Spring Lake / Pool 13 - May 9 & 11 2013

Fishing the Mississippi River last week, the water was high by a few feet, not sure for certain as it was my first time out there.  The weather was overcast with intermittent rain throughout the day.

May 9: 

I launched out of Big Slough Rec Area, and headed south fishing the docks and channel that runs along the launch side.  The current was moving pretty fast and the water was in the low 50s, no fish.  I headed for some back water, fishing in 2-4 feet throwing and managed a few pike on a chartreuse Revenge spinnerbait, I was looking for bass though.

Still further south toward the lock, I spent a little time checking out the water and noticed the carp spawing back in some flooded reeds.  Time to head north.

Further up the river, I managed a few keepers fishing the flooded trees and brush on the island and a small slough on a spinnerbait and a Rage Tail Eeliminator.  The fish seemed to be around the outside of the brush and tree limbs in 3-5 feet of water.

May 11 -

We headed north and fished around a larger island in Spring Lake.  The morning was mostly cloudy and the fish came on a black and gold spinnerbait with double gold willow blades.  Later in the morning, the sun came out and the wind started to pick up big time.  20+ mph winds from the north shut the fish down.  I switched to a tandem white spinnerbait and managed to put another fish in the boat.  My boater also landed 2 on spinnerbaits.

After a trecherous journey to Edich, we found that the wind was ripping across and we were moving down stream like a piece of drift wood.  It took a while due to wind/waves/navigational hazzards, but we managed to get back to the area we were fishing the morning.  We found some water that was partially protected from waves and wind and started casting.  

I tied on a Yum Crawbug in a spring craw color (blue/orange).  This is one of my favorite baits when the water gets muddy.  It has a big profile, and the color seems to be visible with a lot of particles floating through the water.  

I boated a few more fish, 2 being keepers,  dragging the crawbug through submerged sticks, reeds, and pads that were 20-30 feet on the outside of the brushline.  

Topwater Time! - Frog Fishing

When the bass come into the shallows during the first warm up period of the year can be a great time to get on the top water bite.

95% of the time I am going to a frog as my top water presentation.  Here are a few of my top baits to get a toad on a frog:

Jackall Iobee:
The Iobee frog is a small profile, hollow body walking style frog that offers a good hookup ratio.  While the bait is technically in the "frog" category, looking at the bait from the bottom, it could also be use to represent a mouse/rat/rodent profile. The bait still does everything the other baits in it's category, but the size allows the fish to get it in their mouth.  These frogs can be a lot of plastic, and I feel the Iobee gets a leg up especially for smaller fish and smallmouth bass. The body is soft, hooks are strong and sharp, excellent bait.

Scum Frog Big Foot (and little big foot):
The Big Foot is a hollow body hammer foot frog that I choose over traditional buzz frogs (e.g. Stanley Ribbits).  While when the Ribbits first came out, they seemed to catch every fish the passed by, then they quickly lost their novelty.
The advantages that the Scum Frogs have over Ribbit style, is that they float, they swim upright more often, and they are more customizable.  Since the bait floats, I feel they are more effective when adding a pause to the retrieve.  There is a hole in the rear of the frog for the water to drain out in between casts, or air to escape when a fish clamps down.  Also, you can add weight / scent inside the cavity to enhance the presentation.

Deps Basirisky Hard Belly Frog:
The Basirsky, while it is called a 'hard belly' it is mostly soft with a harder belly to the bait so when a fish strikes, the top collapses more than the bottom exposing more of the hook.  The Basirisky has a unique design where the legs come out of the back toward the head of the bait, resulting in a walk-the-dog action on a slow to medium retrieve.
While the protruding legs result in a larger profile, It doesn't seem to deter small bass or toothy fish from taking a bite.  At $19 a pop, you might want to be aware of that when deciding to throw it.

Using these 3 baits, you can cover all your bases to entice a bit from a fish depending on the presentation they are looking for.  Iobee is a great finesse approach to top water froggin' if they don't want too much commotion.  That being said, but don't count it out on catching big fish when they are lurking around! The Basirsky I like as a more moderate to aggressive approach when a big bait profile won't deter from getting a strike.  The Scum Frog excels at fishing over submerged vegetation, light vegetation matting on the surface, and when fish just want that noisy bait.

