my sunday morning sanctuary

Today I woke up and the river was calling me. I had the day off and thought I might as well go ahead and go to my church....yeah, that would be the river. It's probably the warmest,sunniest day of 2010. Not the ideal streamer weather, but I just couldn't resist. I started off chucking yellow and had several flashes and tags, but could not get anybody to commit. I switched colors and a few moments later I saw this big beauty come out from the undercut bank and crush my fly! As I brought her in some guys in the yard asked me if I wanted to come up and borrow their skillet! I laughed and said, "no thanks, she's going right back where she came from" and I think the guys had to pick their jaws up off the floor as I put the fish back in the river. Hopefully I will see her again soon!

a few new tricks

Friday evening I got a call about guiding on Saturday. I jumped all over it! I had met Clint several times at the launch and seen him on the river, but never had the chance to fish him. We had some of the lowest water of the year. Haven't seen much of that lately. We got to fish some of my favorite drifts using regular nymphing techniques which was great. We caught fish pretty consistently all morning. We enjoyed a nice turkey sammy and a cream soda for lunch and by that time the water had caught us so we ran back up, put the boat on the trailer, and headed up river. We did some cool two unit high water fishing and caught several nice rainbows! Clint had no idea you could fish in that kind of water, so he came away with some cool new secrets for fishing on his own. We had great weather which was also a plus!

Big John and The Farns.

Thursday I took out John and Robert. I hadn't had a chance to fish these guys since the fall, so it was their first trip of 2010. It was a cold day and we spent the first half of the day breaking ice out of the rod guides. We didn't have much of a low water window but we found some willing fish. The guys caught mostly rainbows with a few brownies thrown in the mix. It turned out to be a rather nice afternoon, full of good times.

ice fishing (lake county, il)

I was fishing this weekend with Blake and his son Lucas. Since we were bringing Blake’s son Lucas we agreed we needed a spot with nonstop action. I suggested the same lake I fished last weekend because it had treated us very well. The agreed start time was 6am, They were right on time, and I was late by almost an hour. By the time I got there they were already on fish, and had 2 flags set. I set my 2 flags and took advantage of the youngsters 3 extra lines by setting a few more out for him.

luke with a nice gill

After some non-stop bluegill action the cold got the best of Lucas and we setup camp. Once we were warm inside the shack the fish bite really started to heat up as well. We were hooking fish after fish and passing the rod off to Lucas. There was one point we had a fish on all four of the jigging rods. Lucas was in bluegill heaven and loved every minute of it. I think that “gill billy” is his new favorite word. He also took great pleasure in mocking us when we caught an undersized fish and at the age of 4 he’s already a smack talking pro.

a bent rod and a smiling face

Enough about the pan fish. Finally, the first flag of the day pops and that spindle is humming. With a solid hook set I am forced into hand to hand combat. I see a decent largemouth dart from one side of the hole to the other. I land him and he’s a respectable 17 incher.

tip up bass

After another half hour of Lucas catching bluegills my tip down goes off . At the end of the line was a nice 9inch crappie.

crappie on the artic warrior

 Soon after Blake’s tip down trips, this is no crappie the rod is bent and drag is ripping. Fish on! After a short fight I help lip his largemouth.

another tip up bass

Our great success doesn’t go unnoticed and a local guy from my childhood and his crew show up all on quads ripping power augers. They decide to make the ice between our flags and shack their new home. They setup a small mining town up blocking our view from our shack to our flags. What the hell were these guys thinking? As if that weren’t enough we were soon approached by 2 DNR wardens who briefly checked our licenses and then left to check the other fisherman. Not even a half hour later a 3rd officer comes out wanting to accomplish the same mission as the previous officers. He asks us for our licenses and I told him his twins were just here for the same reason. I pointed to another group on the other side of the lake and said “he never did check those guys”. He laughed and kept moving. I’ve fished this lake since I was 12 and never seen that sorta of DNR activity, maybe it’s a good thing?

Just as we get our licenses back in our pockets “BAAM” my tip down goes off for a second time with another decent crappie. Before you know it Blake’s flag pops. The spindle is burning up its moving so fast. Blake sets the hook, feels some pressure, and then the line snaps. After a quick retie and rebait that same flag flies again. More carefully, he sets the hook. Boom, the fight is on. I could tell this fish was a lot better than the previous fish. It’s another largemouth. We get the fish out of the water and estimate its 20 inches and 4 pounds.

blake's best bass through the ice this year

We didn’t have time to rebait, when another flag flies. Holy crap, things are getting hot and heavy. After a quick run to the flag we see the spindle spinning. The last fish was a short largemouth around 13 inches. We decide that enough is enough and we break down our gear and pack up. All in all a stellar day with multiple species caught. Even though we had to fight through the local hillbillys and the unforgiving rangers we ended with over 80 gills, 4 bass, and 2 crappies. Another great day. Take a kid fishing.

Working With Dad

I gave Brook a much needed day off today by taking the kids to 'work' with me this morning. In anticipation of them spending the day with dad, we got all of their warm working clothes together and laid out the night before and even were able to get 'em in bed earlier than usual. Mae came in at 2 am and 5 am, but it still wasnt quite time yet to get ready. Finally at 7 am, we were all up and at em getting ready for the days adventures.

