I am always on the look-out for flys that will suit my style of fishing.  I have always loved to target river smallies on the bottom with a jig/plastic combo.  So it was only natural when I took up fly fishing that I would look to employ bottom-hugging flies.  Why?  Well, smallies spend most of their river lives near or on the bottom.  Sure, there are times when they are super-charged and attack baits/flies mid water column or on top, but most of their lives are spent in a negative or neutral feeding mode.  If you want to catch those neutral/negative feeding fish, the angler needs to fish slow with a bait/fly that stays near the bottom and right in front of a smallie’s face.

Last year my number one bottom fly was the Menominnee Mud Bug created by Nelson Ham.  I made a few tweeks and variations, but for the most part, Nelson’s design was wonderful.  This new fly by Pat should really compliment, or possibly exceed, the prowess of the Mud Bug.  The Grim Reaper is very easy to tie and is relatively inexpensive in its parts.  Here is a shot of two Grim Reapers that I tied - one being a standard size and the other a mini size:

The materials list is as follows:

Hook:  Daiichi 60 degree jig hook - 2/0
Tail:  Hareline’s reaper tails (medium or large)
Eyes:  Medium sized dumbbell eyes (small sized eyes for mini version)
Underbody:  Copper UV polar chennile
Overbody:  Silicone strands
Thread:  6/0 Uni thread - burnt orange

The neat part of this fly is the idea of using a 60 degree jig hook.  Why?  60 degree jig hooks are way less likely to snag up on the bottom of a rocky river.  Of course, this is very important when it comes to fly fishing for river smallies who love to hang around rocks and other debris.  Another thing I like is the reaper tail out the back of the fly.  This tail has outstanding, subtle action that will drive smallies wild.  I use to fish with plastic reapers years ago and always found them to be very effective.  When this weather breaks, you can bet this fly will be one of the first ones that gets wet!!

You can read more about this fly and other great flys by Pat Ehlers at his website:  http://www.theflyfishers.com.

AS ALWAYS….......................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

I arrived at the river around 9:00 and observed the Mack in beautiful shape.  Fairly low and decent clarity.  I planned to only fish one wintering area that has produced fish for years.  Started with the spinning rod and a hair jig/trailer…........no dice.  Then I switched over to the fly rod.  WOW…...did it feel nice to actually cast again.  I took my Sage Smallmouth rod as I had some new big, bulky, sculpin patterns I had just tied days previous.  I wanted to see how they cast, sunk, and looked in the water.  The first fly, while it looked great, needed a little more weight.  The rest of the new flys I brought performed beautifully in the water.  I even had a small fish take a swirl at one of my Sculpin patterns.  I will post some pics of these new flys in the next few days.

So, after playing with the fly rod, I went back to the spinning rod and tried a tube and a suspending jerkbait….......still no dice.  After a couple of hours, the rain drops began to fall and I knew it was time to head for home.

No fish, but it sure was great to get out and actually fish open water.

AS ALWAYS….......................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

The above Rainbow was just Massive!  Picture does not do it justice.  It took 18 minutes to land!!

My dad with a GIANT ‘GILL.

Another giant ‘gill for dad.

The above ‘gill is truly a “boone and Crockett” caliber bluegill.  At or slightly above a pound.

The above pictures are only a small sample of the number of fish we caught. Included, but not pictured, were Walleyes, Perch, Largemouth Bass, Golden Trout, and Crappie.  A day not soon forgotten.  Anyone out there wanting a GREAT guided fishing experience, you just have to get ahold of Nate.  Total class all the way!!!!!!!

AS ALWAYS…..................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

Now that I purchased a brand new camera last night, I now can deliver this blog complete with pictures of some of the flies I have been working on lately.  So, here it goes:

The fly below is one that I provided a link to in my last blog entry.  This one is my first one.  I guess it came out OK, but I realized that I purchased the body material (Flexi Cord) one size too big.  I have the correct size (1/4 inch) already ordered.  The fly below is called the Wotton Shad:

This fly is a great looking fly that closely looks like an actual shad.  Fairly simple to tie with a little difficulty getting the Flexi Cord to flex just right to form the oblong shad body.  It should be easier when I get the right size.  What is neat about this fly is it can be tied to be a topwater (notice the 3mm foam on top), or tie without the foam and add some lead wraps and you have a sinking streamer-type fly.  The eyes that are attached are very cool.  They are called Jurassic Eyes and really add some realism.  Make sure if you tie this fly, do not use a short shank hook.  I made that mistake on the very first one and it turned out like crap.  A 2x or 3x long streamer hook should work as long as you have enough hook gap.

