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How Many Fish Did I Catch?
I caught a few. Both days were slower for several reasons. First, my bait stunk- bad bait equals poor catch and slower fishing. Live bait equals action. Secondly, a cold front hit in cloudless skies- so fishing slowed.
Those are excuses. If you fished on your own, you might read the above and think, horrible day, but if you learn the essentials of catching fish and you apply what you learn in my classes you will have success and your bad day will be AWESOME.
The Numbers
Do you see the number above? Let me explain what those are. Most importantly, in 2 outings, I drove under One hour. If you learn only this from me, drive less fish more. Spending gas will NOT mean better fishing- ever, only more expensive fishing.
Twenty Nine is the number of fish-per-hour that I caught in these cold conditions. I also spent 1/2 that time going for larger fish, which cut into my total fish numbers. I tried to mix my catch and show some big fish but with the cold front, things shut down a bit for me.
Ok, then what is 204? Two Hundred Four is my fish count, caught on a public pond in DuP age county - the pond is not as important as the number. This fish total could be taken by you on any pond this summer, near your house! Out of 204 fish, zero bass. As indicated in my seminar, this lake is out-of-balance and has an upside down food chain. The smaller fish and minnow family rules. How about some pictures?
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Du Page County Public Pond - 2 days
Picture 1, is of a chubby Golden Shiner caught with the tiniest hook and small bait. When you refine your bite indicator and reduce your hook, this species is prevalent in many of Chicago's waters. Bass anglers dump these in after fishing. They survive because of reduced bass presence (urban waters) and because they spawn in prolific quantity! Did I mention that they are lightning fast and feed similar to a trout? |
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Picture 2 features the Day One catch total. A shorter fishing day as the cold & rain drove me off the water early, also some students spent time with me learning some rigs so talking meant some slower fishing. So 76 fish would be a decent start to the season highlighted by 55 gills and 5 golden shiners with some bullhead and hybrid gills mixed in. |
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Picture 3 is Day Two with one bonus channel catfish. As I said in class, bigger fish do, will and can be caught on smaller hooks. I make fish look small, but trust me on 2 lb. line with a size 14 hook, this fish seemed massive. (I'm 6' 3", 230 lb. so a 2 lb. cat looks like a wee baby). I caught this on a telescopic "cane-style" pole with no reel. After hanging on for dear life for over five minutes, I brought this silver cat to net. The catch? 128 fish including 11 golden shiners, 18 bullhead, 1 crappie, 97 bluegill and the aforementioned channel catfish. |
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If you haven't been to a seminar, or booked private lessons, you might want to get in on some as the methods are simple, the gear is affordable and fishing close to home is incredible. Note that all fish in these photos were released.
Where am I next? You can find out here:
Sign up for the 2008 chicago fishing event calendar and get notices of all great Chicago fishing events-
You can also find the next event on our schedule page: Click here
Outings
Experienced anglers share tips, tricks,
venue information as well as more advanced information on catching
fish in the Chicago area lakes. The main fishing club is located
near Chicago's Southwest suburbs and fishes at many public urban
lakes.
Lakes we hold fishing seminars at include Arlington Heights,
Wheaton, Palatine , Downer's Grove, Skokie , Joliet, Elgin, Plainfield,
Frankfurt, Chicago, Prospect Heights, and Villa Park.
Fishing events are held at: Plum Grove Reservoir,
Churchill Woods, Barth Pond. Fox River, Cricket Creek, Lake Arlington,
Skokie Lagoon and other lakes around Chicago. Chicago Park District
lakes, Du Page County lakes and other public lakes are fished by
the club.
Chicago Fishing Seminars
Seminars are held every month in and around Chicago to teach fishing. Fishing Tips, fishing Chicagoland's waters and species are covered in the seminars. Admission to the seminars is on a reservation basis! Seminars will be lead by experienced anglers who have competition experience including World Championship fishing, and US Competitions.
For more information, drop me an e-mail and
we will help you out with some more information or directions to
our next event: john@midwestangler.com or call my cell phone 630-235-2162 (John Wilkins). |
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