Windy Fishing

The yak- fully loaded
with 3 rod-holders, depth finder, PFD, and tons of gear

After an intense day at work, I decided to get the kayak out and hit some water. Who am I joking; my day at work had nothing to do with it, I just wanted to go kayaking! I was originally going to go on Monday, but 30 mph had me thinking otherwise. Glad I hit the Salt instead; that fish I saw for a split second has been fueling fish fantasies about that little body of water...

It was still windy last night, but for whatever reason I went anyway.

Got to Mallard, parked the car, unloaded the kayak; Mallard is a bit strange in that they allow boating, but it's a "carry-in" only lake. Meaning if you want to boat there, you've got to get the Dupage county boat license and you've got to carry your boat to the water.

That's part of why I love kayaking- it's a boat, it will get you around any lake just fine, but it's light and human-powered. I can launch from anywhere, paddle in 6" of water, and leave no gas fumes or anything else in my wake. I must say, however, carrying the kayak on one shoulder and carrying my depth finder*, rod holders, water bottle, ropes, and other stuff in my other hand is something of a workout. But take that with a grain of salt, since I'm a guy who doesn't exactly "work out."

* My buddy Sam reminded me that it's not a "fish finder" but a depth finder. It doesn't find fish for you. Agreed!

Where I launched I saw tons of little bluegill in the water. I thought that might be a good sign. Once I pushed off into the lake, I realized it was going to be one of those outings. The wind, ferociously wipping past my ears in a deafening roar, quickly pushed me to the opposite shore. To say there was a chop on the water would be a huge understatement. It was more like 1' waves crashing into my boat. I kept thinking "I want to kayak on Lake Michigan, I better get used to it." I've never gotten so wet from waves alone! It was incredibly intense.

I paddled around, struggling against the wind; when I paddled directly into the wind I felt like I was dragging the lake bottom behind me, my arms burned and my midsection worked to give me torque. I had no idea how to fish a situation like this. Where would the fish go when it was this crazy at the surface?

I tried jigging some jigs and spinners, throwing some deep-diving crankbaits; I even busted out my 3/4oz casting spoon I assembled the other day, complete with a treble hook hand-dressed with bucktail. It cast like a bullet, sank quickly, but did not entice any fish.

Exploring the lake, fighting the wind, I was doing a lot of corrective paddling and not a lot of fishing. Eventually I found a spot near a quick dropoff- 4' to 25' over the course of about 20'- where I could "park" my kayak in the bullrushes and cast into the dropoff. All I caught were weeds, although I was convinced there would be fish there.

I saw some interesting structure on the bottom of the lake, in the middle of a 30' deep hole- it looked like a big tree trunk laying at a 45° angle. My depth finder told me there were tons of fish around it. My lures dropped down as close to the spot as I could manage told me otherwise.

The wind was relentless. Just when I found a good spot, I'd cast, and in a matter of moments I found myself fifty feet downwind. What calm areas I found seemed to be devoid of life, although they gave me a respite from the intense paddling.

Mallard is quite a pretty lake

Finally I decided to head to shore, maybe do some shore fishing, give my arms a break. I saw a bunch of guys fishing, throwing giant crankbaits and topwaters, doing figure-8's in the water. Fishing for pike? Musky? Maybe they should fish Salt Creek...

I beached the kayak and threw out a bobber while I cast with some cranks and spoons. I'm liking this spoon thing. It casts super far, even into the wind, and wobbles like nobody's business. I could have sworn I got a few follows retrieving it quickly just a few inches under the surface, but didn't connect with anything.

Once it got dark, a big bullfrog hopped on the shore just a few feet from me. Eager to learn more about these animals- in case I do actually go hunting for frogs- I struggled to find my headlamp in my bag. Spinner hooks and stray jigs dug into my hand; I stifled my sighs of pain so I wouldn't startle the frog.

I put the headlamp on my head, turned it on, and shined it directly on the bullfrog.

It froze; as I approached, it made no sign of moving. I slowly reached down and grabbed it- it was in my hand! It made no struggle, it was simply frozen.

As soon as I shined the light somewhere else, it jumped away with it's powerful legs into the water. To test this whole "frogs freeze when you shine light on them" thing, I shined it again. Again it froze, again I picked it up. Then I set him (her?) down on the shore, still shining the light, and it didn't move at all. As soon as the light went elsewhere, the giant bullfrog scampered away. Interesting!

The sun set, and I continued fishing.. for fish. Some bass took a few swipes at a Heddon torpedo, and while it was nice to get some action, it would have been nicer to get a fish or two. But it didn't matter too much- it was a pretty but windy evening, had a little adventure, and caught a bullfrog with my bare hands. Not bad for a Tuesday!

A very short post

The other night I went to Mallard Lake, the scene of the crime so to speak for my first walleye. Worked some areas, nothing, nobody else caught anything. Then I threw out my white jig and twister, this guy jumped a foot out of the water.

30 minutes, 1 fish.. not bad

Yesterday afternoon I investigated the west branch of the Dupage river which flows through Mallard. Took about half an hour to find a place to park anywhere close to the river. When I got there it was about 4 inches deep, a carp was hanging out in some weeds.

Last night I didn't fish after work... But by 7pm I was bored and decided to go fish the pond for an hour before River Monsters came on. I got to the pond, there must have been 6 dudes standing on the shore fising. What!!??

I headed to Songbird Slough, about 5 minutes from there, and fished for about 45 minutes. Tried everything, no fish. I got a very strange hit on my jig and twister; in my head I thought it was a walleye, definitely didn't feel like a bass. Couldn't get it to happen again.

I'm extremely obsessed with fishing.

Here's what the sunset looked like as I was leaving to go home and watch Jeremy Wade battle giant catfish and eels and stuff:

Sunset at Songbird Slough

CB makes a bow and arrows

I fished the Fox on Sunday morning,  and although I didn't catch a single fish, it was a pleasure to be outside. My first wading trip was last Fall, and the majority of my wading trips have been in fairly cold weather (usually cold and rainy). This was one of the first times the water was pleasant, the breeze wasn't chilly, and I even rolled up my sleeves.

I saw a lot of wildlife- a couple of deer came to the river to drink, and seemed perplexed by me. Once they returned to the woods, I saw them watching me through the trees. Maybe if I'd caught a fish while they were watching it would have made more sense to them. I suppose just standing in the middle of a river does look strange.

Can you see the deer?

Later, in a different spot, I saw a bunch of adult geese with a many baby geese. I had no idea they were yellow when they were young- I would have guessed they were baby chickens if I didn't see them next to their parents. I wonder if they taste like chickens.

Geese and goslings (?)

A couple days later I fished the retention pond. The weather has been colder this week than last week, and the fishing has shut down for me. I managed to get one hit from a bass about a foot from shore- I reeled him in, and as soon as he saw me he simply opened his mouth and spit out the chigger craw. I didn't even hook him! That was one of the more crazy fishing experiences I've ever had. That fish was determined.

A few days ago I finished the amazing book "The Mindful Carnivore" by Tovar Cerulli. I think I might write a formal review of it, but not today. My summation of his thesis is that no matter what we do as humans, we hurt other living things, and there is no way around it. Even growing vegetables requires at the very least the killing of insect pests; apparently many farmers regularly kill deer to protect their crops.

The author went from being vegan to hunting because he wanted to face the death necessary for his sustenance head-on, without disguising it behind layers of plastic and styrofoam or words like "free range" or "organic." I'm no hunter, although I do occasionally keep fish I catch and cook them. I could relate to much of what Tovar wrote. This book was a great account of his journey from veganism to meat-eating, and his great respect for nature and all the life around him.