The fly below is a common pattern used for trout mostly, but I have been told is a killer, sleeper smallie fly.  It is called the Chernobyl Ant:

Bascially this is a large ant or grasshopper pattern.  Should be good especially along the small creeks I fish in the heat of the summer when the grass is tall along the banks and hoppers and other terrestrials are out in full force.  Very simple fly to tie with very few materials.  An underbody tied with 3mm foam or Chennile, and then the overbody tied in with 3mm foam.  Of course, you have to add two sets of legs on each side.  The little bright colored piece of foam on top is simply an indicator so the angler can keep sight of the fly as it drifts in the current.  For this fly, a long shank streamer hook is great.  The particular hook I used is a Tiemco 9394 NP.  I believe it is a #6, but not real sure about that.  The “NP” stands for nickel plated.  I really like Tiemco’s nickle plated hooks.  They are very sharp and will resist rusting I am guessing for quite some time.

The last fly below is a fly I kinda dreamed up on my own.  Last night I was thinking I wanted to come up with a sculpin/madtom pattern that was big, heavy and would just look like something a smallie would eat.  Here is what I came up with:

Don’t have a name for this one yet as I have not been able to test it out.  It is fairly basic.  1/4 wide rabbit strip out the back.  Medium lead eyes.  #2 brown chennile underbody.  And, last but not least, standard sized cross-cut rabbit fur palmered over the top.  Start you palmer wraps about a 1/4 inch behind the eyes and continue to palmer up to the eyes and then a couple of wraps in front of the eyes.  Make sure when you start the fly that you attach the eyes with plenty of room between the eyes and the eye of the hook so you will have room to palmer in front of the eyes without crowding the hook eye.  While I have not dropped this into the water (just got it finished last night around 10:00 PM), it does look to me like it would be something the smallies might find appealing.  Heck, I might even tie it in white with less weight and strip it fast to imitate a large baitfish….......who knows.  The “who knows” part makes this fly tying thing so exciting.

AS ALWAYS…....................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

http://ozarkanglers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=340&Itemid=74

Checked on Eureka Lake first.  Looked like it had enough ice, but no other anglers were out so I decided against trying it as Eureka has plenty of water over my head.  Next, I headed to Evergreen Lake.  Same thing - looked safe but no hardy souls out on the ice.  With strike one and two already used up, I had to think hard.  I decided on a little pond in Minonk that is quite shallow and contains bluegill and bass.  I have fished it numerous times during the warmwater months, but never ice fished it.  Today was the day.

When I arrived I immediately checked the ice near shore and it measured a solid 4 inches.  With that worry out of the way, I drilled a few holes a little farther out from the bank and found even more ice.  I started in about 5 feet of water and began catching small ‘gills.  Then I had a blast back-reeling on a 14 inch bass.  I began to venture farther out onto the ice and found about 6 feet of water right off the west shoreline.  This was the spot.  I caught ‘gill after gill.  None of them large as the biggest measured around 7 inches.  Most of the gills were five inches or less.  I did hook into another bass but could not get my drag loosened quickly enough and the bass snapped my line.  I kept a few of the largest gills and the bass and took home around 8 fish.  They are already cleaned and in the frig.

My best baits were Northland’s Bro Bug tipped with an ice fishing plastic and a waxie and also the ol’ standby Rat Finke (purple) caught its fair share again.  Tomorrow should be a great day as I am fishing with Central Illinois’ ice fishing guru, Nate Herman.  Should be an awesome time…...........stay tuned.

AS ALWAYS…...................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

I have been occupying my time tying swim jigs and flies.  But a guy can only tie so many before he gets a hankering to go fishing.  So…..........I wait some more.  Anyone out there got a good pond that has good, quality, safe ice, please let me know and I would love to come over.  You would be helping a fellow angler who is going stir crazy…........

And I continue to wait…..........................

AS ALWAYS…........................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

Pretty cool stuff.  Looks like I will be dealing with snow on the Mack this coming weekend.

AS ALWAYS….................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

Well there is very little doubt that the cold weather is here to stay.  I hate to see it happen, but it has happened and now it is time to change tactics if I wish to continue to connect with my beloved smallies.  One of the best ways to continue to catch bass throughout the winter months is with a simple hair jig/trailer combination.  Fishing a hair jig is a lost art now with the advent of plastics.  While plastics have taken over, don’t think for a moment that the riverine bronzeback has forgotten how much he loves a subtle hair jig when the water temps are in the mid forties or lower.

Back before plastics, many anglers used hair jigs throughout the year.  Hair jigs were tied with many different types of hair.  Deer, bear, coyote, and fox are just a few of the types of hairs that have fooled bass throughout the years.  You won’t find too many central Illinois anglers throwing hair, but I sure do.  I tie my own, which is quite simple to do and requires very little equipment.  A cheap vise, some jigheads, and thread and you are all set.  The following is a look at jigs tied with three different types of hair - deer, calf, and craft hair.

