Fishing and stuff

PayBox

2010-11-28T13:23:00.001-06:00

Check out this website I found at paybox.me

Moss Rose Blooming in November

2010-11-20T10:01:00.001-06:00

This shot of the moss rose blooming was taken on November19, 2010 Very unusual to have flowers in my flower garden at this time of year.

Dandelions in November

2010-11-20T09:58:00.001-06:00

A close up of a November dandelion, so unusual in my area this time of the year.

Great Blue Heron and Green Heron

2010-10-30T07:13:00.001-05:00

I was photographing a Great Blue Heron while I was out fishing and got a surprise of my first shot of a Green Heron. I didn't even see the Green Heron as I was focus on getting a good shot of the Blue Heron. I was very happy with this shot. Check out more of my photographs here

Fog Frosted Spider Web

2010-10-29T23:22:00.001-05:00

On a very foggy morning I found this spider web among the leaves of my plum tree turning colors in the Autumn chill.

Essential Equipment for the Fly Fisherman

2010-02-22T22:50:00.001-06:00

Essential Equipment for the Fly Fisherman

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Choosing Your Ice Fishing Lake

2010-02-17T07:24:00.001-06:00

Choosing Your Ice Fishing Lake

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Extreme Weather Clothing, Jackets

2010-02-05T23:35:00.001-06:00

Extreme Weather Clothing, Jackets

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The Kankakee River Back Water

2010-02-05T23:02:00.001-06:00

Today I finally went ice fishing. My husband worked all week so I had to wait until his day off. We decided to go to that back water on the Kankakee River in Indiana. We only live about 10 miles from the Indiana border and often fish in Indiana. I live in Illinois. This back water on the Kankakee is on Route 41 north of Route 10, and across the street from the LaSalle Fish and Wild Life Area. We have been going to this area for over 20 years. A few months ago before the back water and other area lakes froze we had had a lot of rain. This particular back water has very low banks and floods quite often. This was the case when the water froze. The surrounding land was flooded. As the water receded back into the banks the ice was left behind and cracked right at the bank. It was an awesome sight to see sheets of ice left after the water receded. You could see the sheets ice a foot or two up the tree trunk and the ground under the ice. This was the way it looked all the way down the channel of the back water. Thankfully I had my camera with me and took pictures like crazy. This back water is about a half mile long and it took me quite a while to get to our fishing spot. This as it turned out was the best part of our fishing excursion. The ice was awesome. We fished for about 3 hours and caught 3 bluegill, 1 crappie, and 1 nice rock bass. We did have several other hits but we were fishing a very woody area and the fish put us on the wood a few times resulting in a lost fish. All in all the reason for us being out there was to fish but I ended up having a better time looking at and taking pictures of the ice. Will have more soon. Happy Fishing.

A New Ice Fishing Spot

2010-02-02T08:37:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my husband went ice fishing, I didn't go because I had dinner to prepare, and frankly I was a bit apprehensive about the spot he had decided to go to. A back water of the Kankakee River. We have fished this spot in the warm weather but never on the ice. Ice on a river is never never a good place to go ice fishing, but this was a huge back water with just a tiny bit of flow. I told him that if he wasn't home by a certain time I would come looking for him. What a relief when he pulled into the driveway at the appointed time. He told me that the ice was very safe and thick. This relieved some of my anxiety about the safeness of the ice. Because this is a big backwater the flow at the back end of the area is very small. Now was it worth the possible risk of unsafe ice to go out there. I would say yes. He only fished for about an hour but did pretty good. He ended up catching a really big rock bass and 2 crappie. His first crappie of the ice fishing season and he was very encouraged. He also had what he believe to be 2 nice sized bass that broke off due to his 4 pound test line we usually use for ice fishing. So he relined 2 of our ice fishing poles with Stren Magnathin 10 pound test. I do believe we will be going back out there this afternoon when he wakes up ( he works nights and sleeps in the day). I am excited as well because I love to crappie fish. And a bass or two doesn't hurt either. So I will post again as to how we did. Happy Fishing All.