After finishing the book, and not wanting to go fishing due to the lack of action and colder weather, something possessed me to try and make a bow and arrow. I promise it has nothing to do with "The Hunger Games." If anything, it's more related to my current obsession with outdoorsy-ness. I also just wanted to see if I could.

I found some downed branches, took them home, cut off the bark with a knife, made notches for the bow string, for which I first tried using monofilament fishing line. I have a lot of it laying around, and now that I pretty much use braided line exclusively, I didn't mind using a bunch of mono for my bow. As you could probably guess, the line snapped fairly easily. I found some twine we had laying around, and using a "slip knot" (which I just learned) I was able to tie the line to the bow. I wrapped duct tape around the handle to prevent splinters and whatnot, and put some around the twine to assist in holding the notches in the arrows.

Then I took some sticks (which I thought were straight but are obviously quick crooked) added some cardboard for the "feathers" (don't know the archery term) and whittled the points down so they weren't completely blunt.

What I had was this:

Believe it or not, it works... kind of

And it works! By the time I finished everything, it was dark. This morning before I headed out to work I tried shooting my new arrows. I propped up a cardboard box, and was very surprised by the power of my new bow and the arrows I made. I was able to put arrows through two layers of cardboard from about twenty feet!

Aiming is difficult, and where the arrows end up is anybody's guess... I'd never shot an arrow before yesterday, except of course in Wii Sports. I really liked it there, which suggested to me I might like the real thing. I figured instead of investing money on something I might not enjoy whatsoever, why not make my own and satisfy my urge to make stuff from scratch in the process.

What have I gotten out of this exercise? If the zombie apocalypse comes, and I find myself in a forest with a knife and some twine, and maybe some cardboard, I might be able to construct my own bow and arrows. If I'm lucky I might confuse the zombies enough to allow for my escape.

Also, this might be an activity worth pursuing with some store-bought gear. Then I can be just like Katniss.

Sight fishing for bass

they're in there...
actually there are bass in the picture, but
they're hard to make out

On my way home today, I stopped by the pond to see what was up. I don't really know how to fish with the constantly changing weather, but I made some lures I really wanted to try out.

This one, which I'll call the bumble minnow, definitely needs another hook. It's way off-balance, and mostly just spins through the water. After a few casts, even using a swivel, I got some pretty severe line twist on my braided line. I spent about 5 minutes detangling it, and I was back fishing.

This guy is my attempt at a clown pattern. After I added the eyes, it occurred to me it looked kind of like a creek chub. Here's a picture of river guru Ken G holding a creek chub (I hope he doesn't mind I stole his picture):

(to read the post this picture comes from, go here)

My clown pattern lure works pretty well in the water, and has a very very tight wobble. At first I didn't there was any wobble, but upon closer examination I could see the feathers moving back and forth. The internet tells me crankbaits with a tight wobble are good for cold water. In the 15 minutes I fished the lure, nobody was interested... but I'm going to try again soon.

I fished an area of the pond far from where I usually fish, due to another fisherman at the pipe. I started casting, and suddenly I noticed a bass just hanging out extremely close to the shore. It was probably three feet from me. Could this be bass on their beds, i.e. spawning? Or getting ready to spawn? I've read a great deal about this, but so far I hadn't seen it happening. The internet tells me bass will attack anything that moves into their nest.

I bounced my wacky-rigged worm about an inch in front of a pair of bass, and they just watched it. They didn't move an inch.

Ok, I decided to try a different tactic. I was pretty sure crayfish liked to eat bass eggs, so perhaps these bass would try and kill something they thought was a crayfish. On my line went a texas-rigged chigger craw.

I bounced it past them, same routine. Another cast, and nothing. Another cast, the plastic critter landed directly on the back of one of the bass. Apparently startled, it moved a few feet and resumed it's hanging out. Another cast, and I let it sit in the weeds for a few seconds. I wiggled it a little. I watched a bass slowly swim over, look at it, and then in the blink of an eye it attacked the critter and immediately swam away. It just nipped the end of the plastic, didn't get the hook.

This was amazing- I've watched bluegill hanging out, but never have I been able to actually see bass interacting with my bait in the water.

I kept trying, and was perplexed by their disinterest. After all was said and done, I got 4 or 5 hits, all of them little nips. Maybe these were warning shots, telling the critter to get the hell away from the eggs. I was surprised the bass didn't just eat it!

Then the rain picked up (oh yeah, did I mention it was raining again? After Sunday's wet experience I don't mind it too much). As soon as that happened, suddenly about a million frogs started croaking. Never in all the times I've fished the pond- probably at least a hundred by now- have I ever seen or even heard a frog.

Where did they come from?

As I walked back to my car, soaking wet again, I thought about how I could make some frog lures. I hear bass love frogs.

Sam and Chris fish the Fox

Normally when I head out into the "wild" to go looking for some fish to catch, I do it alone. It's not that I necesarily disklike company when fishing, but more often than not I find myself standing in the river casting by myself. Being surrounded by other people most of the day on the Metra train, on the bus, in downtown, even in the lab, sometimes it's nice to be in the middle of a river only surrounded by fish.

Saturday was different- I'd been texting/emailing with Sam Bennett (of heysambennett fame on WCF and his own blog). Sam is starting up a new website for Fox River fishing and has asked me to contribute. You should definitely check it out- it's live at foxriverfishing.net. In our discussion of the site, Sam and I figured out a time and a place to go wading. In the middle of the afternoon I found myself in a parking lot, my green Mini cooper parked next to Sam's monstrous white Ford pickup.

We reached the water's edge, and already I'd learned a ton from Sam. He is a river fishing veteran, and as is obvious by my posts and few fish per outing, I'm still a newbie! Turns out Sam is the one who originally inspired me to start making my own lures, via a post in his blog. I just met the guy, but I'd been following his posts for some time now. We fished an eddy for a while, but after no interest was shown to our lures we hopped in Sam's truck and headed north.

The next spot seemed extremely fishy; lots of riffles (I think that's what they're called) and some areas of deeper water. Sam and I worked a variety of areas (well, I mostly fished one area. I don't move too fast in the water, partially because I'm still new at this and don't want to fall in). By the time I'd finished fishing a series of seams, Sam had pretty much fished the entire stretch of the river!

At one point I yelled "Fish!" only to land a thin but fish-like stick. I felt pretty lame in front of my new friend until the same thing happened to Sam later.

We weren't getting anything there, so he suggested we move again. This was great! I only knew one stretch of the river, but he knew many spots.

This new spot also looked very fishy, although the current was about the strongest I'd ever waded in. Once again Sam's experience and wading chops helped him get out into the river, while I almost tripped over every rock, my calves burning against the current. I was fairly positive I was about to fall in the river. Then, somehow, I didn't.

After a while here, both of us caught more than our share of weeds, and we moved on. We hit another spot that appeared to be super likely to hold fish, and Sam said in the past this was a dynamite spot. Of course it wasn't for us that day, so we headed to our final stop.

Along the way Sam told me about the mighty flathead catfish, his personal obsession on the river. After catching the biggest fish I'd ever caught last year - the 24" catfish out of the pond - it occurred to me that there are many more species of fish besides bass. What a shame it would be if I concentrated on only one species when there are so many different kinds of fish to catch! Hearing stories of 40 pound catfish, an apex predator on the river, I knew I would have to go fishing for them.