The above picture is three jigs tied with calf tail.  I just started messing with this hair.  So far, I really like it.  One, it comes in many colors and the hair is just the right length to make a small hair jig.  In addition, the hair is naturally fairly bushy, which I prefer as well.

The next type of hair that can be effective is not really hair.  It is a synthetic material called craft hair.  It too comes in many different colors and has great movement in the water.  While it is somewhat tough to find, it can be found on the internet through the punisher jigs company out of Celina TN.  They have the best craft hair and the most colors.

Last, but certainly not least, is the common deer hair jig.  The hair found on the deer’s tail is a dynamite jig dressing.  Easy to locate and comes in every color under the rainbow.  Make sure when you are tying a deer hair jig that you use the hairs on the upper 1/3 to 1/2 of the tail.

Now, all of the above mentioned jigs are normally fished with a trailer made from plastic or pork.  I am not a big fan of pork, though I know that is does work.  I prefer soft plastic trailers.  My favorite is the Zoom Skinny Chunk.  While fairly tough to find, it is well worth the effort.  This trailer is a match to the old U2 Uncle Josh pork rind.  It comes in many colors and has perfectly split tails.  I thread the trailer onto the hook so the tails are protruding past the ends of the hair.

All of these above mentioned hair jigs range in size for 1/16 to 1/4 ounce sizes.  1/8 ounce is my preferred size most of the time.  I fish these hair jigs on the bottom very, very slowly!  I will every so slightly lift them off the bottom a few inches and the then let them fall back to the bottom.  Sometimes I will just slowly crank my reel one or two turns and the stop.  The bites will occur when the jig is sitting still on the bottom or falling back the bottom.  The bites will be light, so always be on alert and watch your line religiously.

Armed with a few hair jigs, bass anglers can catch their prize throughout the winter months.  For me, there is no offseason.

AS ALWAYS….......................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

We hit the river around 11:00.  The river was in beautiful shape.  Clear water and running just nicely.  We hit the same area I caught fish at last weekend.  I caught a little smallie right off the bat on the float n fly.  We continued to fish the same area with no success.  Next, we decided to do a little exploring.  We jumped into the river and headed upstream about 100 yards.  We eventually found a beautiful eddy with a bunch of wood laying right in the honey spot.  I peered into the water and saw one of the biggest school of minnows I have ever seen.  We figured we were in for some fast action.  While we pounded the area, I was only able to get one nice strike that I missed.  Those darn cold water bass sometimes are very hard to hook.

After pounding that area filled with minnows, we decided to retrace our steps and headed back to our initial spot hoping the bite had picked up.  While both Jim and I tried numerous baits, the float n fly was the only thing Mr. Smallmouth would take a swipe at.  And swipe was the only thing we could get.  I had a couple of bass pull down my float, but was unable to hook them.  Once again, cold water and cold air temps. could not persuade the bass into taking a good hold of the bait.

So, about three hours of fishing resulted in four strikes for me.  Three of them I missed and just the one bite resulted in a smallie.  Jim went “biteless”, but enjoyed getting out for a few hours.  All I can think is that Saturday was the day and I missed it.  Live and learn.

AS ALWAYS…...............................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

This past weekend was gorgeous.  Sunny, warm and little wind.  Normally, I never fish on deer hunting weekend as I do not want to get in the way of deer hunters along the Mack or the Vermilion.  But, when I saw the forecast for yesterday, I just had to fish somewhere.  So, I sat down and thought where could I fish a stream that has little or any deer hunting nearby?  The answer - the Fox River.

The Fox River runs most of its course through suburbs and other highly populated areas.  Not the type of areas where deer hunting is allowed.  Luckily for me, the Fox River has plenty of bronzebacks.  I used to head to the Fox quite often back before children arrived on the scene.  The last ten years or so have seen me rarely visiting the Fox.  But I knew that the Fox was the perfect option for this past weekend.

My next step was to call my good buddy, Eric and see if he would be willing to share some good, late season, areas.  While information would have been helpful, what was even better was the idea that Eric wanted to join me.  We planned to meet at 12:30 and fish the afternoon bite.

When I woke up yesterday, I just had to fish.  Waiting until 12:30 was not an option.  I loaded up the vehicle and put together a plan.  I remembered a spot on the Fox that I fished a few years ago during the summer months.  The river was high then, but I spyed a couple of areas I thought might be good wintering areas.  They were the type of areas I look for in the winter - slow current flow, deep water, and hard bottom.  What was also nice about this area was the fact that I could fish the areas effectively from the bank.  So, my plan was in place.  I would fish my “bank fishing area” first and then meet up with the Fox River guru at 12:30.