Awesome Day on the Ice

2010-02-01T10:25:00.000-06:00

A few days ago my husband and I went ice fishing. We went to a place that years ago produced a lot of bluegills and an occasional bass. The past few years the Indiana Conservation Department has stopped putting weed kill in this particular area due to cost. Weeds and such are good for the fish but this area was positively over run with weeds making it next to impossible to fish in the summer time. The fishing and the ice fishing has been declining in recent years. I'm not sure if it's because of the weeds or not. It had been a couple of years since we fished here so we decided to give it a try as it's only 10 minutes from home. Much to our surprise we caught 33 bluegill and one rock bass. It was a good day. The thing that I found most exciting was the clarity of the water. I could see my bait down about 4 feet and could see the bluegills come up and take the bait. It was an awesome sight to see. While I was hovering over the hole watching my bait a bass about 14 or 15 inches swam past my ice hole at about 1 foot. It was the coolest thing to see. I can't wait to go ice fishing again, maybe today. Happy fishing all.

Warm Boots A Must For Ice Fishing

2010-02-01T09:46:00.001-06:00

Warm Boots A Must For Ice Fishing

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Windy Day on the Ice

2010-01-25T22:15:00.001-06:00

So today my husband and I went ice fishing. Oh man I don't think I have ever in my 25 plus years of ice fishing ever been on such slippery ice. Couple that with winds up to 35 mph and I was literally sliding along the ice. The wind just pushed me along and a few times I thought I was going to end up on my rear end. Good thing for me I didn't . I am way to old to end up on my butt on the ice. So we set up the shelter and that in of itself was an incredible chore. It was like hanging on to a box kite. It usually take about 2 minutes to get it all set up but today with the wind howling it took my husband and myself at least 10 minutes to get it up. Good thing it came with these wonderful screw in spikes or we just wouldn't have been able to pitch it and keep it where we wanted it. It was snowing as well those tiny little ball type of snow that you can hear hitting your shelter. We usually move around the ice a few times in an hour or two to find the fish, but we were exhausted just moving the tent twice. That was enough for the both of us. I finally got the heater going and we got inside the ice shelter to get warm and start fishing. We fished for about 2 1/2 hours and we caught 2 fish. They just weren't biting today. Also when we go to this particular lake in Indiana there are typically 30 to 60 people on the lake and today there were like 6 including us. Not a good sign and maybe we should have just turned around and went home but we are die hard fishermen so we stayed. You know what they say if you don't try you wont catch. My husband and I had great conversation and hot coffee so all was not lost. We love our time on the ice and spending time together without phone ringing and kids and their loud music. I hope our next trip on the ice will produce more fish but even if it doesn't I will have a good time. Happy fishing all.

Warm Up Those Feet, Heaters For Your Shelter

2010-01-25T08:58:00.001-06:00

Warm Up Those Feet, Heaters For Your Shelter

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Skeptic Turned Fishing Fanatic Hooks Consumers with Ice-Fishing-Focused Blog

2010-01-22T10:24:00.001-06:00

Skeptic Turned Fishing Fanatic Hooks Consumers with Ice-Fishing-Focused Blog

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Ice Fishing Lures Tiny But Mighty

2010-01-19T21:58:00.001-06:00

Ice Fishing Lures Tiny But Mighty

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Planning a Fishing Trip

2010-01-18T22:30:00.001-06:00

Planning a Fishing Trip

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Fly Fishing 101

2010-01-18T22:29:00.001-06:00

Fly Fishing 101

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Keeping Warm, Ice Fishing Shelters

2010-01-18T22:26:00.001-06:00

Keeping Warm, Ice Fishing Shelters

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Ice Fishing Rods, Fishing the Hard Water