We reached a dam that is known to hold walleye, Sam continuing to give me tips and help me navigate the water and submerged rocks. We stood in the water casting crankbaits as the sun set, hoping to connect with some walleye. One of the many species I haven't caught yet is a walleye, and I was so glad to have Sam's help in finding one! I tried my purple X-rap (the one I found at Busse, thanks to Navyfisher for snagging it there) and then snapped on my $3 minnow from Meijer (I can't explain why, but I love it).

After some time the sun was completely set, and it was beginning to get pretty dark. Fishless, we emerged from the water. I didn't realize how cold I was until I was in Sam's truck with the heat on. My breathable waders didn't protect so much from the cold water! My big toes felt numb, like they might fall off... But they didn't. Soon I could feel the lower section of my body again, which was a nice change.

Sam drove me back to my car, sharing some more river secrets on the way, and giving me more mental images of giant catfish to daydream about. Although we hadn't found any fish, it had been a great outing with an experienced fisherman, and I learned a great deal!

The Rock and Mississippi Rivers

The Rock River at Dixon, Illinois

This post is extremely overdue. I've been doing a lot of stuff besides writing blog posts... Things like fishing, working, playing with little kids, fishing some more; generally not blogging.

Easter weekend Claire and I had a mini-vacation trip to Lincoln, Nebraska. A good friend of mine invited me to come play some Easter services, and I thought it sounded like a fun time! I figured maybe I could get in some fishing too...

I spent a long time in Google Earth figuring out where to fish- I mapped out all the rivers we'd be crossing on I-80, consulted windycityfishing.com, and generally obsessed about it. Ended up stopping in Dixon, Illinois, which was apparently the boyhood home of Ronald Reagan. There was an ad for a Reagan bike race which read "You don't have to be a republican to ride"

We stopped for lunch in the quaint town, parked our rental SUV, and I suited up and headed into the Rock River. I'd heard there were smallies in here, as well as tremendous catfish. Turns out the spot we found was just mud and muck, and no fish obliged my repeated efforts to inconvenience them for a short photo shoot.

Once in Nebraska, I had some down time hoping to do some Nebraska fishing. Headed to Walmart to get a NE fishing license, but after waiting 15 minutes to talk to the fishing department guy, he told me the computers were down and he couldn't sell me a license. Discouraged, we headed to a dog park instead, where Walter had a great time exploring what must have been very very smelly grass.

On our way home, Claire suggested we stop at the Mississippi, on the Illinois side of course (since I couldn't legally fish from the Iowa side). It was almost sunset, and couldn't have been more beautiful. The river seemed more like a lake; it was so wide! It didn't make any sense to me, I couldn't see the currents and seams, and had no idea how to approach shore fishing it. I fished for a while, throwing most everything in my tackle box, but if they were there they weren't interested.

We got a real nice family photo though, so it was still a great stop.

Sunset on the Mississippi

It was a cold and muddy sunday

I fished all these spots, and concluded
there are no more fish in the river

Sunday there was no question as to my destination... I was headed to the Fox. I think I'd rather tangle with a single feisty river smallie than catch three pond bass.

Actually, just kidding, I'd rather catch lots of fish!

But I'd rather catch river fish. At least that's the way I felt on Sunday. So I packed up the mini cooper, and hit the road. I wanted to try some new spots, so instead of heading to Batavia I headed almost due west to St. Charles.

After driving around downtown St. Charles aimlessly for about twenty minutes looking for a parking spot, I finally found one. Then I had to figure out how to get to the water- there were these pesky fences in the way. I found a ledge, hoisted myself up, and jumped down to the other side. The river here, as Ken G had warned me, was different. Looking down at the water, I couldn't really figure it out. It all looked the same to me. I tried to find pools, seams, and eventually found a few. The water seemed very low, but I don't know- I'd never been there before.

In quick succession, I lost about four lures on rocks, timber, or something else. Couldn't see into the water, and it was hard to work the lures out when they got stuck. That's part of why I like wading so much. Some other people were fishing, they didn't have any luck either.

I hopped another fence, and while looking for a new spot I saw a pretty hilarious sign. I should clarify, a few weeks ago I would have thought it very funny, but after my recent goose encounter, I know it's for real.

I did not go that way

I lost more lures, and was frustrated. I couldn't figure out the water, couldn't get my lures back, and wasn't getting any bites. The wind was picking up, and it was getting colder.

I hopped back in the mini, and headed down stream. I passed lots of nice houses, and I daydreamed about living on a river like the Fox. I imagined myself going wading every morning, catching fish after fish while drinking my morning coffee, feet from my kitchen. That would be sweet.

Finally I arrived at Les Arends, which turns out to be on the west bank of the river, right across from where I've had so many adventures on the Fox. I wanted to see what this side was like.

Long and muddy story short, it was freaking muddy. Muddy as hell. I entered the water, and immediately sunk down up to my waist in mud. I crossed a small channel, got to an island, and looked for a suitable wading staff. Found a nice solid stick, and used that to navigate out into the water.

Saw some nice purple trees on my way to the river

And this wasn't normal mud, mind you. This was mud that, as you walked through it, released exploding bubbles of extremely foul-smelling gas into the air. Every step I took in the water, the mud sucked me down and released fart bubbles from the bottom of the river. There was a trail of rank river fart bubbles behind me. There was an angry storm cloud of river farts following me around the river.

At long last I made it out of the fart mud and onto some nice rock and gravel. That's when the caddisflies attacked. They'd been around the past couple of weeks, but somehow they hadn't bothered me. Today, I was in the perfect spot for the wind to blow them right into my face. They they crawled around everywhere, all over my fishing vest, jacket, sweatshirt, fishing rod, reel, waders. Then I felt one on my neck, I went to scratch it off, and there it went down my back. Some of its friends went down there with it.

I worked all the spots that I could, with a variety of lures, and didn't get even a hit. After about 45 minutes there, my makeshift wading staff standing straight up in the fart mud, caddisflies inexplicably finding their way into all my parts, I had enough.

There were some very pretty flowers
covering a lot of the forest
Not pictured: the fart mud

Made my way back through the mud, over an island, crossed a small channel, and was finally back on some nice rocks. When I got to my car, I basically stripped down to rid myself of smushed caddisflies. I wasn't done yet, though.

I drove south, crossed the bridge, drove north, parked, and was soon in a much nicer location. No fart mud. For the next two hours, I slowly worked my way downstream along the east shore. I literally threw everything in my various tiny fishing vest tackleboxes. Nothing. I saw lots of geese, ducks, some herons, but no fish. As I fished the clouds came in, covering up the sun, and the wind picked up. It was cold!

Eventually, I was ready to throw in the towel. I was originally going to fish until sunset, then fish after dark a little to see what I could catch... But I was freezing cold, covered in fart mud, and tired.

Of course the river had one more thing to throw at me, another shore made of fart mud. Maybe this was the river's way of keeping my humble. Just when I think I'm figuring out the river, it throws fart mud at me.

Fox River mud

Saturday on the creek

The view from the water
This is why I go outside!

It was Saturday, and it wasn't a blizzard or thunderstorm, so I went out fishing.

Sometimes can't figure out how I choose where to go. This morning was no different- somehow the idea of wading Salt Creek near my house popped into my head. So I got suited up and headed to a spot where I could get in the water.

After my first cast, I realized I wouldn't be satisfied with this... At this stretch, the creek was mostly about a foot deep, and there was next to no structure. Just muddy flats. Since my kayak happened to be strapped to my car, parked a short walk away, the choice was obvious.

I paid no attention to the strange looks I got from local residents as I took my kayak down and got it ready to go. I quickly carried it to the creek, slid down the steep grassy bank, and was back in the water. I carefully pulled the kayak down, easing it next to me in the water.