My current froggin' set up consists of a 7' MH St Croix Triumph musky rod, 6.4:1 BPS Pro Qualifier, 65# Power Pro in moss green.  The rod is great for connecting on the hook-up and getting them out of the thick stuff quick, fast, and in a hurry.  The downside to this rod, is that it weights a ton!  Walking baits is a chore, and even just throwing a basirisky - chucking and winding all day leaves the shoulder sore.

Tips for success top water froggin:

For open water fishing, I always throw white in clear to stained water.  If the water is dirty, there is probably a better bait option.

Throw black at night and during low light conditions.

Put weights inside the hollow belly baits when the mats are thick, to help the fish track it down to a place where it can strike.

When the bait lands in the water, I give the bait a few quick pops to imitate the frog/mouse/whatever disoriented, and then I let it sit for 3-5 seconds.  Strikes will come either on the pause, or when you start working the bait.  This technique works both casting toward the shore, or out into open water.

A good frog fisherman not only can get the bait in to tight places (frogs skip well!) but also have nerves of steel when the strikes come.  The sights and sounds of vicious strikes can cause you to set the hook to early, try to wait a second or two before rearing back on 'em.  One thing that helped me with this is to just let a few bites go and/or shake them off without setting the hook.  They won't inhale the bait and you'll learn to control those nerves.

Have fun out there, there is nothing more fun that catchin' a bunch of fish on a frog!

Tackle Grab April 2013

It's always a great day when you open the mailbox and see a Tackle Grab box.  As soon as I opened the end, I was totally excited when I saw an AR Lures box neatly tucked in the corner.  I have done a little balsa wood whittling, and have been curious about buying some of their baits.  This is why Tackle Grab we need Tackle Grab!

The bait sent is the CRANK-D50, in 04 Smallmouth Bass. The D50 is a hand crafted, 6-8' medium diving wood (not specified, probably bass or balsa) crankbait with a tight wobble.

The stubby (50mm)  bait sports  a spot on paint job that no photo can do justice to, and hard 3d eyes you could gaze in to all day. The paint is expertly blended from dark brown along spine, orange-ish brown on the top quarter, golden in the middle, and pearly sliver belly.  On top of that, the small scale pattern top to bottom is red to orange and a yellow lateral line in the middle and white over it's little pot belly.  There are some translucent smokey black tiger stripes running vertical from head to tail.  Absolutely gorgeous!

The bill is a clear firm plastic that  has a bit of flex to it;  off the top of my head, I cannot think of another bill shares the same qualities.  Also unique to the bait is the line tie comes up through a small rounded rectangle shape cut into the bill, but it is actually screwed into the body.
The D50 comes with two super sticky sharp #6 hooks with a black finish bringing the weight to 1/3oz.

AR Lures (http://www.arlures.com/) is a Japan based company founded in 1996.  Recently they have been fighting for their piece of the American market share.  The D50, as most of AR baits, retails for $18.99 which is around the entry level price for Japanese imports, but I think the hand crafted quality is much superior to the other at the same price point.

 The excitement didn't stop there!  The next bait I pulled out were the 5" Split-tail (#20 Alewife). Previously to opening the box, I was not familiar with the baits or company fishbelly (http://www.fishbelly.com/).

I am not sure these are the same ones that are available on other sites (e.g.Tackle Warehouse).  They seem to be a different, but in a good way.  The look super realistic, and very clean! The colors are divided on the lateral line, and the top color extends through the tail.  There is also a light slanted line pattern on divided by the lateral line, which seems to add just the right amount of texture to the bait.  I am pretty impressed at this point!

 Fish belly opted to use hard eyes, which usually is a deal breaker for me.  However, They seem to be very well attached and will not fall out when a hook is put in, or after a cast or fish.

According to Tacklewarehouse.com, the baits are actually made from a silicone, different from your typical soft plastics which are made from plastisol.  Using the silicone results in a ultra soft / flexible plastic that is almost too good to be true.  I feel conflicted, because I don't know if I want to drop shot or wacky rig one first (maybe wacky drop shot?).

As an angler that usually has a fluke tied on, it isn't a question of if it will catch fish, but how many and how big!  And we still aren't done...

Next out of the box were the 4" Kill Shot (152-Watermelon Grape) from Anglers Choice, a Canada based company  (http://www.anglerschoice.ca/4-Kill-Shot_p_64.html),.

