That's better...

 

Just back from, reflecting on and recovering from another epic trip to the Copper Coast which turned out better than my previous trip 2 Wks ago when it delt me a good hiding in the form of a massive blank for 10 hrs hard fishing including dusk, dawn and night sessions! So this time it turned out better for me but again four hrs fishing at dusk and into the darkness on Friday evening produced nothing in the way of fish landed or even a hit I must admit to getting that "Here we go again feeling" but I kept at it, trying  to be as focused as possible on the key times and locations. On key times remarkably for a Bass fisherman I've rarely made the effort to get out early let alone pre-dawn in the past but this season it's accounted for probably over half my fish, I said of an earlier trip away that I'd made double the effort for half the "Normal" results and I'd extend that to my 2012 season as a whole. So back out early on the Sat morning I got hit OTD pretty much straight away when fishing off a strand and landed a reasonable fish in the darkness before moving onto the rocks as it began to get light and landing a better fish of about 5lb to a 14g weedless jig / One up Shad fished sink and draw, things were looking up.. I then moved and got smashed again on the One up shad off a rocky point which turned out to be a very nice fish probably getting on for about 7lb. I fished on for a couple of hours as the spring tide raced out on a beautiful sunny morning with no further action before returning to the Grand Hotel for breakfast and an hours rest and then on to Absolute Fishing for a much needed cup of Coffee. At Absolute there was a real buzz around the place with a few tales of big fish lost including a possible mid double for one inconsolable local, encouraged I headed back out to fish the flood which I did for a further six hrs until fatigue finally got the better of me and I climbed back up the faboulous cliffs of the Copper Coast one last time and started the weary drive home. So all in all a better result but still not great for about 14 hrs focused fishing, it does have to be said though that my knowledge of the CC is pretty basic but improving with each trip. Great to meet new people such as the Neely's who assisted me with landing the larger fish and who I bumped into at most of the spots I visited (Cheers Guys) and also good to catch up with all the locals. Looking forward to doing it all again some time soon...  

Monster Largemouth Bass

Down in Southern Illinois on Friday we shocked up a very large largemouth bass.


Growing trophy largemouth bass is not an easy thing to do in a natural balanced typical pond or lake setting. Most people think given enough time that a bass will grow 3-5 lbs and if lucky even bigger...Not So!

Let me just tell you straight up that a bass that is born in your lake or pond will grow to 12 inches long and if your lucky 14-15 inches....if you disagree, so be it.

The average adult full grown 5-7 year old largemouth bass in Illinois is simply 12 inches or just a hair shorter.

So anyhow one tip to growing trophy largemouth in your stunted pond is believe it or not, but to stock some bigger sized largemouth in there! The food source is depleted for the little guys, but if they could just get up to the 14-16 inch size with a few 'good' years left they will turn into trophies like the above pictured bass or the below pictured bass in short order:


Bass of different lengths have different food needs, certain size bass may be starving whereas other size bass in the same body of water are thriving.....The key to growing a trophy bass is to make sure that every day of her life she has exactly what she needs to eat.

Once you have a baseline for what your lake provides in terms of forage, its much easier to have a mgmt plan for correct harvesting and stocking. Most people have the most simple forms of management dead wrong for producing the fishery that they want.

I still have a couple open dates in October for Electrofishing Surveys. Pretty much got trips headed in all directions of the state so if you want to check out your fish population and have alot of fun doing it, just call me up 309-303-5691. This is THE BEST TIME OF YEAR for pretty much everything, Electrofishing Included.....

Doubles up...

Some exceptional reports have been coming into us here in the shop over the weekend. Here is just one of the big fish we have heard of, Ger had this 11lb yesterday morning. 

There are some quality fish being had along the Waterford coastline at the moment. Make sure to make the most of it!