My new plan was to kayak up to Busse (Busse, the skunk that keeps on skunking me) and fish the Arlington pool. Supposedly there were pike and walleye in there, which just so happened to be on my fishing "to do" list. I hopped in the kayak and started paddling. Only recently have I started kayaking wearing my waders, and I have to say it's simply amazing. Paddle, stop, wade, fish, paddle some more, wade; it's just great.

Salt Creek @ Arlington Heights Road
(All I could think of was the musky caught here a while ago...)

I slowly made my way up to Arlington Heights road, passing a variety of interesting things. There seemed to be at least ten baseball games going on on the east bank, and there was a baseball floating in the water. I picked it up and plopped it in my yak. Lately trash and debris have really been bothering me. I'm not sure what exactly got me this way; perhaps spending a lot of time on the Fox and other mostly pristine areas makes me hyper-sensitive to trash where I'm fishing. I don't just like fishing, I like fish and birds and otters and beavers and all the other creatures that live around water; I want to catch fish, but I also want these animals to have a nice place to live. Sometimes I wonder how certain trash got in the water (a giant beach ball I found today and somehow stuck in my kayak) and other times I know (fishing line caught in trees near fishy-looking spots).

The other day at the pond, I spent a little while cleaning up a ton of trash. I just got tired of it sitting there, and thought I should do something about it since there's a good chance I use the pond more than anybody else. To my dismay, most of the trash was fishing-related stuff; discarded line, hook packages, and the most offensive to me, a six pack of empty beer cans just thrown into the weeds. What the hell, people.

But I digress... Back to the paddle: At one point something was swimming along next to my kayak, just below the surface. At first I thought it might be an otter, but I watched and it never surfaced for air. It didn't seem like a carp, and all I could think of is it was the elusive Salt Creek muskie. Probably not, but that's what stuck in my head.

Finally I made it to Busse, and there must have been 15 people standing on the east shore, fishing. This was one of those moments when I loved kayak fishing. The west side of the pool is relatively hard to access, and I had it all to myself. I pulled out a rope, tied it to a stump, and started fishing.

I noticed a dead fish floating near some downed branches and fishing line. Not having any luck fishing, I decided to investigate. It was a walleye! And a nice sized one too. There was a ton of monofilament fishing line everywhere, and a couple of heavy jigs caught in the branches. I wondered if these had caused the death of this fine specimen of a fish. It ocurred to me I would be beside myself if I caught a walleye that size. At least this confirms they do in fact inhabit these waters...

Fairly positive it's a walleye...
Not sure what killed it, but the fishing line everywhere doesn't help

Then I got upset, and noticed the jungle of fishing line that was covering branches everywhere. I remembered a previous trip to this pool where I found a dead goose wrapped in a mess of fishing line. I decided to do something about it. I went branch to branch, untangling as much line as I could. Some of the line was too high for me to reach, but much of it was kayak-level. After about a half hour, I had rid the whole area of most of the unsightly and dangerous (to animals) fishing line.

That's a lot of line

And not only that, but I found a ton of lures in the process!

I find a lot of lures while fishing...
...Then again, I also lose a lot of lures

I'm particularly interested in this yellow one. I did some googling, and I think it might be a Hellin Flatfish. It looks almost handmade. Either that, or really old. Regardless, I like it! It has a nice wobble to it in the water.

I don't have any lures like this one

A shore fisherman mentioned to me he got some bites on leeches, which got me back to fishing. I didn't have any leeches, but I did have a leech-like worm I texas-rigged. No takers. I decided to head back downstream.

I saw a bunch of little fish eating caddis flies (I think that's what they are) on the surface of the water. The other day on the Fox there were about a million of these little tiny moths everywhere. I tied on a little jig'n'twister to see if I could catch one, whatever they were. I got tons of little hits, but no commitments. Based on what I've been reading, I thought they might be creek chubs.

As I paddled down the river, I got perplexed looks from people doing yard work in their yards, which of course backed up to the creek. I said "Hello," and they stared back looking at me strangely. When I passed under another bridge, some high school girls saw me and thought it was hilarious I'd be fishing in the creek. I'm not sure what's so hilarious... don't they know there might be a muskie in there!!??

Although I didn't catch any fish, it was a great paddle- it turned out to be a beautiful day, I helped clean up some trash, and got some awesome new lures!

Busse strikes again

This late afternoon I decided to head back out. I guess the decision wasn't that hard, considering my recent fishing activity. I've been trying to find some more good water close to home, and picking apart the area via google earth, I realized the east branch of the Dupage River was about 20 minutes south of my house. There are smallies in the Dupage. I suppose I could have driven further south, but I really wanted to find a spot closer to my house where I could catch fish while wading.

East Branch of the Dupage River near Glendale Heights

I drove to a spot, waders on, walked to the river, walked in, and sunk down into muck. The river there was about 10' wide, 2' deep, and the bottom was pure mud and muck. As I stood there, I sunk down deeper as if I were in quicksand. There was no way I could wade this, and I doubted there would be fish in this stretch. I cut my losses and decided to head somewhere else. I still had my waders on, after all.

Why did I choose Busse? Busse, the lake that skunks me again and again, and only rarely gives me a fish or two? I'm not sure, even now. I like Busse, and I don't know why. Maybe I had hope from recent fishing reports of some people having luck there. I strapped the kayak to my roof, and was in the Busse's south pool in a matter of minutes.

As I was loading up the yak, somehow my pliers fell out of an open pocket in my fishing vest and sunk to the bottom of the lake. There was no way I could get them back in the 10'+ chocolate milk-like water.

I did a slow paddle around the big island in the south pool, and spent a long time trying to find a deep hole I've seen from depth maps. I threw crankbaits, wacky worms, rat-l-traps, and variety of other lures, but in classic Busse fashion, no takers. By the time I reached south shore, the clouds had intensified, and the temperature had come down a little. It was downright cold!

One of the nice things about being in a kayak is animals generally don't realize I'm there until I'm very close. This gives me the chance to see a lot of things up close and personal, like this duck that was about 10' from my kayak.

Busse duck, very close to my kayak

I worked the shoreline, following the island's shore before I paddled back to the boat launch. Occasionally I saw tell-tale mud clouds in the water, meaning I probably scared a bunch of carp as I paddled by. I'll definitely have to do some carp fishing at Busse... There are so many of them! I saw a bunch of other people fishing, but couldn't tell if they were catching anything. I half expected to be skunked at Busse, but it was ok. I really like kayaking, and if I'm going to kayak I might as well fish.

A Short Wade in Cold Water

Had some time yesterday, and thanks to Ken G who hipped me to the spot, I headed south to Salt Creek near the Brookfield Zoo.

The creek flows all over the area, but I know it most where it leaves Busse and heads south a few minutes to the east of my house. Eventually it connects with the Desplaines river, then the Illinois River, then the Mississippi. I've become a little obsessed mapping rivers, streams, and creeks in Google Earth. They're all connected!

A 20 minute drive south, the creek has an entirely different feel to it. Less of a creek, more of a river. I expected a small trickle, but encountered a beautiful river with rocks, with much clearer water than I'm used to in Cook County. I rolled up in my car, marveling at the very tall trees, and quickly suited up and got to the water.

I think there's a pool in this picture-
that's where there were a bunch of little fish

First cast (with a 3" white jig'n'twister) I got a hit immediately. At that exact moment my phone rang, I saw who it was and knew I needed to take it; I answered my phone and the fish got off the hook. I could have sworn it looked like a small bass, it's slim profile flashed and disappeared back into the pool. My phone call took a few minutes, all the while I scanned the river, trying to figure out it's secrets. The result of the call was good though, I was headed to Nebraska for some gigs! I wonder if there's any good fishing out there.