I arrived at my spot around 9:30.  I toted three rods down the bank.  A spinning rod, casting rod, and the float-n-fly rod.  The river was in perfect shape and displayed clarity that is almost unheard of for the Fox.  All these positive components had me fired up for a good day.  I walked along the bank just taking a look at what I had.  I basically had three areas or eddys to fish.  All three were fairly deep with one of them possessing a rock drop-off.  One of the areas had two big logs laying on the bottom.  As I began to rig up the first rod, I knew there were fish in my immediate area.  I knew right then that I would “camp out” on this area until it was time to meet Eric.

I started out throwing a plastic rigged on a slider head.  I would basically fish one eddy, and if nothing happened, I would walk to the next two eddys.  If nothing happened on either of the three spots, I would walk back to my rods and either pick up another presentation, or re-rig one of my rods with something else.  The bite was slow at the beginning.  I had two bites in the first hour and missed one and snapped my line on the other hook set.

After those two missed fish, my confidence begin to rise.  I knew there were fish there and it was only a matter of time before they decided to start biting or began to take a liking to something I was throwing.  That is how cold water fishing works….......it is all about timing.  The smallie will normally not feed all day.  They feed for a short amount of time and if you are there during that time, you are going to have some fun.

So, I kept alternating between numerous baits.  Suspending jerkbait, plastics, hair jigs on the bottom, and float n fly all were given their chance.  At about 10:30 I had just those two bites on the plastic.  Because of this, I picked up the spinning rod rigged with the plastic and decided to stick with it and see what happens.  I moved into position to fish the area where I snapped my line on the hook set.  This is the area that had a rocky dropoff much like you would see on a northern lake.  I pitched onto the drop off and felt the line go tight and this time I set the hook a little softer and began to feel that familiar pull of a smallmouth bass.  With all the clear water, I could see that the smallie was a nice one.  He fought amazingly well for such cold water - matter of fact I even “back-reeled” a little so as he would not break my line.  I krept down to the water’s edge and was finally able to lip him.  As I grabbed him I noticed a section of line coming out of his mouth.  I checked further, and sure enough, it was the same smallie I snapped off on an hour before.  I knew it for sure as I was using Sufix superline and that was the same type of line coming out of his mouth.  I have done this many times in the past, but cannot remember doing it during the cold water season.  The smallie was a beauty.  Sixteen inches of bronze fury:

 
Now I was on the board and got the “nice” smallie monkey off my back.  The rest of the day would just be icing on the cake.  I moved down the bank to an eddy I had already fished numerous times in the past 90 minutes.  Tossed the jig in and immediately got hammered by a hungry smallie.  I swung and missed and immediately cast back in and received another bite right away.  This time I was ready and a spunky thirteen incher was reeled in:

The bite was on!!  I cast in again to the same eddy and had another strike that I missed.  I knew I needed to calm down and take my time.  I pitched in again and smallie began to swim off with my bait.  This time I stuck him and another smallie about the same size as the last one was lifted up the bank.

Another flip of the bait into the eddy brought another smallie to my grasp.  Everything was falling into place now.  Now it was just a matter of how long the bite would last.  I moved down to my third eddy - the one with the two large logs laying on the bottom.  I pitched at the end of the logs and felt a strike and set the hook.  Upon setting the hook I knew I had made contact with something large.  After about two seconds I knew it was no smallie.  I figured it was a carp.  Then after a few cranks I looked into the water and saw what I had - a nice flathead.  I clicked on my back-reel and began playing the fish.  He did not fight like he would during the warm water season.  I began to ease him to the bank and just when I was going to grab him the hook came out.  What a bummer!  I would say he was about 10-15 pounds.

I regained my composure and got back to chasing bronzebacks.  Unfortunately the bite had died and I was only able to elicit a couple of half-hearted bites in the last hour.  It was now time to meet up with my buddy Eric and finish out my day fishing a new area.

The plan with Eric was to basically hit one, large wintering area and pound it hard for the three to four hours of daylight we had left.  We got to the hole around 1:30, after wading across the river.  It was a classic cold water spot.  A rocky point jutted out into the river creating a huge, slack water eddy just downstream of the point.  Water was about waist to belly deep with a mixture of gravel, rock, and sand.  Eric had been doing quite well there the past few weeks with many smallies over 14 inches.  I was pumped and ready to tie into some more Fox River beauties.

We stepped into the river around 1:00 and headed upstream to the magical wintering area.  The area is a huge eddy caused by a rock point that juts out into the river.  Of course, the eddy is on the downstream side of the point.  Eric and I went right to work as we arrived at the downstream edge of the hole.  Eric was on the hula grub and I was throwing a jerkbait.

Unfortunately, the bite was slow but we kept at it.  I switched baits a few times and Eric stuck with the hula grub.  Finally, Eric connected with a couple of juvenile smallies and I caught one decent sized bass on the plastic.  I took out the float n fly and was able to land one Carp.  Carp absolutely love the float n fly.  They actually do eat the fly/jig….......we are not snagging them.

