Slonezp - Good thing were not drinking, or you'd get drunk playing catch-up! Been skunked bout ½ my trips this year.

That's a Pretty  boat. Cleaned mine up the other day to sell it. Questioning why now. Pulled all my crap out of it also. I carry WAY to much stuff.

Markh024 - as expensive as those lures are, I'd be afraid to throw them!!

9 hours ago, Skunked again said:

Slonezp - Good thing were not drinking, or you'd get drunk playing catch-up! Been skunked bout ½ my trips this year.

That's a Pretty  boat. Cleaned mine up the other day to sell it. Questioning why now. Pulled all my crap out of it also. I carry WAY to much stuff.

Markh024 - as expensive as those lures are, I'd be afraid to throw them!!

It takes a lot to get me drunk

I should have taken a before pic. The water stains were bad and the side of the boat was all chalky white with a tan line of mud on top. I guess I think about the boat as a tool and not something I need to show off. My son made a comment to me about how crappy the boat looked when we were in Sturgeon Bay a couple weeks ago. It stuck in the back of my head  

12 hours ago, Skunked again said:

Markh024 - as expensive as those lures are, I'd be afraid to throw them!!

You can't catch fish on 'em if you dont chuck 'em. I know my hazard spots in the pond. 

I have been throwing new/different baits almost every time I go out. It's been keeping it interesting and more fun for me. I'm also learning which baits fit my style and which do not. 

On 7/9/2016 at 0:27 PM, MarkH024 said:

Went out for a bit to check the morning bite. I'm more of an afternoon/dusk/evening angler.  I got this guy who absolutely crushed my Melosh Gulping Gill.  Had a lot of follows after and lost one really good fish.  Can't seem to tag anything of real good size as of late.

Nice fish- if you don't mind, care to share where this is? I've been searching the Chicagoland area (w. burbs) for a spot that isn't heavily pressured, but I don't think such a place exists. Currently, I don't have a boat, but I think my next goal is to pick up a kayak or small fishing boat. I know either will allow me to explore many additional lakes and ponds. 

1 hour ago, jhc1 said:

Nice fish- if you don't mind, care to share where this is? I've been searching the Chicagoland area (w. burbs) for a spot that isn't heavily pressured, but I don't think such a place exists. Currently, I don't have a boat, but I think my next goal is to pick up a kayak or small fishing boat. I know either will allow me to explore many additional lakes and ponds. 

It's a residential pond in my subdivision run by the association so it is technically private. Only residents are permitted to fish it but I can tell you it gets its fair share of pressure. Being that this is out my front door I'm not goingto reveal the exact spot.

There are a lot of residential ponds in the DuPage, Kane, McHenry and surrounding counties. Just make sure youre not in violation. 

That said every where in IL gets pressure. That's why you need to be different than your average Joe going out to these spots and what you're throwing. I get a lot of smirks when people see I'm throwing 5-9" baits. I don't have any issues finding fish with big baits or my conventional stuff. BeBe smarter than the rest of the guys shore pounding, and you'll have success. 

Skunded here on Sunday night.

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!  

 

 

Markho24, ever use musky jerkbaits for bass? They work!. Your right , people look at you funny, until you land a keeper. 

3 minutes ago, Skunked again said:

Markho24, ever use musky jerkbaits for bass? They work!. Your right , people look at you funny, until you land a keeper. 

I have a couple 7" Crane baits but I usually only throw musky specific baits when I'm going for them.  I've caught bass on the buck tails/cowgirls I use for musky. I throw a lot of my same bass swimbaits for musky.  My PB in my avatar was on a Deps 175 SS.  I just haven't had any chance to fish for them this year, not sure that I will.  I had to bail on my Canada trip for a wedding.

12 hours ago, Junk Fisherman said:

Next tournament is Door County in 2 weeks.  I won't be complaining about that fishery!  

 

 

you might be if you followed Bill Schultz's email list.  he thinks the smallmouth fishery is collapsing up there.  too much pressure from the bassmaster publicity, too many tournaments, bed fishing, poor DNR management

9 hours ago, Allen Der said:

you might be if you followed Bill Schultz's email list.  he thinks the smallmouth fishery is collapsing up there.  too much pressure from the bassmaster publicity, too many tournaments, bed fishing, poor DNR management

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

I live in the Aurora/Naperville border and am looking for recommendations for places to fish for a beginner.  I've also tried fishing the fox valley river but no idea what I'm doing when it comes to river fishing.  Thanks!

I put a beat down on some fish today. They were crushing this bait and they weren't even big. Lots of fun.

 

I like the face wrap, is it more comfortable that any of the different types of sun blocking hats? Ie, wide brim, the hat with the tails, etc

13 minutes ago, Skunked again said:

I like the face wrap, is it more comfortable that any of the different types of sun blocking hats? Ie, wide brim, the hat with the tails, etc

I made it a couple years ago,it's ok. Buff brand and the other big names certainly make better quality ones. I wear it so my face doesn't get scorched. Or if I'm doing a stick up...jk. 

Anyone fish Kincaid or shelbyville for bass? Thinking about one of those two next week.

6 hours ago, Skunked again said:

Anyone fish Kincaid or shelbyville for bass? Thinking about one of those two next week.

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.

19 hours ago, Jschen said:

I live in the Aurora/Naperville border and am looking for recommendations for places to fish for a beginner.  I've also tried fishing the fox valley river but no idea what I'm doing when it comes to river fishing.  Thanks!

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.  

I have not fished Kincaid or Shelbyville yet this year but if it were me I would rather fish Kincaid as its deeper and more my style anyhow.

Mark...that almost looks like a bull shad but not like any that I have...what is it?

1 hour ago, Nice_Bass said:

 

Mark...that almost looks like a bull shad but not like any that I have...what is it?

It's the bullshad knock off Castaic (Duckett) made. BD shad in Blue Shad. For $25 bucks it's not bad at all swims really well. 

On 6/29/2016 at 10:59 PM, beardown34 said:

i was checking out these kicker fish texas weedless wacky worms on sale at TW, and i figured hey, i have a bag of busted plastics -- let's sniff some super glue and see what we can come up with! wacky just got a whole lot wackier.

 

Followup. I've only tried the Franken lure on the right, the 6" yum dinger. It caught 3 fish and then tore apart in two places. The vertical separated from the horizontal, and the yum dinger split right in the middle. Kind of difficult to revive even with Mend It. But it did work! My bigger problem functionally is I have no patience to wait for these weightless plastics to sink, and I fish skinny waters. My favorite worm presentation is a texas rigged worm with a 1/8oz unpegged bullet. 

 

Point being, kicker fish makes a retail version like this but I wonder if it would also tear easily at the middle. 

Headed to Bangs in the morning and Wisconsin River tomorrow evening and Sunday

Junk fisherman: I'm 30 minutes east of st Louis, heading to Wisconsin would take all day to get their. I would love to go their to fish . Not practical for a day trip.

Nice_bass : what is your style ? 

 

Depending on what ramp I use, the lakes are both about the same distance for me, both about 1.5 -2 hrs away.

I like to throw cranks first and jig/worm second. I have cheap graphs on my boat, so more than likely I'll be pounding the banks.

Thank you all for the replies.

Friendly tournament with my kid and his buddies. We killed them offshore and his buddies struggled beating the bank

10 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Friendly tournament with my kid and his buddies. We killed them offshore and his buddies struggled beating the bank

Nice Job Guys ~ Congrats

btw - that live well is rather spacious . . .

A-Jay