2010-01-18T22:24:00.001-06:00

Ice Fishing Rods, Fishing the Hard Water

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We Went Ice Fishing

2010-01-12T07:50:00.000-06:00

So we finally got some safe ice, and went fishing on December 31,2008 and had a ball. It was pretty cold out there but we had our ice shelter and heater. So all was good. I would say there were about 50 or 60 people out on the ice. The ice was 4 1/2 inches thick and plenty safe. We went to a lake in Morroco Indiana that we like to fish during the warm weather as well. It's called J. C. Murphey Lake or Willow Slough. Why it has 2 names is beyond me. We always call it Willow Slough. So being that we also fish this lake during the warm weather we had an idea where we wanted to fish. Willow Slough has massive amounts of lily pads which of course the fish love. The back side of the lake has the most lily pads so that's where we went. When you look at a lake that is frozen it looks so much different than in the warm weather, it's almost like you are on a different lake. However we have been ice fishing this lake for at least 20 years which helps when deciding where to drill your holes. We settled on a spot and my husband drilled the holes using an ice auger and got the shelter ready while I cleared the holes of the ice chips from the drilling and got the heater going. By this time we were more than ready to get into the shelter, out of the wind and into the warmth. The little heater we have is very old but works well and soon we were taking off our coats inside the shelter. Being warm can greatly improve the whole ice fishing experience. Hard water fishermen are a hardy bunch but everyone gets cold eventually. We fished for about 3 hours and ended up catching 4 bluegills. Not our best trip on the ice for sure but we still had fun. You won't catch fish if you don't try. And every fishermen knows that some days you just don't catch anything. We had talked to others on the ice and some did better and some did worse than us. A conservation officer came by to check fishing licenses and told us that the fishermen on the front side of the lake were doing pretty good. Figures we always seem to be in the wrong place. But we had fun and it was our first trip on the hard water so we had fun anyway. It is also great quality time spent with my husband. My girlfriend has a 14 year old son who just loves to fish. So I told him I would take him if the ice was safe during his Christmas vacation. And time was running out. So on New Years Day my husband and I took Nate out on the ice for his first time ever on the hard water. As soon as he stepped on the ice he said, " I have never walked on a lake before". Now he had. I was pleased that I was able to give him this experience. He had a ball. The weather was brutal that day. It finally got to about 5 degrees that day but that didn't stop the ice fishermen. We were on the front end of the lake and there were at least 50 shelters out there and many more fishermen who didn't have shelters. How they lasted I will never know. The wind was howling making it even more bitter out there. After about an hour we still hadn't caught anything and I was getting anxious wanting Nate to catch his first fish out of the ice. Finally he caught the first fish of the day on his new ice fishing rod. I was thrilled and so was he. We ended up staying on the ice for about 4 hours and between us we caught 6 fish. A good day. On the way home I asked Nate if he had a good time and if he would like to try this again. I received a resounding YES. Excellent a new ice fishermen is born.

The Ice is Getting There

2009-12-20T17:47:00.002-06:00

So today I went to check out the ice conditions on my favorite lake. I didn't have high hopes as we had warmer weather this past week as well as some rain. Nothing kills the ice like rain. I was pleasantly surprised to find 3 inches of ice on the lake. There is a thin sheet of ice over the initial sheet of ice and it gives when you walk on it so it doesn't feel to safe yet. Another good inch of ice will make me feel better. It's not a good feeling when you walk on the ice and it gives a bit. Kinda scares you. Anyway it supposed to be a tiny bit colder here during the Christmas week, so I am hoping against hope to be able to go ice fishing before the kids go back to school after New Years. My husband got the ice auger out today and the blades need shimming and sharpening. We took the auger with us to check the ice and I'm glad we did. Now we know what needs fixing. Better to know before the actual ice fishing trip because he can really work up a sweat when the auger is not sharp enough. So it was a trip well worth it. I am hoping the next time I post I can brag about all the fish I caught through the ice. Until next time, tata.