Gma and Gpa picked us up at about 7:45 am and we headed out to the big lake to clean up and organize some stuff, feed the ducks, and of course ride the new tractor. It has definitely been too long since I have had the kids outside. Spring cant come soon enough so I can raise em up right- you know outside and dirty! It took me like 30 minutes to finally get explained that it is OK to get dirty and we can wash our hands and clothes when we get home. They definitely have been spending way too much time inside with Mom and Grandma Pat.

We had alot of fun hunting for and eating lots of icesickles, going down the slide, feeding the ducks, riding the tractor and just playing in the snow. They think this is what I do everyday when I am at work....haha I know what your thinking....even though my job is great, its not ALL fun and games. Here are some pics of working with dad day. Oh yeah, we only do some of this stuff when mom is not anywhere around. Today I fell through the lake up to my knees while holding Mae's hand and holding Noah in my arms- we got too close to the ducks open water. The slide and ladder was a little iffy as well, but they were wearing lots of padding, the snow was fairly deep and cushiony, and Noah at 2 years old is already well past the age of learning how to climb a tall ladder.

On the way to and from the big lake, we counted 13 deer and 37 turkeys. Once we even completely stopped the van to watch 7 deer run across the field and right onto the road 50 yards from us. The reason why I say this is because right now Mae and Noah are napping, but when they wake up we are headed over to Bloomington for the Deer and Turkey Classic. We have been talking about that since last night as well. We are going to see lots of deers and turkeys! (and coyotes of course, I sure hope there is one there).

So Brook slept in till 9:30, now she is out at the mall or something and I am sitting here typing away while Drake, Noah, and Mae are all sound asleep dreaming about deers, turkeys, and Noah probably about coyotes. We tell coyote and eagle stories every night before bed, its great! All these fond memories of the week are nice and all, but lets just pray that none of kids wake up before Brook gets home!

While I have a few more minutes of peace and quiet, I might as well slap on a few more pics from the week. I dont feel like answering any emails or working on anything today, so here goes. Drake has been showered with mucho hugs and kisses and gets held alot:

I have been gobbling up all the hundreds of delicious meals and cookies people keep bringing everyday. Me and the boy take lots of naps together after dinner. If you think me and Drake look a bit fatter in this pic, its not because the camera puts on a few lbs, its because we actually legitimately are. We both have been eating like kings this week.


Just goofing off with the kids:

Been a very busy week as folks from down in the southern states have started asking lots of pond questions and ordering their pond supplies for the year. Justin and I have been working on taking care of all that, updating everything for 2010 (you know like price increases and such) and we also this week have been busting out alot of concrete and putting in some toilets and showers out at Lake Norris.

Then last bit of news so I can let whoever is still reading get back on with their life, I also just became a Pond Boss Magazine Regional Field Correspondent for Illinois. Pond Boss is the nations leading pond and fish magazine and I will be writing articles monthly for their online magazine as well as contributing stories and studies for their world famous print magazine! Its a great opportunity for me that I am looking forward to greatly. Before I dropped out of school (twice I might add) English and Creative Writing were hands down my worst subjects. I hated writing my whole life with an extreme passion. I dont know what happened the last couple years, but gradually over time I have really started to enjoy putting words down onto paper.

Drake is now awake and in my arms, and I am guessing Mae and Noah will be soon too! I just hope this diaper can hold out for a few more minutes until Brook gets home to change him. You know whats great is that Brook is usually a week or so behind in reading the blog. That means it will be a week or so before she finds out all kinds of stuff like falling through the lake and that I knew about the stinky diaper, etc. I guess sometimes its great, but then again maybe sometimes not so much....

Wesser new style fly fishing

Nipped off site today with wes to get a few bits, his new stalking flying fishing glasses are superb!! I must admit they really suit him! Can you imagine him approaching you on the river, I think I would ring the Police!!

Nice one

Glen

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

ice fishing (fox chain of lakes, il)

After work it was time to aug some holes. Planned on meeting up with Blake when he gets off work. I got there first and got started with a long walk across the lake. Sometimes you gotta take the time make the haul. Sometimes it’s on account of the parking situation or it’s to take a hike to crush some uncharted uneducated fish populations. In this case, the fishing destination was about a mile away (one way) over thick slush and uneven ice. The walk sucked huffing and puffin all the way pulling a 150 pound sled behind me. God I wish we had a quad!

Reached my fishing spot and designated meeting location and got to work. Found 12 fow, no fish on the graph. I kept drilling and suffered through some very necessary recon. It isn’t easy to stay mobile when your hand drilling holes through 16 inches of ice. Finally got my 3 rods in the water in an area where I was at least marking some fish.

artic warrior doing its work at sunset

The sun set and the temperature dropped dramatically (about 15 degrees). I had the shack but didn’t see the reason to set it up. Regretted that later. Phone rang, it was Blake letting me know he was getting close. Just as I started talking to Blake, I catch a glimpse of the tip-down flag waving in the wind. “Got a bite” I tell Blake as I run over and set the hook. Fish on!! I reach down and lip a nice crappie. I’m stoked.

fox chain of lakes crappie

7:00 pm, Blake shows up right on time. We continued to move around and look for some more active fish. After an hour of fishing together we decided to eat a pastrami sandwich on rye bread with some muenster cheese. Washed it down with some red-bull and back to fishing. Just after finishing our sandwiches my same tip-down goes off again. This time my reward is a decent chain of lakes perch.

fox chain of lakes perch

Lots of hard work and cold extremities for a small pay-off. At least we beat the skunk and got out of the house on a winter weeknight. It was all worth it.