A ringed reaper style bait, made of a hand poured durable soft plastic and garlic scented.  The color on the bait are on the lighter side than you'd usually expect based on the name.  They actually appear more as a teal color with standard purple glitter; probably more of a clear water bait -  not surprising being a Canadian company catering baits to their water conditions.

When ordering from the Anglers Choice website they have a variety of pack sizes: 8, 25, 50 and 100.  I wish more companies offered bulk package sizes. Available in a variety of Killer drop shot colors.

Lastly, Were a pack of Cruncher Baits 4" tubes (#110 Erie Gold), a pumpkin colored plastic with gold and chartreuse flake.

The baits are a traditional tube bait.  The head is durable, yet streamlined so it won't get fouled up on the hook.  Also, the body:skirt is approx 1 to 1 which gives it a classic, sure catch presentation.

The place where Cruncher Baits really stands out is their colors, and color selections. Crunchers Baits come in every color you could want at a great price of $4.29 for a 10 pack.

Tackle Grab came through big this month!  They confirmed for me that AR Lures are worth the investment, and should be in my everyday tool set.  They introduced me to a great dropshot /wacky (probably Texas too) shad/fluke profile bait. And they gave me 2 new baits to try out, and might have been just what I was lacking before.  Looking forward to spring coming this week to Chicagoland , and next month's box, but most importantly catching some fish!

Until next time Tight Lines and full limits!

BONUS - They also sent an unlabeled 3pack of 10" ribbon worms, in watermelon red.

Fear The Beard Or A Hairy Coincidence?

Who is that handsome fellow?

Over the past two months or so I have been letting my beard grow; which got me to thinking about beards and bass fishing (naturally!).  According to thesarus.com, 'beard' is synonymous with words like brave, oppose, and stand up to (verb) and imperial (noun). (http://thesaurus.com/browse/beard?s=t)

Aaron Martens had an rough start to the of the 2012 B.A.S.S Elite Series. To finish A-Mart went on a terror ending with 3 or 4 top tens and winning the All Star Week event in Decatur Illinois.  All eyes were on his beard.

Mike Iaconelli who could usually be spotted with a wicked goatee of one form or another was rather hairless last season... And his performance reflected it.   He only qualified for the Classic because 3 other anglers double qualified, which would have broke his 12 year streak.  In the Bassmaster Classic this past February he finished a respectable 4th place sporting a full hairy man face.  Since then he has gone clean shaven, crashed his boat, and currently sits in 76th place in the AOY standings.
(Notice Ike's chin http://www.bassmaster.com/slideshow/ikes-crash-landing)

'Zen Master' Rick Clunn nearly won on Lake Falcon, and probably would have if they had fished on Sunday. The event was delayed until Monday due to wind and a dust storm that would have mucked up everyone else's water, but he was fishing a protected area.

Do you think the beard is key to bass fishing?  Can the beard comparable Samson's locs?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

Until next time, tight lines.

March Tackle Grab & Braidwood Round 2

OH YEAH! Lookin stylish with a little piggy.

Out on Braidwood again today with 2 buddys, we managed 4 bass, a handful cat's and a bluegill.  We launched at 7:30 this morning and made a run to the spillway.  The wind was a little too tough for my boat with all of the weight to stay, so we headed for calmer water.

I was throwing a 1/2 oz football jig head with a Rage Craw, and managed to get a nice size bass in the 3# range to the surface, but she only had a mouth full of plastic and no hook.  After rounding the corner, I landed a keeper pretty much in the same exact spot that the 2 last week came from.  I also caught a short later in the day on a Berkley Crazy Legs Chigger Craw on a 3/16 Zipper Head football jig.

One of my buddy's pulled a small one off of a point in the area on a squarebill later in the afternoon.  Also between the two of them, they probably caught 10 small cats, all coming on orange craw pattern cranks.

Yesterday, my tackle grab box showed up!

Here is the haul this month:

Tacke Grab Box - March 2013

• Hawg Wild Lure Co. - Wacky Craw (http://shop.hawgwildlures.com/4-Wacky-Craw-WKYCRW.htm)
• Gambler - Bacon Rind (http://www.gambler-lures.com/category_s/216.htm)
• Bassinova - Chatterbait (http://bassinovabaits.com/?page_id=50)
• Reaction Strike - XW-70 (http://reactionstrike.com/crankbaits/xw-70-90-110.html)

The Hawg Wild Wacky Craw, not for wacky rigging though, is a bait that I have been looking for that found me!  It is a 4" realistic hollow craw body and pincers with meaty ringed worm tail section to hold the hook.  This bait should work in all of your craw imitation applications, and I am looking forward to catching some fish with it!