2009-12-11T07:42:00.002-06:00

I went to one of the little spots that I like to fish yesterday. I wanted to check the ice situation. Much to my surprise I found the entire area ice over. The ice is about 2 inches thick and is almost walkable but not quite fishable yet. We need another 2 inches of ice to safely fish it. It hasn't been above freezing in a couple of days now and won't be for a couple of more. So looks like I will be ice fishing in a week or so. It's great news as I need to get some fresh fish into my diet. I hate to buy fish from the store because you just never know how fresh it really is. I rather be absolutely sure as to how fresh the fish I am eating is. Fish out of the ice is very very good. The meat is much firmer than when you get fish from warmer waters. I really enjoy ice fishing and one of the reasons is the firm fresh fish I get to eat. Just throw your catch onto the ice and you are good to go. No bringing an extra cooler full of ice to keep your catch fresh. Happy fishing all.

It's Good and Cold

2009-12-10T08:37:00.003-06:00

I woke up this morning and the temperature was 3 degrees. It's only supposed to get to 16 today and that is good news for ice fishermen. I can't wait to get on the ice, and it's the only time I like the cold weather. Hate having to start a car in the cold but I jump at every chance I can to hit the ice. This year I will be introducing the sport of Ice Fishing to 3 teenage boys who have never gone. They are all warm weather fishermen but have never ventured onto the ice. These 3 young men are friends of my family and have been at me for a couple of years to take them. Now is the time. The weather in the Chicago area is supposed to be frigid for a least a week, so I am hoping that by the time the kids are on their Christmas vacation the ice will be safe for ice fishing. I think today I will take a ride to my favorite lake and see how the ice is forming so far. I think a good week of really really cold weather like what we are supposed to be getting will go a long ways towards getting the ice formed and thick enough for ice fishing soon. Time to check the lines on my ice fishing rods and break out the thermos and heater for the shelter. I recently bought a pair of jeans with a flannel lining which I can't wait to try and see if they keep my legs a bit warmer. Hope so.

Ice Fishing Shelters

2009-12-06T16:11:00.002-06:00

An Ice Fishing Shelter is a wonderful addition to your ice fishing trip. When the winds are blowing and it's below freezing it's great to be able to go inside your shelter and get out of the weather. There are many kinds of shelters, I have one that fits inside a pack for easy storage and carrying. It sets up in minutes and comes with four spikes to drive into the ice at all four corners. When the wind is blowing hard these are invaluable to keep the shelter where you want it. Some shelters come already attached to a sled for easy transport and set up. There are also some shelters that have built in seats and floors with holes in the floor so you can position the shelter over the holes you have cut into the ice. There are one man shelters and 2 or more man shelters. There are shelters to meet almost any need. In the northern states they even have wooden shelters that remain on the ice the entire ice fishing season. Add a heater to the mix along with a thermos of coffee or your favorite hot chocolate and you can have a wonderful and warm trip onto the ice. Happy fishing.

Here Comes The Ice

2009-12-05T09:47:00.002-06:00

I do believe the winter has finally come in my area. And it's about time. 2 days ago I drove past a lake in Indiana and it was open water. The very next day I drove past it again, the road I was on goes right through the middle of the lake, and the shallow end was iced over. The deeper end had some ice over along the edges. The temperature around here for the past week has been in the very low 20's overnight and a few of the days it didn't get over freezing. This is great, because I have promised a few kids I know that I would take them ice fishing and to do this over their Christmas vacation would be perfect. I used to coach and run a kids bowling league and some of the kids are fishermen as I am and I have promised to take them fishing. Not all of them are interested in ice fishing but 3 of them in particular are very interested and have never been ice fishing. I would love to give them the experience. Nothing better than to see a smile on a kids face. Oddly enough I have 2 sons who are in their late teens and basically they want nothing to do with fishing of any kind. I thought having sons would improve my chances of my kids liking the fishing, camping and hiking that myself and husband love to do. They like the hiking thing but I think we shoved fishing down their throats to much resulting in a huge dislike for the sport. Oh well what are you going to do. So needless to say I am watching the weather and ice conditions with bated breath hoping for solid ice by Christmas vacation time.