After about 90 minutes we began scratching our head.  Where were those big smallies that Eric had been exercising lately?  We kept working hoping that the bite would just “start” like it did for me at my morning spot.  As the sun began to set, I began to get cold.  My tired, old body just does not retain heat like it used to.  Of course, I really was not dressed appropriately for the occassion, as I had on breatheable waders with no long johns underneath.  I slipped out of the river along the bank while Eric began fishing the float n fly.

As Eric jiggled his float n fly downstream, the Carp began to feed ferociously.  I bet Eric caught at least half a dozen carp while I was “sunning” myself along the bank.  What was truly amazing was the fact that not one smallie would take a swipe at the fnf.  Take what you can get….......I guess.  Nice carp on a bass rod is still alot of fun.

The sun finally set and it was time to walk back.  On our way back, Eric spyed a little cut along the bank that had some depth.  We figured, “what the heck” and began firing our float n fly rig into the hole.  Little bronzebacks were waiting, as Eric caught three and I caught one.  They were not big, but they were the first smallies of the day to show themselves on the float n fly.

We stepped out of the river just as darkness was setting in.  We had fun, but were still puzzled as to where the big ones were.  We had a hot burger and a cold brew waiting for us at the local pub where we went over the day’s events.  All toll, we caught 13 smallies and numerous carp.  We talked about the “timing factor”.  We felt the big ones were in the hole, but just not feeding when we were there.  They may have fed around 10:30 when I caught all my fish at my morning spot….......who knows.  The “who knows” part is what makes cold water fishing so exciting.  Here is a final photo of my buddy Eric plying the depths:

AS ALWAYS…..................................................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

The fly is a take-off of a friend’s fly that is sold nationally through Rainey’s flys.  His fly is called the Hairy Fodder and has been featured in Fly Tying Magazine and is a staple bottom fly for anglers across the country.  The body of his fly is made from cross-cut rabbit, while the body of my fly is made from UV Polar Chennile (hence the name “polar tube”).  The flys construction is quite easy:

Hook:  #4 streamer hook
Weight:  Medium sized red dumbell eyes
Tail:  Silicone skirt strands
Body:  Regular chenille underwrap (you cannot see this, but I wrapped the shank with ultra chennille first to give the fly a bulkier appearance) and then Rusty Copper Polar UV chenille on top.

If the body of the fly looks a little “big” or “fat” to you, keep in mind that when wet, the polar chennile does condense and will make a nice, sleek, flashy body.

If anyone is interested in a step by step recipe for this fly can simply leave a comment and I will get back to you.  Any tiers out there that have not tried the use of polar chennile should give it a look.  Very neat stuff with many uses.

I plan to use this fly all winter, spring, summer, and fall.  I will probably fish it on a sink tip line to ensure it gets to the bottom.  I will fish it with short strips to imitate the actions of a fleeing crayfish.

Looks like I will get to try it out this weekend.

AS ALWAYS…......................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE  

It is that time of year when we get fairly busy.  Believe it or not, we are not real busy during the fishing season, but get busy during the cold weather months.  I guess when anglers cannot fish, they turn to buying more and new baits for next year.  I just finished up a big order for a couple of hard-core anglers up on the Rock and Mississippi Rivers.  I have shipped jigs to anglers all over the country.  Matter of fact, my swim jig has helped an angler out in South Carolina win a little money during tournament play.

Lately, I have been pumping out swim jigs to try and build up stock so when someone orders I may already have the jigs they want and can ship right away.  If you have not tried throwing a swim jig for bass (and it also catches many other species of fish), you are really “missing the boat”.  It is a dynamite fast presentation to catch those active bass.  They strike this bait ferociously and is a terrific alternative to a crankbait or spinnerbait.  Paired with a swim bait trailer (see below), I have caught tons of smallies and largies along with walleyes, flatheads, and white bass.  I have a few guys using them on Pike up north as well.  Here are a couple of pictures of jigs I made just a few nights ago:

The above jig is called Heartland Craw.  One of my most popular dark colored swim jigs.

Another very popular color is my “Bullgill”.  This is a great match of a male Bluegill.

The above jig is called Blue Shad.  This is probably my favorite for my clear rivers and creeks.  Just flat out catches them.

Below is a picture of the trailer that I prefer for my swim jigs.  It is a 3” swim bait made by the Big Hammer company in California.  You should check out their site:  http://www.swimbait.com.  Awesome baits and color selections.  I simply thread the trailer onto the hook so the tail is pointing down.  That reminds me of another thing about our jigs, we custom mold a wire trailer-keeper into the head.  That way, when you thread the trailer onto the hook, you slide the plastic trailer over the wire hook.  This wire hook holds your trailer on much, much longer compared to a jig without a trailer keeper.