I entered the water, and cast, trying to reclaim the little on that got away. Again I got plenty of little hits that felt more like panfish than bass. It occurred to me maybe I should fish with nightcrawlers, I bet I'd catch more fish. Looking at the water, I identified (maybe incorrectly) some riffles, a handful of little pools, and a couple seams. I did my best fishing all the angles of these things, but wasn't able to hook one of the little fish. I tied on a tiny jighead with a tiny pink tube, but they wouldn't go for it. Maybe they liked the color of the white twister?

Wanting to explore more, I proceeded upstream. It was crazy to see to the bottom of the creek; most places I've been fishing lately (the pond, Busse, Beck, Songbird, etc.) are usually very muddy with almost no visibility. Here, a short drive away, I could see the entire composition of the stream bed. Lots and lots of rocks, gravel, and little forests of weeds (algae?) pulsing in the current. It was beautiful. Except there was this weird smell I couldn't identify... kind of a bad smell.

If not for the roar of the nearby expressway and even closer major streets, I felt like I could have been 500 miles away. Maybe in some trout stream in Colorado. Or even better, in Michigan! I liked the variety of stuff happening on this little river- it was flowing pretty quickly, and it was easy to see all the different currents at the surface.

And then I looked to the right, and stood about five feet from a raccoon.

I stopped in my tracks, all I could think of were all those scenes in movies where raccoons jump on the face of an unsuspecting outdoorsman wannabe... But it didn't move. I couldn't quite see it's face... I stood there for a minute, and then I realized it was dead. Upon a more thorough investigation I noticed some bugs and stuff that were doing their job of dismantling the raccoon. I thought of how efficient nature is- the raccoon died, bugs take it apart, it becomes something else. I don't know anything about ecology or biology, so it kind of seems like magic.

I fished for a while more in the ice cold water. Oh, didn't I mention it was ice cold? It was ice cold. Like colder than ice cold. In my thin, non-neoprene and non-breathable waders, only a thin sheet of wader material and some jeans were between my privates and a quickly rushing stream of frigid water. I was very cold. This seemed to be the theme of the week.

Every so often I'd get out the water to warm up a bit, then walk back in and continue. I got a few more small bites, but didn't see any baitfish or especially fishy-looking areas. Cycling through my entire tackle box (divided into a few smaller tackle boxes, packed into my awesome fishing vest) I practiced using all the different kinds of lures I had. Good practice, but no fish. I definitely need to come back and explore when I have more time, this is a great spot.

Thanks Ken!

Looks pristine and far away, right?
Just 5 minutes from 290! Or 355 or 88 or something...

It was %$!#@ing cold

I've been hearing great reports of the fishing at Dusable Harbor, so of course that's where I found myself this morning around 6am. As soon as I got out of my car, I looked into the black sky and was almost knocked over by the wind. I had some second thoughts. Maybe it would be warmer by the water, I thought.

Does it look cold? It was!!

I walked up Michigan, over on Balbo, and was at the water in a few minutes. Huge waves crashed onto the pier, white streams of water flew everywhere. The lake was filled with giant waves, little white caps everywhere, and the wind was extremely intense.

It was $!#@%&ing cold as $%#&!

I almost turned around just then, but I stopped. I didn't wake up at 5 for nothing. I like little adventures almost as much as I like catching fish.

I walked north along the shore, trying to figure out how to deal with this curveball. I looked for a place that might give shelter to fish trying to escape the torrential wind. For a while I fished the area where Lake Shore Drive curves around and there are some docks. The water there was more calm, but no takers.

I kept walking north, working various lures along the lakefront as I went. I cast and retrieved with my cold, numb hands. It was supposed to be 74°F today, so I didn't bring any gloves. Lesson learned! Trying to improve my fishing skills, I've been changing lures more often. Every 10-20 minutes I tied on a different lure and tried a different technique. If any fish were biting I was determined to find them, catch them, and photograph them.

When I reached Dusable Harbor proper, I discovered a door to one of the long docks that must have been a fisherman's entrance. All I had to do was pull it open, and I walked onto the dock. A huge- no, humungous flock of seagulls was causing an insane racket over by some rocks closer to Navy Pier. I wondered if they discovered the baitfish and were having a nice morning buffet. I tried walking in that direction, but as soon as I moved beyond the big boat docked there in the harbor, the hurricane-like ice-cold wind changed my mind.

Dusable Harbor - that big boat to the right
was blocking some of the wind

No luck at the harbor, I continued walking, and found myself on the Chicago River. I fished some pilings with cranks, spinners, tubes, etc. but nobody was interested there either. I kept thinking there were certainly fish there, but I couldn't figure out how to get them. The wind was unrelenting, my hands were frozen to the core, and my three layers of flannel, sweatshirt, and windbreaker jacket weren't even enough.

The Chicago River
Doesn't look cold, but it really was

It occurred to me that I must really like fishing to be putting myself through this.

I realized I was only a 10 minute walk from Ogden Slip, where I'd had plenty of luck last year (thanks to Jim Nolan aka Bridgeport Bass for turning me on to the spot) so I headed there.

Somehow the wind was even more intense in there around all the buildings, and casting was next to impossible. I tried to work some pilings, but the wind had other ideas. I walked down the sidewalk and started fishing next to the "no fishing" sign in the corner. I had it on good authority that the city of Chicago actually built and owns the small cement dock I was on, so third party management companies cannot actually disallow fishing.

After a half hour there, working tubes, shallow cranks, deep cranks, spinners, and jigs, it was time to go. Thankfully the sun had risen enough I was slightly warm, just as I was leaving of course. I cut my losses, walked a few blocks to Michigan Avenue, hopped on a bus, and headed to work.

Not the most flattering shot....
I found a smaller, rounder bean hidden in some side streets

Kayak wading Salt Creek

I'm going to attempt a short post.

I realize I often write and write and write, probably to the point of rambling. I'm going to try a new thing here, and write a short, succinct post. This trip is a good candidate for that, since not much happened.

Even though there was a cold front coming through (I was in a kayak in Beck Lake when it happened, and let me tell you it was definitely cold) I had to get out and do some more exploring. My kayak was already strapped to my car, and my waders were already in the trunk, so I headed out. I stopped by Salt Creek a few days ago to check it out, but had a hard time getting into the water. I figured I'd take the kayak out, and if I found some fishy spots I could get out and wade.

While I unloaded the kayak, a forest preserve officer in a truck watched me. I wondered if I was doing something wrong and was about to get a ticket or something. Once I got the kayak to the water, he moved along. Got the yak in the creek, two rods in the rod holders, waders on, fishing vest stuffed with gear, and off I went.

Kayakin' the Salt

This was the first time I've kayaked with waders, and I love it. I got out of the yak about 15 times to fish promising spots, but didn't get even a hit. I'm sure the cold front doesn't help. I've heard of pike, musky, and even smallies in the creek, but I've only caught panfish and tiny largemouth bass in it so far. I threw some inline spinners (I love how they look in current), jigs and twisters, tubes, cranks, but nothing.

It was a nice paddle up the creek, and it was fun to float back, casting the whole way. A lot of the creek where I was had a very rocky bottom, which is very different from the bottom farther north. Where I usually fish it it's a mucky mud bottom. The water down here was also much clearer, about a foot of visibility. Although residential areas surround the creek, at times I felt like I was much farther away from civilization. Except for the jumbo jets flying overhead every five minutes on their way to O'hare, the busiest airport in the world, a few miles to the east.

