal fish! Legal fish are in the 13-30 lb range and our limit was 30 of those monster fish. Our biggest fish today was 27 lbs and our average keeper was 17 lbs. Here are a bunch of pictures, fishing was just blow your mind incredible today.
Justin caught the biggest fish of the day:
We were fishing very close to the beach. Here is a photo of just how close:
Here is a shot of the view looking out. When the schools of stripers are located, every boat within miles come running in to get a piece of the action. Lots and lots of boats. Our remote beach turned into a zoo by the time we left.
We were one of the first boats to limit out today! We filled the cooler up completely by 1 pm with 509 lbs of stripers and 47 lbs of bluefish!
Basically you cast out a big jig/spoon bait and real it in as fast as you possibly can. The big stripers come out of nowhere and smash your bait so hard it about rips the pole out of your hands. The coolest thing is that you literally watch each fish slam the bait! My arms are completely and utterly jello right now. Just picking up each bite of food to put in my mouth is not easy with such sore arms, but I am managing.
As a matter of fact I am eating seared scallops on top of seared pear slices marinated in some special Cape Cod lemon marinade. Eating while I type. Take a look at this appetizer:
Also we are having more lobsters, fresh striped bass, and fresh bluefish. We brought some fresh striped bass to the neighbor lobster lady and she dug us out 3 nice big lobsters in exchange to compliment our dinner. Seriously, this is as good as it gets. Pretty much the best food on the planet and Brett is a gourmet chef.
So before I forget, we were fishing with Steve today. Steve is a 5th grade school teacher here on the cape and he commercial fishes in the summer. He was focussed and determined all day, no messing around. Finally once we just about had the fish box full of fish I got him to pose for a quick photo.
Steve and I make a great team. He needs help catching 30 stripers everyday, and Justin and I love fishing in the Ocean for free. Tomorrow we will be to Steves at 4:30 am ready to roll!!! My arms hurt, my stomach hurts, and I am tired. Too much fishing and eating. One thing is for certain, this boy is Fat and Happy! Sleeping will be nice, tomorrow will be here soon.
You know Cape Cod is pretty much one of the coolest places on earth for a fish geek like myself. The only problem with the Cape is that Boston is only one hour away and pretty much every major city on the East Coast is nearby. Big cities bring lots of people and I pretty much don't like people in general.
We motored out to a remote beach and spotted a bunch of birds dive bombing baitfish. Instantly hooked up the moment our big diamond jigs hit the water! Crazy. Insane. Unbelievably Awesome. My first striper was a 10 lber, but it was too short to keep. They have to be 34 inches long to be legal fish and we caught tons of 32" 10 lbers. Here are some pictures of short fish that had to be released:
We also caught a handful of bluefish today as well:
So altogether we caught and released about 45 short fish in the 8-10 lb range. Along with the short fish though, we caught our limit of legal fish! Legal fish are in the 13-30 lb range and our limit was 30 of those monster fish. Our biggest fish today was 27 lbs and our average keeper was 17 lbs. Here are a bunch of pictures, fishing was just blow your mind incredible today.
Justin caught the biggest fish of the day:
We were fishing very close to the beach. Here is a photo of just how close:
Here is a shot of the view looking out. When the schools of stripers are located, every boat within miles come running in to get a piece of the action. Lots and lots of boats. Our remote beach turned into a zoo by the time we left.
We were one of the first boats to limit out today! We filled the cooler up completely by 1 pm with 509 lbs of stripers and 47 lbs of bluefish!
Basically you cast out a big jig/spoon bait and real it in as fast as you possibly can. The big stripers come out of nowhere and smash your bait so hard it about rips the pole out of your hands. The coolest thing is that you literally watch each fish slam the bait! My arms are completely and utterly jello right now. Just picking up each bite of food to put in my mouth is not easy with such sore arms, but I am managing.
As a matter of fact I am eating seared scallops on top of seared pear slices marinated in some special Cape Cod lemon marinade. Eating while I type. Take a look at this appetizer:
Also we are having more lobsters, fresh striped bass, and fresh bluefish. We brought some fresh striped bass to the neighbor lobster lady and she dug us out 3 nice big lobsters in exchange to compliment our dinner. Seriously, this is as good as it gets. Pretty much the best food on the planet and Brett is a gourmet chef.
So before I forget, we were fishing with Steve today. Steve is a 5th grade school teacher here on the cape and he commercial fishes in the summer. He was focussed and determined all day, no messing around. Finally once we just about had the fish box full of fish I got him to pose for a quick photo.
Steve and I make a great team. He needs help catching 30 stripers everyday, and Justin and I love fishing in the Ocean for free. Tomorrow we will be to Steves at 4:30 am ready to roll!!! My arms hurt, my stomach hurts, and I am tired. Too much fishing and eating. One thing is for certain, this boy is Fat and Happy! Sleeping will be nice, tomorrow will be here soon.
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