If you are interested in any more information concerning my swim jigs, or the technique in general, you can comment to this entry, or email me at grahamj@district87.org.

AS ALWAYS…..........................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

While I tried a few more flies, the fish would not cooperate on the long rod.  I did have one more smallie take a swipe at a Murdich Minnow, but missed.  Then I cracked out the spinning rod.  A three inch, Hooked-UP Baits tube was the ticket.  Working the tube through the fast water produced three more smallies all measuring 14 inches.  I wish I could have stayed up until dark, but I could hear the wife calling.  Not bad though…........four bass in about 90 minutes.

With the forecast for Wednesday being as nice or nicer than the previous day, I decided to take a vacation day from work.  Got ahold of my buddy Tim and we were ready to have all day to slay some serious bronzebacks.  I was at the first spot by around 8:30.  What a beautiful day it was.  Very warm and partly cloudy.  The river was in perfect shape with around 2 feet of visibility in the water.  It was setting up to be one of those days to remember.  Unfortunately, the bass did not feel the same way.

The first area only produced one swipe at my fly.  I packed up and met Tim at the next area.  This area is a super deep area on an outside bend of the river with a riffle just downstream of the hole.  Tim and I worked it hard with both the fly rod and the spinning rod.  I lost a little one right at my feet and missed a few other good strikes on the my tube.  I was able to land one on the tube before hitting the road.

Next stop was the same area I had hit the night before.  The fish were not in the fastest water as they were the previous evening.  We finally found them in a little slack water pocket right next to the bank.  While throwing my Blue Shad swim jig with a swim bait trailer, I bumped into a small school of fiesty bronzebacks.  I think I ended up catching four within five or ten minutes.  All were around 14 inches.  I did miss a few bumps as well.  Here is a photo of my blue shad swim jig that I make and sell across the country:

After exhausting the resources in that hole, it was time for a quick lunch and a decision on where to go next.  We figured that the longer the day went on, the better the bite would get.  For some unknown reason, we were wrong.  The next spot produced nothing for Tim or I.  Tim hit the road and headed for work.  I decided I would back-track and try the very first hole I tried in the morning.  That spot produced the big zero as well.  One more spot on my way home produced the same results.

So, all in all, it was a slow day considering the perfect fall weather we had.  Still cannot figure out why the bite went south in the afternoon.  Now with all the rain, it will be awhile before I will be on the Mack again.

AS ALWAYS…...........................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

But, as I expected, the water was cold and, at least a few, smallies have already made the migration into this hole.  I fished for about 45 minutes and caught two smallies.  Both on a 3 inch tube jig worked VERY SLOWLY along the bottom.  Both of the smallies were plump and healthy, which is also a sign that winter has already arrived.  They also displayed their winter colors.  I don’t know why it is, but when river smallies get down in their wintering haunts, they always display a bleached appearance.  The normal body colors are all evident, but they are slightly lighter than normal.

If we don’t get rained out, I have an after-school guide trip tomorrow.  You can bet we will be fishing wintering areas very slowly with the tube, the float n fly, and maybe a small, suspending jerkbait.  Should be exciting.  In addition, the Pike and Walleye should be making an appearance very soon.

AS ALWAYS…........................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

You won’t find many, if any, places prettier in our state.  While the fishing was slow (I caught two smallies and lost one more), the scenery always makes up for tough angling.  Just making casts to all the under water rocks, ledges, riffles, etc. is very soothing.  I wish I could have spent more time, but the boss had me on a strict time limit.  I will be back in a week or so when the trees are really displaying their fall glory.

AS ALWAYS…...........................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

We arrived at the dam around 4:30.  Greg’s pattern has been targeting the stripers with very small poppers (by Striper standards).  He let me know that they are keying on small baitfish and the little all white poppers we were throwing were just the ticket.  He was, as usual, right on the mark.  As soon as I began to cast into a little current cut, I began to catch fish.  White bass, Largemouth bass, bluegills, walleye, and crappie all made an appearance on the fly rod.  As time passed we kept waiting for the hybrids to make their entrance.  Greg did hook a striper on his spinning rod outfit and handed the rod to me so I could feel the power of a hybrid.  Unfortunately, after a few seconds the fish came unhooked and I was not able to land the striper.  Now, I desperately wanted to catch a striper on the fly rod.

We continued to fish on and the white bass became a little pickey, as they began to short strike my popper time and time again.  We waited…......and we waited.  Greg predicted just before dark the stripers should move into the same shallow water area that we had been catching all the other fish.  I could not wait as darkness began to fall.