I spent about two hours in the creek, and it was a very enjoyable experience. I saw plenty of baitfish, so I'm sure there are gamefish around. I found the baitfish by trying to read the water, to figure out where fish might be... And at least as far as baitfish are concerned, I found them! Now I just have to find whoever is eating the baitfish. I'd love to catch some nice bass wading in a stream 15 minutes from my house.... I'll definitely be back.

I hit the retention pond on the way home, and nada there too. Oh well, the season is just starting, and I'm getting tons of casting practice.

Skunked, skunked, and skunked again

In an effort to take advantage of the amazing temperatures we were having, I've been fishing like a madman. Unfortunately, I don't have much to show for it in terms of fish caught. Reading reports on Windy City Fishing leads me to believe I might be the only one not catching huge numbers of fish! Alas, I figure the more I fish, the better I'll get, and eventually I'll be able to land many fish per outing.

On the other hand, because I seem to get skunked so often, it's incredibly exciting for me to land even one fish! I'm still very new to fishing, and I still get a huge thrill landing even the dinkiest baby of a fish.

Since I haven't been catching much, I decided to condense all my recent trips into one post. Here goes...

WEDNESDAY 3-21-2012 - The Pond

the pond at night

I decided to try night fishing the pond, I wondered if the higher-than-normal daytime temperatures might entice a bite out of the bass there. I read some reports of other fisherman having nighttime success, so I headed out to the pond. Long story short, nada. It was a great time, a very nice air temperature, and it was very relaxing to cast in the dark. There were a few splashes near me, but the bass weren't interested.

Every now and then I heard a very strange sound, and I listened carefully to figure out what it was. Eventually I realized it was a bug zapper at a house across the pond. ZAP! ZAPZAPZAP! Some bugs were meeting their maker.

I also heard (and saw glimpses of) bats flying around the pond, probably enjoying a feast of newly hatched bugs. I definitely appreciated their handiwork, since I wasn't being bothered by any bugs whatsoever. It's very cool to hear bats chirping as they fly through the darkness; as they flew around me their chirps were moved across my stereo image (it's an audio thing) which was very interesting!

THURSDAY 3-22-2012 - Salt Creek

Three herons (I think)

The next day I had some time on my way home from work, and I decided to check out a new stretch of Salt Creek. The creek runs north to south near my house; I think Busse was created by damming it up. The creek flows from Busse down through a variety of industrial and residential areas, before eventually meeting up with the Desplaines River (I think, I'm still mapping it in Google Earth). I saw a huge number of minnows (maybe some were tadpoles?) and found a very nice kayak/canoe launch. Will definitely have to kayak from here sometime.

Stood on the bank for about an hour, throwing a variety of lures with no takers. Up closer to Busse, the creek definitely seems like a creek.. But down here, it is a little wider, and seems like a small river. I'm sure there are game fish in this stretch, just have to figure out how to catch them...

FRIDAY 3-23-2012 - Busse Lake


Had some time after work, so I headed to Busse for about an hour. On my way I stopped at Dick's to pick up some stuff, including a red craw-pattern rat-L-trap, which has been killing it in the area on bass.

Second cast, I hook the craw on a rock, and somehow manage to break my braided line. What the hell, Busse!? Well that's $5 I'll never get back. I need to figure out how to make rat L traps.

There were two guys fishing right on the dam on the main pool side; I couldn't quite figure out what they were going for. It looked like they were casting right into the pool under the small dam, but they didn't seem to be catching anything. I wondered if any fish were gathering under the dam.

the north pool dam at Busse

Saw another guy shore fishing in one of my favorite spots, and he was getting bite after bite on a worm/salamander/creature softbait. It was great to see someone getting action at Busse! He managed to catch at least one when I was there.

After a while I had to go, but I'd be back... I wanted in on the action.

SATURDAY 3-24-2012 - Busse Lake

it was foggy

I've been eager to get the kayak out since January. Finally the time had come! Friday night I loaded up the kayak on my car, went to Dick's and got some supplies for my fishing vest. I used the vest wading for steelhead in Michigan a couple weeks ago (or was it last weekend?) but I just put my lures loose in the pockets. That resulted in a few small holes in the pockets, and a few larger holes in my hands. Apparently people use small tackle boxes in the pockets. Who knew!?

So I put together an assortment of lures in a few small tackle boxes, filling my fishing vest with everything I'd need. I had a soft plastics tackle box with tubes, worms, creatures, bullet weights, and hooks; I had a jig box with twister tails, grubs, and jigs of all sizes; then I had a crankbait box with a selection of my favorite crankbaits, including some handmade ones from Mike Muston of Flushing, Michigan, Their action is incredible!

Got up extra early saturday morning, ate some oatmeal, drank some (not enough) coffee, and set out in the dark... for Busse Lake. Why did I choose Busse, where I've been skunked so many times before? Reading reports, it seemed many people have been KILLING it at Busse. I wanted in on the action! I still have never caught a bass in the kayak.

I drove to Busse, noticing that all the entrances were closed except the one I wanted to enter- the Higgins road entrance near 290. I arrived just about at sunrise, and there were already about 15 cars parked inside the preserve. Wow, I guess I wasn't the only one trying to get out today. I quickly unloaded the kayak, parked my car, and was in the water in about 10 minutes.

I caught this deep diving crankbait
on a texas-rigged plastic worm

The fog was incredible- the air temperature was rather cold, but the water was warm. I think that situation will cause fog every time- but I don't really know science. It was great fun paddling through the dense fog, only being able to see a little bit in front of me. It was like a tylenol commercial for baby boomers. Not sure why I thought that...

I worked the shoreline with a variety of lures, nothing. I trolled a crankbait, nothing. I worked the channel near the boat launch, some shallow areas that seemed like nice spawning grounds, and even some downed timber where that guy had success the night before, and nothing. I did however manage to catch a new lure, looks like a deep diving crankbait. Nice! I've found so many nice pieces of gear at Busse, it lessens the blow of the almost expected skunk. It was a great outing in terms of kayaking, but alas I went home without any fish pictures.

SATURDAY - part 2 - Salt Creek


I decided to head back to Salt Creek again, this time with my waders. I got there about an hour before sunset, and was really hoping for some bites. I put my waders on, threw on my fishing vest (which by the way is an awesome way to carry tackle! So convenient, and I can travel lighter. No big tackle box needed... Just grab what I need from my pockets. I love it!)

I stepped into the water, and that's when the problems started. First of all, the water was extremely muddy, flowing quickly, and filled with big rocks. I didn't have my wading staff. As I attempted to enter the water, every move was stopped by a huge rock I couldn't seem to get around. Finally, I was able to get around the rock, but then suddenly discovered there was a two foot dropoff just on the other side! I almost ended up swimming in the creek instead of wading. I tried to find some other spot to enter, but nothing. All along the banks it seemed the creek got very deep, very quickly. There seemed to be no easy way to enter the water.

I tried hiking up a path, looking for another entrance. I found a bridge which looked promising. I was about to step in the water, when it occurred to me I'd better check the depth. I stuck my rod in the water, tip down, to get a sense of the depth. Almost the whole rod went in the water- vertically- and it was clear that this spot had a four foot dropoff. Not a good idea to step in!

Discouraged, I fished a bit from the bridge. Scanning the water, trying to remember everything I've read about river fishing, I tried to make sense of what I saw. Which ones were riffles, which ones were pools? I found an area where the water flowed in a circle, and the current seemed much weaker. It was also under some bushes. Sure enough, when I cast my jig n twister, I got some bites! Unfortunately I couldn't get anybody to commit, and once again ended up leaving empty handed so to speak.

This guy grabbed my lure and shoved it into his mouth
Then he spit it out for me. Thanks frog!

I did end up hooking a frog accidentally with a white jig n twister. He grabbed it with his hand and shoved it into his mouth! I didn't know frogs did that. I tugged on the line and he quickly spat it out. I'm glad I didn't hurt him, I like frogs.

It's always great to get out, and I like exploring new areas, even if I'm skunked. I'll definitely have to come back here with a kayak, and see if I can find one of those elusive Salt Creek muskies.

2012: The Year of the Skunk?

The pond

It was recently brought to my attention I haven't been blogging much lately... It's not that I haven't been fishing, or cooking (I finally made a roux!), or making music (working on a dub album right now)... Or playing video games! (Minecraft is a seriously amazing game.) But for some reason, it hasn't seemed like any of these specific activities warranted a full blog post. Since this is primarily a fishing blog, I suppose I'd be remiss if I didn't share my most recent fishing adventures.

Of course, I use that term very lightly. My fishing lately has been less adventure and more casting practice.

Since January 1, I've gotten out on the water about 15 times (might be higher, I haven't been keeping track). So far this year I've hit up Salt Creek a bunch of times, Busse (yes, I'm a glutton for punishment), Belmont Harbor, Diversey Harbor; and once the ice went away, my local honey-hole retention pond.

My first few outings were difficult, to say the least. Every other cast I would tangle my line. I felt like the total noob fisherman I was a year ago. Not that I'm not still a noob, but in October I could handle a fishing rod pretty well. So far this year I'm definitely out of practice, and it shows!

Every few days I get the urge to wet a line, and head out with the hopes of landing even a single fish. Even a tiny fish would be nice, just a fish. On some of the nice weekends we've been having (winter? what winter?) I've spent a good portion of my Saturdays and Sundays standing on a bank somewhere, casting like a madman. And yet, so far, I have only caught the SKUNK! (With the exception of an outing in early January, where I landed a few TINY sunfish and a shiner.)

It's been great to see familiar landscapes changed by the seasons. Until last year, I didn't really go outdoors too much. It was mostly moving from one indoors to another indoors- just this place I have to go in between being inside. Anything I saw outside was just a backdrop to my trip. Since I've been obsessed with fishing (and of course kayaking) the outdoors is pretty much where I want to be as much as possible. It's not that I want to date Mother Nature or anything, or go chain myself to trees about to be cut down; I just really like being outside. I love seeing animals (particularly fish on the end of my line, but herons and deer will suffice), I like the infinite nature of being outside (the ceiling is very very high), and I like what it sounds like when there's nothing but nature for a few hundred yards.

Belmont Harbor

Standing on the bank of a body of water there aren't really reverb reflections, and often the only sound is the sound of moving water. Or loud, obnoxious geese. (By the way, when a hundred squawking, pooping, splashing geese descend from the sky on my pond, destroying the wonderful water-soundscape and possibly scaring all the already skiddish fish, I have an incredibly strong urge to take up goose hunting. How can they be so loud, and poop so much? Why don't they migrate somewhere already?? Would it be strange to bring a shotgun when I go pond fishing?)

The lower water levels have given me some insight into what's really beneath the surface of the water- certain fishing spots I frequent have been giving up some secrets lately. I can better see the structure, where there should be some fish hiding. Come spring, I hope to take advantage of that valuable information.

In all my time spent inside this winter, I've been planning my 2012 fishing season. Last year my life's mission was to catch a smallmouth bass- and I finally did in September on the amazing Fox River. This year, I want to expand my species list and land a walleye and a pike. Just one of each, that would do it for me! My internet history is bulging at the seams with google searches like "walleye lures" "walleye techniques" "early spring pike" s"why are walleye so elusive?" "salt creek muskie" and things like that.

Salt Creek

This has been a strange "winter"- I thought I might get to experience ice fishing, but so far there hasn't been too much ice. I never thought I'd get to fish open water in January or February, but I have- not much to show for it though. My dreams are filled with long paddles in the kayak, catching bass after bass, using my (not yet purchased) fish finder to locate and slay pure hogs; hopping into my waders and spending as much time as possible up to my waist in river water... I've been seriously contemplating taking my yak out to the pond; however my always reasonable wife convinced me that would be ridiculous. Perhaps...

Bottom line: can't wait for spring, can't wait for the fish to start biting again, can't wait for all this indoors stuff to be done with.

PS: Walleyes and pikes: I'm coming for you!

Fishing in January

It looks a lot colder than it was

Although I've been keeping busy with music making (recently released a new album), lure making, cooking, watching awesome shows like "The Walking Dead," and of course work, I've had a pretty strong urge to get out there and do some fishing. I really thought by now we'd be covered in two feet of snow, every body of water would be covered in ice, and the only way to fish would be through a little hole with a little tiny rod. As it turns out, there's still plenty of water that is open and fishable!

I've been hearing about perch action along the lakefront (well, last week) and some reports of brown trout and steelhead around... That was enough to get me to the lake. I probably should have gotten some live bait, or at least some fish eggs to put on a hook, but instead I just brought along my new tackle box filled with homemade inline spinners, some jig'n'twisters, and a few wooden crankbaits.

In preparation for extreme wind and icy conditions, I wore my only pair of long underwear (I need more!) thick socks, a thermal long sleeve shirt, my new L.L. Bean super warm flannel/fleece shirt, and my big a** thick winter jacket. On my head I wore my trapper hat, and as soon as I put it on my head began to sweat.

I walked out to the water, expecting to be overwhelmed with cold; instead, I immediately took off my jacket. And hat, and scarf, and gloves. What I saw around me didn't match up with the temperature- the cement piers were all covered in frozen waves, the sky had a lead-grey hue to it, and there were literally little icebergs floating in the harbor. All around me the sun melted ice on the piers, which occasionally fell into the water with a huge splash, joining the other little icebergs.

At one point I hooked into an iceberg with a spinner, and got stuck! As the ice floated out toward the lake, my drag complained and I worried about being dragged into the water! I got some new line for Christmas, and I had just put some of this fancy fireline on my reel... This stuff is super strong and thin- but I was worried I wouldn't be able to cut it if necessary..!

Thankfully I was able to unhook myself, and my spinner came whizzing back very close to my head. Whew! Never thought I'd get hung up on ICE!

Marinas look strange without all the boats...
Although I do really like being the only one fishing!

I fished for about 2 hours, throwing mostly everything I had in my box. As I fished I regretted not getting live bait, maybe that would have been more successful. Then again, the whole trip was incredibly awesome- it was extremely nice out (51°F!! In January!) and it was very nice to be outside wetting a line. It was also nice to see how some new homemade inline spinners worked in the water. I made a few earlier in the week that had propellors and little jingle bells on them; combined with a bucktail-dressed hook, they looked pretty awesome in the water! I also learned that spray-painted colorado blades do not last when bumped against underground rocks- I'll stick with the "Hard as nails" nail polish thank you very much.

At one point I thought I had a small hit on a homemade hair jig, but it didn't happen again. I probably was fishing too quickly for lethargic winter fish...

I watched the sun go down, and I knew it was about time for me to leave. I wasn't too upset to go home empty-handed, as realistically I knew I probably wouldn't catch any fish. This was a good start to the year, and I have to say I'm very happy to have fished open water in January! On the other hand, I'm worried about what this weather will do to the whole ecosystem- I know almost nothing about biology, but it seems like extremely warm weather like this during winter could potentially mess a bunch of animals up. Hopefully they all do ok, and are ready to be caught and released by me in large numbers come this Spring...!

Sunset at Diversey Harbor

Change of seasons

As you may have noticed, I haven't been fishing much lately. It's been cold, and the past few times I've been out haven't been especially productive.... Or comfortable! I waded the Desplaines last weekend, and although it was nice to wade, the water was ice cold and the fish weren't biting. I don't have fancy neoprene waders; my sweatpants and thin waders were no match for the frigid water. Especially when I went deeper....

The other day I stopped by the retention pond for one last hurrah. It was freaking cold out, but I managed what is probably my last bass of the year! On a homemade lure, no less. Those black fury knockoffs I've been making work pretty well. So far I know they can catch catfish and bass.

Notice the awesome hat- it was very cold that day

So far pretty much every post here has been about fishing (it's called "CB Fishes" after all..) but there is a subtitle in there: "...and cooks and makes music and stuff." I've posted a few recipes, and mentioned my music making in passing, but for the next few months I will probably be posting more about music and food than fishing. If all you want to read about are my misadventures in fishing, don't worry! Whenever I head out to wet a line I'll post about it, but realistically it probably won't happen much for a while. Come Spring, I'll be flooding the internet with novel-length fishing entries once again. I'll be making lures throughout the cold months, so I'll post about those adventures too.

So I've been changing gears, from one obsession to another. Fishing is a relatively new thing for me- as you can tell by my posts- but music as always been my main obsession. Before I had a full time job with downtime used exclusively for fishing, I was a freelance gigging musician/composer/whatever. Every moment of my time was spent thinking about music, practicing music, trying to get gigs, and making music. Since I've been gainfully employed, I've discovered the joy of hobbies. When my income depended solely on my effort, I had no time for non-musical endeavors.

Now that I don't make my living making music, my music-making activity comes in spurts. Right now I'm transitioning from obsessed-with-fishing season to obsessed-with-music-making season. The timing works out well; for the past two years, I've been releasing a freely-downloadable Christmas album. My lovely wife suggested I do it, and what a great idea it was.

If you feel like getting in the holiday mood already, you can play the previous two albums right here. If you like them enough, you can download them too!

Last year's:



The original, from 2009:




Lately I've been playing in Ableton Live, working on some holiday songs, sampling instruments in my garage, playing with Kontakt, my Korg Monotron, and generally being obsessed with music and music technology. Normally all this stuff happens in my headphones, and I'm pretty much the only one who hears most of this stuff (besides my students, who are occasionally forced to listen to my most recent creations).

Now that I've got a blog, I plan on sharing details of my musical adventures just like I've been sharing my fishing adventures. Fall and Winter are actually my favorite times to cook, so I'll also be posting lots of recipes. I've got a Bell's Brown Ale beef stew recipe to write up, as well as one for slow-cooked ancho chile pork. And one for Beckstrom Molé...

Way overdue! Fishing in Cleveland

Edgewater Park, Cleveland

Well this post is a long time coming! It's been I think two weeks since this fishing trip... I haven't had a chance to post this for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is I was crazy sick sunday through tuesday last week. That's right- I almost never get sick, and I've now been sick twice in the last four weeks... what gives? Hopefully I get the facts right in the series of events; it's been a while, things are a little fuzzy.

Claire and I were in Cleveland last weekend for the Smerglia's Halloween Potluck party- well, that and some fishing. Friday night, Leo and I spent what seemed like hours trying to get my Ohio fishing license reprinted (I left mine at home). The guy operating the computer apparently forgot his password, and was telling us it was impossible to reprint my license and I'd have to shell out another $40 for a non-resident license. Leo, who has experience with the computer system from using it at Dick's, saw right through the rouse and was able to make it happen! The manager came over after a while, and between the three of them, eventually I got my little green license. We also picked up enough two liters for a small army of little kids, which turns out was exactly who would be coming over Saturday night.

Saturday morning Leo, Uncle Kevin and I headed out to hit up the big lake. Stopped to fuel up (gas for the car, coffee for me, sprite for Leo, Kevin already had his coffee) and soon we were walking out on the pier at Edgewater Park on Lake Erie. I had researched extensively, and read recent fishing reports from the Ohio DNR, as well as a bunch of local fishing forums. Just as in Chicago, the king salmon run was winding down, dovetailing into the steelhead run. In my mind salmon, those crazy fish who give up eating to come inland and spawn, seem incredibly difficult to catch; but I've already caught a few tiny steelhead. They seem more attainable; at least they still want some food! And in my humble opinion, they are much prettier, and word on the street is they taste even better than salmon. I've had grocery store salmon and grocery store rainbow trout, and based on that I would probably agree.

So we headed out on the pier, visions of steelheads dancing in my head. We were armed with some bright green nightcrawlers Leo picked up, some normal ones, and three tackle boxes worth of the greatest and latest in fish-catching technology. Kevin had a... let's call it retro tackle box filled to the brim with every kind of lure I'm familiar with, and some I'm not! Just to clarify, I thought his tacklebox was awesome.

We set up along the pier, and began casting. Leo shared some crappie rigs- they had some beads and some other lines coming off horizontally, as well as a snap to attach a weight. He'd had luck with that rig here in the past; he tied one on, and so did I. Looking around, we were the only ones on the pier. We started casting.

15 minutes went by without so much as a bite. Pretty early on I lost the crappy rig on some rocks- classic Beckstrom - and began rotating through my normal repertoire. Homemade inline spinners, Mepps, Little Cleos, tube jigs, jig and twisters (in both white AND black!), white spinners, black spinners; and nothing. Except a bunch of lost lures.

Leo and Kevin weren't doing any better, not one of us had even a single bite.

We noticed a guy walk down the pier, sit down on his bucket, and begin fishing with two rods rigged with bobbers and nightcrawlers. Almost immediately, he silently pulled up a nice looking largemouth bass, measured it, and put it in his bucket.

What!? Here we were, standing not 10 feet from the guy, also using nightcrawlers, and we had nothing to show for it. This guy comes in, sits down, and pulls out fish like magic. A few minutes later he has another one. He threw it back because it was too small, and that hurt even more. He was catching so many fish than us he had to throw some back!

As he fished, our eyes were trained on his rig, and immediately Leo and I perfectly replicated what he was using. Bobber, then six feet down the line, a juicy nightcrawler. This would catch fish, right?

Wrong. As this guy proceeded to pull out fish after fish, we proceeded to stare at our bobbers moving in the waves. Other fishermen showed up, using bobbers and nightcrawlers and everything else, but nobody caught any fish.

Leo switched to the other side of the pier- the one the fish whisperer was on - and continued not catching fish. Kevin and I stuck it out on the other side, also not catching fish. After loosing more lures, I climbed up the wall and began fishing the other side with Leo and the fishing expert guy. Pretty soon after that, he switched to the other side- the side where we'd been waterboarding our nightcrawlers for at least an hour straight- and proceeded to catch fish exactly where we had been fishing.

What the hell!? I told Leo I was retiring from fishing. The embarrassment was too much to bear. I mean, I had a fishing blog and 4 or 5 readers to report to, and this would not make an exciting post. How would I tell my faithful handful of followers I had failed them? How I had caught a big fat skunk instead of a big fat steelhead?

After about 3 hours of soaking worms in the choppy water, we conceded defeat. It was a fun if not frustrating outing, and it's always nice to fish with some other people. And really, it's probably for the best that Leo or Kevin didn't catch any fish- had they landed any hogs I would have had no choice but to disown them out of shame. Alas, nobody caught anything, so everything's good! And here I am telling you about it.