Officially calling it quits...........

  For the Bass season that is. I know some people are still catching Bass, and some serious pigs at that. However, for me..........it's over until next year. I have finally gotten my fill of catching the skunk in cold, windy weather. It was a good season though. I feel satisfied with catching the biggest Largemouth Bass of my entire fishing career this past summer. I also got my first Chinook Salmon out of Lake Michigan not all that long ago, which by the way is the biggest fish I have EVER caught to date. My only regrets as I look back is that I didn't focus more time on fly fishing. I had good intentions, but the places I fished on a regular  basis this season didn't lend it self to fly fishing. I needed really long casts but there wasn't room for a back cast. I'm not nearly good enough at the roll casting to get that kind of distance. So, I just didn't fly fish all that much.

  Now I am pretty close to knowing what I'll be doing until freeze up happens and I thought I would share it with those of you who read my blog. I have decided that I'll be heading to the Indiana creeks to try my luck at the Steelhead. I could do it at the Chicago, Lake Michigan Harbors, but I am feeling like this will be a good opportunity to break out the 8wt fly rod on a creek setting. I also want to try my luck in the Des Plaines River with the Northern Pike, also on the fly. Last but not least, I think I'll be heading out the the Kankakee river for a shot at some Walleyes. That will be on the spinning gear for sure. But now that I have given it some thought, it looks like I'll stay pretty busy even though I won't be hunting Largemouth Bass anymore this season. Keep an eye out for the new posts!!

  I also think it is time that I start reviewing the fishing gear I use on a regular basis as well. So keep an eye out for that too!

This is officially the last Bass of the season

Till next time,

  Tight Lines,
Woolly Buggin

What to do until freeze up................

With the fall Salmon run coming to an end and Bass season seriously slowing down, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do until the water freezes over. I was thinking maybe heading out Crappie fishing or maybe doing some Walleye fishing. I could even just head up to the lake front and try for some Steelhead. I'm just not sure where I'll be focusing my attention. However I plan to keep ya posted!!!


Tight lines
Woolly Buggin

Salmon run fall 2011

So,
  I had mentioned in a post or two ago that I was gonna give Salmon fishing a shot on Chicago's Lakefront. Well, I have been up there several times and used several different spoons, crank baits, flies and even floated spawn sacks around under a float. I hooked into four fish total in the maybe seven or eight times I went up there. I have to say that the most effective spoon that I used was the Moonshine 3/4 oz in perch color. I used several different spoons but the Moonshine stands out. It holds a glow charge a lot longer than the little cleo spoons. It's shaped a little different too and it gives it a nice wobble. But I have to say even though that was the most effective spoon, my most effective bait overall was a Reef Runner. I used what is called a little ripper in an almost copper, perch color. I hooked into a steelhead and two king salmon on the reef runner. I hooked into a king on the Moonshine as well. Unfortunately all fish were lost with exception to one King Salmon. Here are the pics

 It took me approximately twenty five minutes to land this fish!!! He made several runs, one which was about sixty to seventy yards.

Fortunately I learned from my mistakes of the first couple times out and upped my line to 17lb test mono.


It probably would have been and easier land if I had some one there to net him, however I was by myself again.

  I am very proud of this fish. It is the biggest fish I have ever caught to date. He measured in at 33 inches.
I fished at several harbors. I started at Jackson, then to Burnham and all the way up to Montrose. In the end I had all my action at Burnham.


Till Next time
Tight Lines,
Woolly Buggin

A short trip to Opa's house............

   So the family and me decided to take a last minute trip up to visit my dad before winter sets in. We hadn't been up since last Feb. We were thinking it would be nice to get up there before the first snow. So, we loaded up the van and hit the road. It's always nice to visit, and of course my dad and me went and hit a couple of rivers and checked out some new spots. It was only a five day trip and two of those are spent driving. It never seems like enough time, but we make the most of it. And now for the pics,..........

Noah and star just before he gave her a big kiss

My dad has a couple pets, and Noah loves them both. The really cute thing is that the animals seem to love him just as much as he loves the animals.

Noah chasing the cat all over the house

This is a stretch of water that we stopped to check out.......

This stretch of water is only about five minutes from his house.

Although not very big, this is my first northern. He was caught on a Rapala X rap in perch color

The Northern pictured above was the only fish I caught the entire trip. We rode out to Menomonie, WI to fish and saw a lot of action, but it's the only fish I landed.

All the rest of these pictures were taken in Hudson, WI. We were fishing right on the St. Croix river. Nothing was landed this day, but a couple days after I got home my dad was out there again and saw some one catch a 44 inch musky.

The St. Croix River

It's a very beautiful place.

This is what I can only describe as a house right out of Miami Vice, just sitting in the middle of rural WI.

A family pic just before the ride back home

Okay, thats it again for now. Till next time,
Tight Lines,

Woolly Buggin

September was busy................

So there wasn't much time for fishing.   
    I actually only have a few fishing pictures from the entire month!!! Sad but true.    
Anywho, here they are...........

Of course caught him at the local pond

This guy was caught the same day within 25 minutes of the first

 And for reference to size of the fish, I'm a little over six feet tall, so they are decent fishies~

This is for whoever may think that the chicagoland area doesn't offer a lot of fishing opportunity............


















So now, its the end of September and it's off to the Lake front,  Lake Michigan that is.

It's time for the Salmon run.......
and since I had never done it before I thought I would give it a try..........


Tight Lines,
Woolly Buggin

It's seems like summer just goes by too fast

So, I was thinking about it and I haven't been posting on here in quite some time now. With the end of summer here now, I was going through my pictures and thought today would be a good time to get those pictures posted. These pictures are all from August. Fishing, family hikes and just having fun!!

 Let's start this off with my redneck fishing picture!!
I caught this guy on a 5'" Shim-E Stick by Strike King, in Watermelon/red flake.

Noah, Liz and Me took a hike out to my secret pond and of course I had to drop a line in the water,

 And it was kinda cool. I usually fish by myself and there is never anyone around to take pictures but me. But this time Liz was with and she decided to walk around and take some pictures of the things around us.

Also caught on a Shim-E stick.

Decided to take the little guy out for a quick hike and a little fishing. Liz was with again taking pictures.

My favorite little dude on my back....

Grabbed this guy at the secret pond at the end of the month............ 

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of good weather left for the non frozen fishing season for me. So I'll be posting up the rest of the pictures in a couple more posts from sept and oct,
but until I do,
Tight Lines!!!!
Woolly Buggin