Finally, with little light available, a hybrid striper busted Greg’s fly rod popper.  He immediately knew it was a striper and handed me the fly rod.  I freaked at first as I have not had a fish this powerful on the fly rod as of yet.  Immediately Greg began to coach me by telling me to let the striper run whenever he needed to.  The drag on the reel was adjusted just right.  When the fish took off you could hear the drag screaming…..........what an awesome sound!  Every time I would get the striper close to the bank, he would bolt out to the middle of the creek once again.  I thought to myself, “I could get used to this style of fishing”.  Finally the hybrid slipped into the net.  Probably around five pounds.  Not huge by hybrid standards, but huge on a six weight fly rod.  Here is the pic. of that beast:

Now, it was my turn to handle a hybrid from start to finish.  I picked up the six weight and began casting out to where Greg hooked into his “silver bullet”.  After just a few casts, the water churned and the sound of another striper whacking my popper was audible.  I set the hook and now it was my turn to reel up all my slack fly line and get the fish “on the reel”.  Once on the reel, the fish began to pull out drag.  While this fish was not as big as the first, it was my first hybrid striper that I caught start to finish.  Here is a pic. of that glorious creature:

As you can tell by the pictures, it was for all intent and purposes dark when these stripers made their appearance.  Well, they always say, good things come to those who wait.  I am glad we stuck it out and waited for the low light that spurred these silver demons to go on the prowl.  I owe Greg a debt of gratitude for taking me down there and showing me the technique needed to tangle with a true giant of freshwater.  I will definitely be back.

Dad and Ron were using spinning tackle and fishing soft plastics on or near the bottom, while I brought the six weight fly rod.  The first spot we fished is an area where dad and I have caught many large smallies over the years.  In fact, some years ago, my dad hooked and landed a 21.5 inch smallie from this very spot.  We moved into position carefully as the water was very clear.  On my second cast with a blockhead popper, the first smallie of the day made his appearance:

After that fish, I figured the morning was going to be an easy one - throw topwaters and watch the surface of the water explode.  As time passed at this hole, the topwater thing went out of fashion.  Meanwhile, Dad and Ron began to hook up with a couple of dandy river bronzebacks.  Both of their fish were right around 18 inches…........see below:

Pretty smallies eh?

After a few more minutes, I decided to approach the area from the downstream side and was able to catch one more nice smallie on a Clouser Fur Strip Clouser Minnow.  Dad hooked one more smaller fish as did Ron.  We moved on downstream to spot #2.

This spot had not really changed much from the last time I visited nearly 3 years ago.  Plenty of deep water and rocks.  The funny part was the fact that the bass were really not in the deepest spot.  We found them just upstream of the hole in along the bank where the current was faster.  On my first cast with the fur strip clouser, my dad saw two nice, big smallies follow my fly, but did not take it.  I tried and tried to get them to come back, but never saw them again.  I continued to move upstream as I spyed a perfect eddy nestled right in the the faster water.  I tied on another topwater - the Clouser E-Z Popper.  First cast into the eddy and a smallie blew up and ate the popper.  A medium sized smallie at around 13 inches.  Next cast into the same spot brought another smallie on the popper.  There really is nothing better than catching smallies on top with the fly rod.

But those two smallies would be it for that second area.  The clock said it was time to go.  A short trip timewise, but great fun nonetheless.

Now, on Sunday I headed to the Kanakakee River to fish with a guy named Al Taylor.  Al is a new member of the ISA and wanted to take me on the river in his beautiful drift boat.  You don’t see too many drift boats here in Illinois, though they might be the perfect river craft.  They are wide and stable and very sea worthy.  Heck, they can handle the fastest riffles this state has to offer.  What I like is the fact that you can stand up and fish your brains out.  Here is a picture of the Kank and Al’s drift boat:

We floated a couple of miles of river and fished both the fly rod and the spinning rod.  The bite was TERRIBLE!!!  The whole river was just dead!  Al landed two small ones and I caught one little one as well.  We fished deep water, shallow water, along the bank, in the middle, and everywhere in between.  We could not get anything going.  My guess was the high pressure cell and the lack of clouds had something to do with it.  While the fishing was poor, the time spent in the drift boat with Al was worth the trip.  Al has been fly fishing for 20 years and provided me with many tips and tricks.  We plan to fish together again very soon.

AS ALWAYS….......................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

The above fish was big fish on the day - 16 inches.  Caught on a Bart-0-Minnow.  I had the fish hooked on a popper, but lost him.  I quickly tied on a Bart-o-Minnow and hooked him again on the first cast into the hole.

The above picture is to show you how big the stream was.  Sorry I cannot be more specific where we were fishing, but I do this out of respect for Tim’s spots.

The hot flies were the Murdich Minnow (once again) and a small clouser minnow.

We fished for about 3-4 hours.  Cannot wait to get back out this weekend.