 I was also pretty happy to see the Gambler Bacon Rind in the box.  I am a huge fan of hawg style baits and this one looks great!  It has a single ribbon type tail instead of the usual two thinner tails.  It also has wings similar to the Havoc Hawk Hawg compared to other baits that have "legs".  They sent a half green pumpkin half junebug color that does look pretty killer.  I just wish they had sent more than 3 pieces, especially since they sell a 40 pack for $9.99.

Looking at the Bassinova chatterbait, the blade has two holes in it, which I am assuming will reduce the drag when retrieving. The blade also looks to be of solid construction, but the lead and paint are run of the mill.  The silicone skirt is a little bulkier and has a little higher quality compared to most of the chatterbaits I have come across.  Chatterbaits are a good follow up to a spinnerbait, that will put a few extra fish in the boat when re-working an area.  And that is exactly why this bait will be in my tacklebox this spring.

The last bait in the box is a Reaction Strike XW-70, a topwater walking bait.  I am not too familiar with this class of baits, as I have only used them a few times.  To be fair, I think I should hold off on any commentary until I try the bait out. Anyone have any rod/reel/line recommendations for working one this size (3 inces)?  

Do you subscribe to a monthly tackle program?  Do you find value/quality in them?  Or do you think they are a promotional sham?  Leave your thoughts and comments below. 

Until next time, tight lines.

A Few Fish and Building A Lure Drying Wheel | March 18 - 24 Recap

Another good fish from a pond.

I have been a little busy to do individual posts, but I did get out twice.  I took another trip to the pond from last week and got another good one, better actually.  This one was in the 4.5# range; I need to remember to biring my scale.  She was caught using the same pattern from last week.

I also got the boat out for the first time for the year and spent a few hours on Braidwood.  Weapons of choice included a 1/2 oz spinnerbait, 1.5 square bill crankbait, and a Zoom Super Hog on a 1/4 oz football jig head (no skirt).  The temperature gauge on my Lowrance was reading 98 degree water temp, but I guesstimate the temperature to be around 65 after sticking my hand in the water.

I was fishing a cut back on the hotside, a small flat area 4-6 foot depth around the corner from a bank that quickly reached 15 feet deep.  Throwing the bait close to the bank and slowly working it back, I managed two fish within a few casts of each other.  The bites were light, and came about 10 feet off of the bank in 6 foot depth.

The larger of the two fish, being 16 inches or so.
Braidwood has a 1 fish,  18" minumum
(for tournament purposes, catch and release only.

Both came on the Super Hog, that I modified by biting off the rounded 'arms' on the body of the bait to create smaller craw like legs.  I also only split the claws at the bottom most connection to keep them from spreading out too much. This will move a tiny bit more water, and give the claws a subtler action, and keep s the profile of the bait just a hair smaller. 

A few months ago, I started making my own lures as a hobby.  I have made a few PoP (plaster of paris) molds of different plastics, have not done much pouring because of ventilation reasons.

I also bought some balsa to carve some crankbaits, an airbrush to paint them, and some blanks to custom paint and tinker with modifications on them.

For sealing the baits, I use Dev Con 2 ton epoxy, which is a little thick but will still run before it cures.  After a doing some research online, I built a drying wheel that will rotate the baits as the epoxy cures preventing the buildup/uneven-ness when hung to cure.

The materials used:
1 rotisserie motor I bought on ebay for $15
3 x 10" rounds of wood, 1/8 in. thick.
1 5/16 in diameter, 3 inch long machine screw
2 washers, 1 fit the screw
1 nut, to fit the screw
19 wood screws
19 aligator clips
Epoxy
Wood Glue
Super Glue
Small pieces of paper towel.

*note, I only have pictures of the finished product below.

How I made it.
I glued the 3 10" rounds together to get the a good thickness/ strength to hold the baits.  Any wood could do, but I used pre-cut wood out of convenience and it was light to keep strain off of the motor.