Tight lines.....

smoke on the water

In the fall, night likes to hang on just a little bit longer and just a little bit colder then the previous night. The cold air combined with the warm water is a sure combination for fog and even some of your most traveled beats can become transformed into someplace new.

a foggy fall morning on the fox river (wisconsin)

Now, I wouldn't actually attest that fog can help fishing. To tell the truth, I don't have any memorable fish stories that I can recall while fishing in the clouds. But, it sure does give some other purpose to fishing other than just catching the fish; to be there when the familiar becomes foreign again.

a fox river smallmouth bass, wisconsin style

 It also doesn't hurt the morning either when the fish bite after the fog burns off!

Big Fish Continue 722 lb Blue Marlin Caught Today

 

 

These guys look happy and why not, they never expected to catch a 722 lb blue marlin. In fact the last time angler Dave Smith, from Atlanta caught anything close was a 55l lb'er twenty five years ago at Walkers Cay, Bahamas.

 



The fish was caught aboard the 46 ft Bertram Attitude Adjustment three miles from the Herradura which is about eleven miles straight out from Land's End. The fish took a 3.5 Zuker that was green and yellow. This area proved productive for Captain Edgar Renteria,  has been a part of Pisces for over 18 years, started out by hooking up two sailfish, one released, one broke off, followed by a 35 lb dorado. Twelve minutes after putting the lures back in the water, BAM, they got hit out of nowhere by this huge fish that almost spooled them. Fifty-eight year old Dave Smith spoke to us from the boat not long after the fish was on board he was awed by the whole event but thrilled " This fish came out of nowwhere, it almost spooled us but we recovered line; it was a brute - every time we would get it as close as twenty feet, it would take off at full speed and rip off line". Dave is a project supervisor for an industrial flooring company and was here with Tom Montour also from Atlanta and colleagues Jack Bown and Clint Dean from Chattanooga. They do a yearly guys trip to fish and have been to such locations as Costa Rica and the Bahamas but as Dave said "there is nothing like Cabo, its the best, we will definitely be back. I have the utmost respect for the professionalism of the crew". When asked if they had killed the fish or if it had died he replied "It took almost two hours to bring to the boat and the last time, it was very tired, it was done, it floated sideways. I think it's heart exploded". The guys did not have to kill the fish, it was already gone, now the question was how to get it into the boat? Mother nature helped - they opened the transom door and the swells pushed it right in the back of the boat, aided by the flying gaffs they used to secure the fish. Attitude Adjustment forms part of Pisces Fleet.
This is not the only large fish; we got a report of a 600 lb blue marlin taken on a commercial panga at Punta Lobos yesterday.
This bodes well for the upcoming billfish tournaments - but it would be really nice if somehow a release format could be implemented.

Gallatin View

GREAT FUN

..

Get a Grip...

Just got one of these from Cian at Absolute fishing after donating my previous grip to the Copper Coast (Don't ask). First impression are good, well built, 0 -10kg scales incorporated (But please don't hang fish directly off of any grip) decent sheath, comes with lanyard and all for half the price of the original Boga. One feature I like is the single finger action and the protection of the finger by the grip unlike the original Boga which puts the fingers far too close to the action for my liking. 
This looks like a great product from Savage Gear.

Panga Rescued

We are pleased to report that the panga that was almost totally sunk yesterday is well on the way to recovery, shown here a few minutes ago is the rescue operation. Several guys were pulling it on ropes, watched by a group of onlookers.

 

 

The Sun is Out, but Port is Closed!

This is a quick snapshot of the marina taken at 11.00 am, as you can see day is beautiful seas are flat, but the Port Captain closed the port again today. To be honest it did look gray this morning and there was more surge than normal, but right now things are beautiful - we are ready for tomorrow.
Let's go fishing!

What The Rain Did

Today we had intermittent heavy rain and with the ground still humid from the previous rain, we saw a fair bit of damage to dirt roads and flooding on side streets, nevertheless you could still get around without too much of a problem.
Below is a photo of the the entrance to the swanky Puerto Paraiso Mall, situated at the end of Leona Vicario Street, which acts like a direct funnel for the rain straight into its main doors, however, they got wise and erected this barrier, causing the runoff to detour a short way to the boat ramp and the marina.