AS ALWAYS….......................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

But, last night I just had to fish.  The wife got home about 6:00 and I was in my truck and heading down the road by 6:01.  I knew I did not have much time, so I hit a little creek not far from my residence.  The creek, just like every other stream this year, has been a bust.  Sure, I have caught a few from this creek this year,  but nothing like the past years when this creek would regularly yield 5 to 10 fish per hour.

When I arrived the creek was in pretty fair shape.  It was low and clear, but still moving.  Many years, by the first of September, this creek is nothing but a trickle, and often, stops flowing alltogether.  I grabbed my six weight, Redington Predator fly rod and jumped in at the bridge.  I decided to hit three or four historically good smallmouth haunts.  I started with a surface popper - the baby Booggle Bug.  The first couple areas produced nothing but a small green sunfish.

I trudged on upstream knowing that the key spot, a very deep hole, was just ahead and I needed to reach it before nightfall.  As I waded up, I spyed and area that produces a smallie or two about 50 percent of the time.  I snuck up to the area very quietly along the bank and landed my popper in a perfect spot.  One “pop” and then I let it drift downstream.  As I was looking away, a smallie came up and slurped down my popper.  I set the hook and landed a ten inch bronzie.  Not a monster, but I was ecstatic.  That little smallie did not know how happy he made me.

Next spot, was the big hole.  We call it the swim hole as someone has a rope swing tied to a sycamore tree that hangs over the creek.  The hole itself is probably 75 yards long with rip-rap rock all along the 75 yards of bank.  I threw the Boogle Bug to no avail.  Then I had a decision to make - do I go to a streamer or a bottom fly?  I finally decided that the Murdich Minnow has treated me well this year, so I better “dance with the one that brought me”.  I began throwing the Murdich right out in the same area where I had worked the popper.  After only a few casts of stripping Murdich quickly just under the surface, I saw a smallie come up from the depths and absolutely “whack” the Murdich.  He even left an awesome swirl on the surface upon taking in the fly.  The fight was on!  I was having a tough time getting this one in.  While he did not jump, he just kept making deep runs in the hole.  Heck, at one point, I even let a little bit of fly line slip through my fingers, as I thought he might bust me off.  Finally, I got him close enough to land and realized he was a nice smallie, but nowhere near the size I imagined as a result of the fight.  As I bent over to land him, he took off again.  Once again, I had to let a little fly line slip through my fingers.  Wow - what a battle.  14.5 inches of pure bronze fury!

As the sun began to set, I knew it was time to head back downstream to the truck.  My plan was to hit a couple of areas on the way back that I had fished with the popper and came up empty.  As I got within eye distance of the truck, I threw my Murdich into an area that is almost a guarantee smallie spot.  While the popper did not turn any fish’s attention, the Murdich did.  A 12 incher just slammed the Murdich right at my feet.  A smile came over my face upon getting ahold of this bass.  Now, I am very excited, but wish darkness was not upon me.  I figured I could sneak in another 10 casts or so before darkness enveloped me totally.  My next cast a smallie came up and swirled twice at my fly, but missed it both times.

I decided to make one more move downstream and hit an area right by the bridge where I was parked at.  By now it was so dark I was not sure my fly was hitting the water or the far bank.  No takers.  I climbed up the bank and walked to the truck.  Not a bad 90 minutes - 3 smallies, a green sunfish, and a chub.

Upon arriving home, I thanked my wife for allowing me to stay out so late.  I told her that the 90 minutes I fished may have been the best thing I could have done for my psyche.  I felt like a new person, and now regained my desire to go after those river smallies again with reckless abandon.

Creek fishin’ was definitely the perfect medicine for me.

AS ALWAYS….................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

As you can see by the above pictures, big smallies have been hard to come by this year.  Here is a nice photo of two of the many nice smallies we caught up on the Menominnee River with the fly rod:

Here is another dandy from the Menominnee:

And, lastly, the biggest bass of the trip caught by my buddy Curt - 20.5 inches of pure bronze (and fat too)

And lastly, here are a few photos of some bronzies that I have tangled with recently:

Biggest smallie I have tangled with from Illinois this year - 18.5 inches from the Vermillion River.

The above is a nice smallie caught from a creek on a five weight fly rod.  I think it was around 16 inches.

Though it has been worst smallmouth season that I can remember, I still have a few vivid memories that I will treasure

AS ALWAYS…....................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

On a fishing note, the bite continues to be inconsistent.  Last guide trip on the Vermillion was with a fly fisherman.  We only mustered six smallies between the two of us…..........slow….......slow…..........slow!  I am ready for this summer to be over with.  Definitely the worst summer of smallmouth fishing I have ever experienced.  Hopefully the fall and winter bite on the river will be better.

AS ALWAYS….....................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

AS ALWAYS…......................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

I am booked up Sunday through Tuesday and plan spend a few of those days on the Mack.  I will report and let you know if the hot streak continues.  stay tuned

AS ALWAYS…........................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE