Junk Fisherman

Wow- I had a brutal day fishing Lake Michigan on Saturday. 1 14" smallmouth is all I had to show for fishing 7 hours. Overcast, 58 degrees, with south winds- I thought I would hammer them. Tried a bunch of different techniques and colors but I could not figure them out. Had a couple follows including 1 from a monster smallmouth but nothing. Thing looked like a boulder following my bait. Oh well- it was my first time out there in the fall so I am still learning.

Had this happen to me on my new boat. Flew out going down the road. I was stopping at BPS anyways and it was $5 to get a replacement. I grinded down the fiberglass on the console and made a nice fit. A little superglue and it has been good for a couple thousand miles of towing.

FIshed Braidwood for the last time this year. It was my 3rd Saturday in a row out there. Cold front and high pressure really affected the bite. I have caught a lot of fish out there the last couple weekends but I had to really fish hard for my fish today. Only caught one at a shade under 16" and everything else was in the 10"-13" range. Nice day to be out though. Thinking about fishing someplace else tomorrow- maybe the Cal Sag.

I was actually planning on getting the DX741 and DX742 this offseason. Are the powers of Champions Extreme XPs comparable to HPs? And I agree with you, if I am DSing a Erie Darter or something of that ilk with a 3/8 oz weight, I am using the 702 over the 701.

Wait till Tackle Warehouse's 20% Black Friday sale and get a Dobyns Champion XP for $200. Like Kamp wrote, you want to get the 701 or 702. I bought the 702 based on a lot of recommendations but it is a little heavier than what I want in a DS rod. So I use it for tubes, shakey, or wacky and have bought a 701 for DS. I love the lighter action on the 701 for DSing. It also makes a great Ned rig rod. Overall, I love both rods. I was an Avid spinning rod guy for a number of years and the Champion is a superior rod. When I first bought the 702 I did a shakey head comparison, same weight, line, and rocky location, and the 702 was markedly more sensitive than the Avid. The Avid is a very good rod. The Champion is a great rod. Good luck.

Check out http://www.tinboats.net/ I wouldn't worry about the stability- yet. You could always make a rough platform before finishing and check the stability. You might be out some time and the cost of the plywood but that's it. I built a platform in my first boat which was a narrow rowboat. It was tippy and you definitely would not lean to one side. But I enjoyed the deck a caught a lot of fish in that old boat. Granted, I only fished small water with that boat. Good luck.

Since the east winds kept me off the big lake again I went to Braidwood for the 2nd weekend in a row. A lot of guys were out there. Hit the parking lot at 6 AM and I couldn't even get to the launch so I drove to the other launch. Temps dropped from 86 to to around 75 in 1 week. Couldn't fish the spots I caught so many fish at last week since there were 3-4 boats just camped out on the spots. So I worked a bunch of new stuff and caught a couple 17" bass and a bunch of smaller fish. Feel pretty confident I could have grinded out a limit if I stuck to the most productive areas but I was just fun fishing and was looking at some new spots. A bunch of different finesse stuff did the damage mostly dropshot and a 4" senko. One more weekend out there for this season.

The Yamaha F series has a great track record for reliability. I bet the Merc would be a fine motor but if I had to take my chances, I'd go with the Yamaha.

Had a great day, numbers-wise, at Braidwood today. Could only fish till noon but I put a lot of fish in the boat. Nothing bigger than 16" but it was constant action. Surprised at how many bass fishermen were out there. In the past, September was a quiet time on the lake but today seemed closer to a March day than late September. Water was 86-88 degrees where I was fishing. Wish that place stayed open all year long.

In addition to most of the items listed, I carry a voltmeter.

I think those are a nice alternative to a kayak. They need to be geared for 1 person with a tiller bench and then all deck space. Make them aluminum with a tilt trailer with a 9.9 HP. Make them wide and short so they can fit in any garage.

Ended up not going to IL and fishing only IN waters. Scored a 3 fish limit (culled 2) for a little under 10 lbs and big bass at 3.95. That was good for both the win and big bass. First win in my new boat. Happy about the that.

Maybe do it for half the day then come back to Indiana.

Fished the big lake today and caught a 4.7 lb smallmouth which is my biggest in IL. Had a bigger fish on but I didn't get a good hookset and when it bulldogged under the boat the lure popped out. It was a brute. Caught some other nice keeper fish as well. Fished some new areas since I have a tournament out there Saturday and was looking for new stuff. LOL- found out later that the keeper size for IL is 20" which is where I was fishing. Me and my partner are not fishing for seasonal points so do we go fish for a big bass or stay in Indiana with it's 14" size limit? Think I'll leave it up to him.

Fished East Fork Lake this past weekend with a club tournament and it was TOUGH to find keepers (15"). Winner on Saturday had 2 fish for 7.5 lbs and no one had more than 2 keepers. Didn't hear the weigh in results for Sunday but it wasn't much different. Heard that 4.5 lbs won a club tournament there the week before. We caught a lot of 13"-14" fish but the keepers were few and far between. State Championship tournament will be held there in a month. Curious to see if things improve by then.

LOL- gotcha. When I saw Highland I thought that was a Chicago northern suburb. Good luck!

Rivers can be tough for beginners if you don't know how to read them. There can be a lot of dead water. From everything I have heard, Aurora and Naperville is loaded with subdivision ponds that hold good populations of bass. For a beginner, those will be easier places to fish. Good luck.

Going to be HOT, HOT, HOT especially at Kincaid. Any reason why you don't head north? For the time it takes you to drive to Kinkaid you could be in northern WI where it will be 10-20 degrees cooler with lower water temps and I would bet more active fish. Kinkaid is on the list of places I want to hit but that is a spring destination for me.

Interesting. I think the same thing about Grand Traverse Bay and I have been fishing there for the last 6 years.

Caught a couple keepers in my club tournament Sunday on the Kankakee/Des Plaines. Tough day overall with not a lot of keepers caught. What a crazy day on the river with all the pleasure boaters. Caught my keepers on a creature bait and a finesse jig. I finished in 4th and had big bass at 2.52 lbs. And I don't feel bad for taking the big bass pot with a sub 3lb fish. Twice I caught fish over 5 lbs and not won big bass so this makes up for those. Next tournament is Door County in 2 weeks. I won't be complaining about that fishery!

Good stuff! Biospawn- huh? My club has a relationship with them- not sure if it is a sponsorship or what. Are you the owner?

Put in a day prefishing on the Des Plaines/Kankakee for an upcoming club tournament. Bleck- what an ugly waterway! I'm still thinking about all that clear, clean water I was fishing in northern Michigan last month. Could only muster 2 lousy keepers and a half dozen shorts. LOL- I am already in for the tournament but I can see it being the last time I ever fish out there. I don't even care that it's close.

Have you used a Xi5? It turns very fast.

Sounds like a 17'-18' aluminum bass boat would be ideal. I would go 17' minimum and ideally 18'. Just about all the boat manufactures make a solid boat in this class but I would look closely at aluminum Rangers, Tritons, Crestliners, and G3s. Quality of dealer and price will be your biggest determining factors. If you give us some more info you'll get a lot more specific details. Good luck.

What made you move? Do you miss the Monee Reservoir? By the way this is Paul S or pswitzer or Bassin' Ted depending on what Chicagoland site you are on.