 

 

This next photo was snapped right in front of our office on the marina and shows what can happen in a heavy rain if you are not checking your panga....



More Giant Fish In Cabo!

Mario, our dockmaster got a call this morning from an excited panga captain, who asked him to come down and take a photo of a large rooster fish a client had caught with him. Happy to oblige Mario went down and came back with this:

Captain Ivan hoists the roosterfish which is almost his size aloft - it weighed 75 lbs.

Captain Ivan got an early start, despite the rain aboard his 22 ft panga "Gloria" with angler John Sato from Palm Springs, Ca. aboard and hooked up this beauty just fifteen feet from shore, on a live caballito at Cerros de Arena. John took 40 minutes to subdue this huge rooster on a Shimano TLD 15 spooled withe 30 lb test line. The fish weighed 75 lbs.

 

 

Shown in this photo John Sato middle, Captain Ivan right and an unidentified friend left



 



 





Elsewhere

DENALI LIGHTS - WOW

Glacier Gets It Together

just a bit of a pause

..

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.. Just think of the electrons involved in that video. Do we really need lead-lined underwear?

.. Will Yellowstone National Park ever ignore commercial interests in favor of the preservation of native fish? Glacier National Park is!

LINK

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PORT OPEN!

Boats were able to go out fishing yesterday and did well on dorado more than any other species. Weights were seldom over 25 lbs and the top catch was aboard "Valerie" with seven total. Tuna catches were not bad either with catches ranging from two, to a ten catch day aboard "Ruthless", with weights up to 35 lbs. The only billfish was aboard "Rebecca"; they released a sailfish and caught four dorado for Rhonda Jones and friends from Windsor, Colorado.  Today we saw some rain showers between 4.30 and 7.30 am but boats went out, right now skies are cloudy but no rain, we will have an update on what was caught when the boats return after 3.00 pm

Are you up for a Challenge?

Mogan Tour news

Addictive Fishing has done it again!  Fans of AF know that there’s always something cutting edge going on behind doors that will excite, entertain and challenge anglers of all ages.  Well, if you’re up for the challenge, put your angling skills to the test at the first Addictive Fishing Weekend Warrior Challenge presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods. Whether you fish from shore, from a kayak, or by boat, you could win big prizes. $25 get’s you entered and fishing with some cool AF sponsor schwag ($50 value). All proceeds benefit Project Snook and Recycled Fish. For your convenience, Captain’s meetings will be held simultaneously at five Tampa Bay Dick’s Sporting Goods locations (Brandon, Wesley Chapel, Citrus Park, Bradenton & Clearwater - Tournament Headquarters) on Friday, November 2nd. You MUST attend to pick up your tournament photo identifier card, pick up your awesome captain’s bucket and pay your entry fee. Get pre-registered online today at addictivefishing.com. 

Coming up on Addictive Fishing

The 2012 season of Addictive Fishing has now arrived on the Sportsman Channel!  While your weather may be turning cold, rainy or even snow (yes, that 4 letter word everyone loves this time of year, “s n o w”) you can stay warm and cozy while you watch Capt. Blair Wiggins hook into redfish in Georgia, triple tail in St. Augustine, snapper in Bimini, tarpon in Tampa and permit in Boca Grand. Those are just a few reasons to make sure your DVR is set for those chilly nights you need to cuddle on the couch to catch some rod bendin’ drag screamin’ saltwater action.  Get ready for episode #1 – Brunswick Stew on Monday, October 1^st at 9 a.m. . . The Mogan Man fishes the extreme flood tides for beautiful redfish in the grass flats of Georgia with Capt. Scott Owens.  If you miss Monday’s airing, tune in Thursdays at 6 p.m and Saturdays Primetime at 7 p.m. for the replay. 

 

Mogan Man in Tampa this weekend

Want to meet the Mogan Man or just catch up on what’s new?  Come see Capt. Blair Wiggins and the AF Crew this Saturday at the Tampa Boat Show.  Capt. Blair will be hanging out exclusively on a Ranger boat in the Family Boating Center’s booth from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. If you can’t be on the water, why not at least be on a boat?

Missing Billbird

The Addictive Fishing Family has said goodbye to a dear friend and team member – Mark “Cooknfish” Bellotte (aka Billbird).  Billbird is flying high with the angels in search of brighter skies and we all miss him very much.  We’d like to dedicate this season to him and his passion for life, fishing, nature, photography and for touching all of our lives.  Thank you for sharing your gifts with us Billbird. 

Z Fish Report (9/27/12)

The 82° blue water is still basically following the 100 fathom line about 5 miles off the beach, and all up and down the coast. The sailfish action was slow this week, and will not get any better next week due to the full moon period. The boats are accounting for a few dorado though.

Don and Mary Grantges, with fishing partner H. C. Lee (all from Arlington, Texas) fished the blue water with Cheva this last Monday, and had a typical blue water day. They got a nice dorado at the color break, and not even a strike after that. They worked the areas out to 12 miles, and then back again.

On Tuesday they fished the inshore with Cheva, and here is what Don emailed me:

Don with one of the 9 roosters they got
with Cheva

Yesterday, we went down to the antennas and beyond before we found the roosters. We caught nine Roosters and maybe lost another four or five. I was casting and H C was trolling with live bait. We were having good luck on the Rangers and poppers. I think the Rangers caught more.

Don with a  hard fighting 24 pound jack crevalle

When everyone was tired from catching roosters and casting we headed back looking for some small game action with the black skipjack tuna. Then we spotted birds around the Solitary Rock outside of Z harbor and got into the jacks. The biggest jack crevalle was 24#. We also caught a nice Sierra, and we are having ceviche today. We plan to go up to Troncones tomorrow with Cheva.. Looking for more Sierras.

Ed Kunze (IGFA Representative)

For a better understanding of our seasons and species of fish here in Ixtapa /Zihuatanejo, please click on this link: http://calendarforfishing.blogspot.mx/

Helicopter, Fish and Big Deer....

On Monday afternoon, I made my way up to Princeton, IL. I pull into a new property about 10 minutes early and wait for a new client to show up. After a few minutes of nosing around the new Morton Building going up, here comes a helicopter...Yep, it comes in low and lands right out front. Jason waives me over and says get in....

So my first conversation with the guy who wants to build a waterskiing and wakeboarding lake is "are you sure this thing can hold an extra 300 lbs?" He goes "oh yeah we are real low on fuel so should be no problem....." Mighty reassuring getting into a helicopter that is low on fuel.....Can you imagine landing a helicopter that has run out of fuel.....


But needless to say it was stinkin awesome zipping around in that thing checking out the new lake site and such....Picture a nice water skiing lake in this cleared out valley.....




The week before I was in Cedar Rapids and Brighton, Iowa with Allen Electrofishing a bunch of lakes and ponds for 4 different landowners. Allen snapped some pretty cool pics....












The first guys place was an 8 year old pond that was stocked with bass, hybrid bluegill, crappie, catfish, walleye, and lots o grass carp.....recommendations from the Iowa DNR guy....that guy giving out those kind of recommendations is gutsy, but clueless.....One thing we take for granted here in Illinois is that we have ROCK SOLID DNR Fisheries Biologists from Southern Illinois all the way to the top of Northern Illinois...Randy's pond is now back on track....

Oh yeah also Randy's son and his son's friend both shot very nice deer the night before we arrived on the farm. Iowa has a youth shotgun season before their bow season starts.....hey Illinois boys how about that, let the kids get a crack at the big boys when the weather is nice and before yall go out and educate em....





Then up to Cedar Rapids for a couple places and spend the night at good friend Kevins place. So I met Kevin a couple years back at a national Pond Boss conference....took on the task of helping him grow monster bluegills over in Iowa and now because of him and his success we have shocked and made management plans for over a dozen of his buddies lakes and properties and now we are scheduling his buddies' buddies' places for next spring trip that way....very cool and lots of fun.

Drake is growing up fast. Here are a couple super hero shots:



Ok so he's growing up fast, but a little slow....but super smart all at the same time. He wants to wear underwear, but not quite ready to be potty trained. I got a good compromise with the combo and ok so he probably could or should be potty trained, but life is just a bit too busy and hectic to take on that task just finishing up this house and getting ready to move and such.... I did manage to squeeze a couple evenings in at the house and am getting the wood shakes up:


That gable is actually finished now, just dont have an updated pic...

Also in the last week we shocked some local lakes, stocked a couple ponds in Eastern Illinois with big stripers and feed trained bass and been getting some good trail cam pics sent in!!!








On Sunday I fell into a deep sleep at some point during the Bears-Rams game and didnt wake up until about 20 hours later. I got hit with a little bug (and some pain medication) that pretty much put me out. Anyhow back at it full force. Today the guys were plugging away on another dock project and I was meeting with Dr. Gumm about fencing options for his property and then up over near Gilson helping a client purchase his perfect 50 acre dream farm with a 2 acre pond....and making sure the dream farm all checks out...

Thursday Im stuck in the office, but Friday out to Taylorville for an electrofishing survey to help create a canadian themed lake......

Anomolies

WRONG TIME AND PLACE

Wrong Bugs, Wrong Fish

what's a fisher to do ??

SIZE 20, 22, 24 - THAT'S SMALL !!!

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.. It happens. Experts may have a fancy explanation. The fish figure it out very quickly. Fishers often remain befuddled. We got lucky.
.. Early morning is not our favorite time. The Firehole River and the Madison River have their compensations at this time of day. They are quiet, there are elk and otters, bears and moose, - AND - no tour buses.
.. We weren't expecting the damn fish to ignore the early caddis hatch. We weren't expecting to have to strain the peepers to get flies on the tippet. We weren't expecting an explosion of Tricos to clog our ears. But it happened.

.. Why would any self respecting trout ignore the perfect glut of caddis and BWO's? Why, given the smorgasbord of yummy morsels so dense that even we could see them, would they be sipping daintily on flies so small that they looked like dust in a maelstrom?
.. When we finally figured it out there were tourists of the "Granny Set" chugging around the pull-outs. We had to hike back to the vehicle and grab the miniscule box of microscopic flies.
.. Happily there were several flies that still had tippet tied to them by the kind and indulgent neighbor kids. We left the car. Galumphed back to the water. And wonder of wonders caught a 12" brook trout in a place that is currently being fished for 22" Brown Trout. That may just be better than a monster Brown! We'll take it.
.. Took a nap at noon and dreamt about spots of a different color.

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P.S. A skosh more rain. Rivers up. Color in some. Big fish racing upstream with new flows. Sky becoming leaden. No snow below 7,000' asl. Get on the rivers now.

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Port Closed

Sad to report that the port was closed today for absolutely no reason....we had anglers chomping at the bit, our whole team was up early and ready to go, lunches ordered, beers and ice stocked, when the Port Captain declared the port closed to navegation! The reason given was Hurriane Miriam located hundreds of miles from us and not likely to come anywhere close. There are no waves, the water is dead calm, no wind and no rain. REALLY, they should go out and take a look not sit and look at a computer screen. They wouldn't even allow the cruise ship passengers to get off, so the ship high-tailed it out of Cabo, adding to the loss of thousands of dollars in much needed revenue for local business. As you can tell we are pretty ticked off.

Slug-Go-Tastic!

 

Ravina on The Lakes Event This Weekend

Ravina on the lakes hosts tons of weddings and such each year, 99.99% unfishing related stuff. BUT, this event they are hosting open to the public they will actually let you bring your fishing pole and cast a line out into the water. Plus all the other fun stuff listed below... Let me just say that Ravina's Lakes are home to some of the biggest bass in all of Central Illinois......almost worth having your wedding reception there just to have a crack at a monster......

30TH ANNIVERSARY AND OPEN HOUSE Sunday September 30 , 2012 FREE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 1 PM -- 4PM      Join Ravina...on the Lakes in celebrating 30 years of memorable events in Central IL!    For the first time ever, Ravina...on the Lakes is hosting a FREE event open to the public.  Bring your family and friends for a fun time in the park.     Enjoy the beautiful grounds, hike the trails, fish in the lake, take a hayrack ride, and grab a hot dog and chips.  And that's not all!  There will be Fun on the Run inflatables, the Zoo Crew facepainting, Segway rides from World on Wheels, and a family friendly movie with popcorn and cotton candy for everyone.  Stay and show off your dance moves with music by DJ Don Baker.   FREE Family Friendly Fun!  Sunday September 30 2012 1pm - 4pm

ONLY REQUIREMENT FOR ENTRY : A HEALTHY               APPETITE FOR FUN AND FOOD                             5326 W Charter Oak Road Peoria, Il 61615 309-692-3222 ravina-onthelakes.com.

Grab The Groceries

BRIEF FRESHETTE IN RIVERS

Big Fish Bail Out Of Holes

estuary fish smell the bordellos

TIME FOR THE HEAVY ARTILLERY 

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.. Last night's gentle rain was scattered, mostly, throughout the Madison River drainage. It was just measurable in some areas and up to 2" in others. It was enough to raise the river level by as much as 10" or more and cool the flows to fish-stimulating temperatures.

SIZE 20 MADISON MAULER - DEADLY

.. Discharge on the Madison River near West Yellowstone increased by a meager  45 cfs. That is, however, enough to carry the enticing aromas of the river to the estuaries of Hebgen Reservoir.
.. There was a bit less rain in the upper Gallatin River drainage. The exposed point bars and segmented pools should continue to act as little hoosegows for the migrants - until a significant bit of rain bumps them out of their stupor.
.. Resident fish in both drainages have been displaced by the runners and migrants.
.. They are scattered in secondary hides throughout both systems. They are eating small scraps of fluff, anything that looks like a White Miller Caddis, or sundry nymphs of miniscule proportions and even little twigs.

TONE ON TONE AND SPOTS ON SPOTS

.. Some of these displaced residents, (in both drainages,) are up to 18" and surprisingly feisty right now, (is this displacement behavior?)
.. What ever the reason, and whatever the situation it's a good time for catching.
.. Big fish on little flies, giant fish on enormous flies, all fish on caddis of some sort - OR - a size 8 Parachute Adams, (brown variant if you have one.)
.. Over the weekend we observed one hole on the Gallatin River and one on the Madison River where it was difficult to see the cobbles of the river bed for the density of fish.
.. This is about to change. Yes they were, indeed, stacked in there like cord wood. They won't be there tomorrow.
.. There are many techniques for taking the runners and migrants. There is one constant that seems to hold true: HIT THEM IN THE NOSE!! This means moving and casting to cover lots of water. It means exercise and more exercise. It does not mean planting your duff in one spot and flailing the water to a froth - although we see it done this way each time we visit the rivers.
.. We hope the air clears. We hope the fires diminish. We hope there is a good crop of runners. We hope that everyone that wants one - gets one, (or a dozen.)
.. We've been lucky. Our quota has been filled. Perhaps by the coming weekend they will be up by Gibbon Falls and there will be a bright overcast afternoon. It's an annual event for the neighbors. Maybe we'll catch a few more.

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LOW WATER - CRAMPED QUARTERS - SMOKE - COLORS - BIG FISH