First Ice... December 11 - 12th 2009

Well we finally have some ice, but it's only 1 1/2" thick! Not safe enough to walk on, but there are a number of lakes with docks extending out into deep water. Or parks with decks that you can stand or sit on the edge of. Just break a hole in the ice, and you're ready to fish!

Yesterday my neighbor and I went to a local city park in Ballwin, MO, which gets stocked with trout in the fall.  We were using Wade's Blades and waxworms on short ice rods.We ended up catching two trout and lost a nice size fish at the hole.

Took my son this morning and caught two trout. One was caught on a pink #8 Wade Blade and the other on a Pumpkin #8.

Talked to some older guys that showed up to fish.  They told me a six and eight pound Rainbow Trout were caught from the lake before it froze up!

Be sure to check these lakes out, especially if you have fall trout stockings in your area. A lot of times you can have access to good fishing, even if it's not safe to get on the ice yet. And once you have safe ice, the trout are pretty easy to catch, and put up a great fight!

Till next time, Good Luck and be safe!

Greg

Fall Fishing Nov. 8, 2009

Took my son out fishing. Went back to my favorite lake in Illinois. The weather was fantastic for November, with high temps around seventy degrees!


We started out fishing for Crappie and caught a nice trout. After fishing the same tree for a while and missing two good bites, we decided to move to another spot. Fished a few more trees and caught a couple Crappie.


The lake was pretty crowded, because of the nice weather. And it seemed everyone wanted to fish for Crappie. We moved to the far side of the lake to get out of the wind. My polarized glasses allowed me to see spots where several logs were laying in the water. These spots were overlooked by the other anglers. I would sit my Wade's Blade and minnow next to the logs and fishing various depths. Caught some nice fish and found some decent numbers.


Trout was caught on a White #6 Wade's Blade with minnow, Crappie was caught on a Yellow Chart. #6 Wade's Blade and minnow. *All fish were photographed and released!


As we were leaving for the day, I noticed some fish chasing shad. I tied a small Mepp's spinner on Ty's rod and told him to cast near the school of shad. He immediately hooked up with a little largemouth bass. He caught three more Bass in four casts. Not much size to them, but a lot of fun for him. Made his day!


Till next time.....tight lines!


Greg

October 21, 2009 First Trout of The Season

Yesterday I went back to my favorite little lake in Illinois. They had
just stocked the lake with 3,000 lb.'s. of Rainbow Trout the week
before.

Tried fishing for Crappie using a Yellow Chartreuse Wade Blade with a
minnow. Anchored off next to the same tree I fished the last time I
was there. Sat my Wade Blade in the middle of the tree and ten
seconds later....my slip float was gone! I set the hook and felt some
weight on the end of the rod. I pulled up a nice 2.5 lb. trout. I
managed to get him up and over the main trunk of the tree before it
had a chance to get me wrapped up.

Once in the boat, I noticed the fish had another line in it's mouth.
*See pic. Someone had hooked the fish and it broke their line. The
snap swivel, hook, and Berkley Power Eggs were still intact! I put
another minnow on and put it in the same place, and hooked another
nice trout. Hooked two more, for a total of four, before I called it
quits. One of the trout was a nice female which leaked eggs all over
the floor of the boat and live-well. There was even a bunch left when
I cleaned the fish. *See pic.

I also caught two keeper Crappie from a couple trees. The wind started
to P.U. which made it difficult to fish one of the trees. Tried
casting with Rooster Tails, but did not have any strikes. There were
lots of small (minnow size) shad in the lake, and I think all the fish
were getting their fill.

Crappie Fishing 10/7/09

Finally got out today. Went Crappie fishing at one of my favorite
little lakes, at a state park in Illinois.

Got to the lake around 11:00 and there was only one boat in the
parking lot. I noticed there was a guy at the fish cleaning station,
so I walked over to talk to him. He just came off the water and was
cleaning his limit of Crappie. That was a good sign.

I fished a couple trees, with no luck, but came across a third one,
and got a bite. I turned the boat around and anchored off. I was using
a Yellow Chartreuse Wade's Blade with a #6 hook, tipped with a minnow.
I sat in the same tree and caught around twenty Crappie. I kept my
limit of ten fish. Actually put some in the livewell to cull later,
when I caught a bigger one.

It was a beautiful day with sunny skies and temps in the upper 60's,
with a slight breeze. I started out fishing the deeper parts of the
brush, but was surprised to hook some of the bigger fish in water as
shallow as two feet! Just shows you that you never can tell where
they'll be. Using a slip float really helps you to quickly adjust the
depth you are fishing at. Keep moving from spot to spot in and around
the tree and keep adjusting the depth, until you find the fish.

Here are some pics. Till next time.....tight lines!

Greg

First Blog Post - WADES BLADE REVIEW

I fished a lake in Forest County for the past 5 days or so and had an absolute blast thanks to a great friend of mine who let me use his cottage for the week. We caught countless panfish in the 7-11 inch range, mostly bluegills. All our panfish were caught on Wades Blades jigs with a piece of nightcrawler beneath a bobber. These jigs were absolutely killer on these panfish and if you want to check them out go towww.wadesblades.com and look for yourself. The panfish were absolutely impossible to catch all day but, once sunset came they went nuts. As soon as the bobber hit the water a bluegill, crappie, or perch slammed the jig. My fiance had a pike rip a bluegill off the hook right next to the boat which was cool to see.

The pike were very active in the shallows at sunset on Rapala SkitterWalks and ZaraSpooks. The biggest pike landed was a 26 incher but, I had a huge monster pike follow right up to the boat and turn away. I am guessing 40 inch range for that pike that followed. The bass were also hitting the lures but, no big ones landed. I had a few explosive strikes that I missed so they could've been big bass or pike. Topwater fishing is my all time favorite method to catch fish, it keeps your attention and scares the crap out of you when a fish strikes your lure. Here are many photos from this week so enjoy and, good luck on the water.....