I put the 19 screws around the outside that will be where the baits are fixed.  Make sure the shank of the screw will fit inside the aligator clip.  Put some super glue in the hole on the clips, and put on the screw with the operating side of the clip on the outside edge of the wood. (see pics)  The bill of the baits are easily clip in and won't fall out when rotating.

Then, I drilled a hole in the middle of the 10" round and put a washer on either side when I put the machine screw though.  I tightened everything up to stay in place with the nut.

I used a 5/16" screw b/c that was the largest size that would fit in the rotisserie spit slot.  There was a hole that ran all the way through the slot so if packed the bottom of it with paper towel before filling it 1/2 way with epoxy.  Then I set screw into the epoxy, and after it cured I topped the remaining space off with super glue just for added security.

Now I have an in expansive drying wheel that works absolutely awesome, and even clear coat on all of my baits!

Side view

Front view

Back of the wheel,  and screw into the motor. 

An Eazy Shad 2.5 with an awesome clear coat.

First Bass of 2013 - Happy St. Patty's

First fish of the year, caught on a spinnerbait.

I finally made it out to one of my favorite ponds today to check it out and see what has changed over the winter.  Last year, we had a scorching hot summer, and the water levels suffered further due to extreme drought.

These factors caused this pond to become overgrown to say the least.  It was pretty much a solid weed mat making it impossible to fish anything but T-rigged soft plastics and topwater frogs.

We, also, for the most part had a pretty mild winter.  Ponds, river, lakes, and every angler was thankful for every inch of snow, and happier at the time it took to disappear.  The late snow storms helped bring the low water levels closer to full pool.

My usual M.O. at ice out is to find whatever healthy weeds you can and the fish will be there.  Today I found that all of the weeds were still in pretty good shape, and there were an abundance of them.

I started out throwing my usual ice out lures:

• Suspending Jerkbait
• Redeye Shad
• 3/16oz football head / shaky head with a finesse worm/craw
• 1/8oz hair jig
• 1/2oz Spinnerbait

I started throwing a Lucky Craft pointer 76 sp, but even on 17# flouro I couldn't get a good presentation b/c it was digging into healthy green weeds.  

The Redeye Shad was better; keeping the bait close to the bottom, rips out of weeds cleanly easier, and can cover water fast.  Still no bites on the red eye shad.  I should mention at this point that I was fan casting these baits looking for the deepest water I could reach fishing from the bank.

Reaction baits weren't working, so I got out the spinning rod and try to coax a bass to bite using the same strategy as before.  No Dice.

Running short on time, I wanted to cover a lot of water and get more of an idea of what was going on in the pond.  So I threw on a half oz spinnerbait.  

Still casting out towards the middle of the pond, letting it sink to the bottom and slow roll it back. The water couldn't be much more than 37 degrees, if it was even that warm...  I made a cast to my left at about a 45 degree angle and as my bait approached the bank I spooked a bluegill that swam right up to my boots.  

The gears started churning in my head.. REALLY? A bluegill  was that close to the shore?  Bear in mind that this was pretty much your average pond bank with a fairly shallow gradual slope.  So, I figure if the food is shallow, bass follow the food and adjust my casts from greater than 45 degrees to less than 45.  A little further down the bank there is a small trench  about 15 feet in from the shoreline and 15-20 yards long. 

Another shot, without my ugly mug in the photo.

I make a little cast to just the other side of the trench and slowly reel the spinner back. As it gets close, I see a black shadow behind my bait.  The fish's nose is ON THE END OF THE SKIRT, as the bait approaches the shore and the fish STOPS....(ugh).  Turns, and swims up the bank..The bass didn't look like much until it turned sideways and I got a good look at it,  she got a good look at me!.  It might have been... oh 3.5 - 4#-ish. 

I throw a few casts in the opposite direction in which the fish swam to let her settle down.  4 casts later i throw it to the far side of the trench and a third of the way back the line starts swimming sideways on it's way back to me.  I set the hook, its on!   

She may or may not have been the fish that followed my bait in a few casts prior.  First fish of the season, on a new rod, and a new reel (which wasn't even remotely close to dialed in.. drag was set way loose -- surprised I even got the hook it in her lip).

This is just another example of how staying observant of what is going on around you and in the water and adjusting your presentation can help you put more fish in the boat (or on shore!).  Or maybe I just had a little luck of the irish today!