Snow on Wednesday

2009-12-01T23:15:00.003-06:00

We are supposed to be getting some snow tomorrow, Wednesday December 2 and I can't wait. I have been waiting for the cold weather for over a month now. A lot of lakes that I like to fish have been closed due to hunting. Most of them are now done with the hunting season but don't open to fishing until the ice comes in. This is an unbearable situation for those of us who could fish every chance we get. We had a very mild summer in my part of the country, I don't believe I ran the air conditioner in the month of August at all. Very very unusual. So I was thinking that because of the mild summer we were in for a very brutal winter. I also thought winter might come early. Shows you what I know. Next to nothing when it comes to weather. But I am still hoping for a very cold winter as I can't wait to go ice fishing. We have been having below freezing temperatures overnight for the past couple of weeks, and the other morning I had a thin sheet of ice in my minnow bucket. So here's hoping for a prolonged cold snap and soon, I am getting anxious to get on the ice.

Waiting for the Ice

2009-11-20T21:44:00.002-06:00

So about a week ago my husband and I went fishing at the river near our house. It was a beautiful day but we didn't catch a thing. The weather had been cold then warm and that turns off the fish. Most of our favorite lakes close for hunting and then don't reopen until the ice comes in. And I can't wait. I love to ice fish and even more than that I love to eat the fish that comes out of the cold water. The meat is firmer than the fish that come out of warmer waters. So in the meantime I will get out all my ice fishing stuff and check it all over to make sure the lines are good and such. Fill up my heater for the ice shelter and make sure my boots are good. I just bought some really good warm socks and for me that's real important cos my feet get so darn cold. They are wool socks so I'm hoping that they work. I have to try new socks every winter because of my feet. The heater helps though I can take off my boots and lay my ice cold feet on the heater and it's like heaven.

Raining Again

2009-10-24T09:50:00.004-05:00

The rain has been coming down for 3 days now, makes it hard for me to get out fishing. I hate standing or sitting if I'm in the boat in the rain, especially if its cold. We had 3 beautiful days last week and I did manage to get out fishing. Now its 39 degrees and raining. I can only hope for continued cold so the ice fishing season will open earlier than usual in my part of the country. So I guess I will check the line on my ice fishing rods and make sure everything is ready for the ice. I can't wait. The water in the river by my house is very very cold, I'm sure its a bit colder than usual for this time of the year, and we did have an unseasonably mild summer. I also really need to go buy new rain gear as mine is leaking in the shoulder area so its quite ineffective. I also like to use my rain gear for ice fishing because it really blocks the wind. So I will have to do that soon, see if I can get a good deal on a nice jacket and pants combo. I did get a really nice pair of mittens for ice fishing last year where you can unsnap the bottom part of the mitten to expose your fingers when you need to. They are really nice and warm. My feet are what gives me problems when I am out on the ice. I have a thick pair of boots that I have had for over 20 years and they are still in good shape with a wool insert. My feet still get cold very easily. I usually wear 2 pair of socks inside the boot and still I have cold feet. So this summer I asked my 2 sisters to knit me some thick long socks. Maybe this will do the trick for my cold feet. We shall see.

WooHoo I went fishing today!!!

2009-10-20T20:07:00.005-05:00

The last 2 days it has gotten into the 60's. Very very nice. I just had to get out and wet a line. And what a good time my husband and I had. I caught 6 crappie. The 2 largest were 10 and a half and 10 inches. Chunky little fellas. I also caught a small largemouth bass about 13 inches and also very chunky for a bass that small. My hubby caught 4 crappie, his largest was 10 inches and 2 bass, 14 inches and chunky. We went into Indiana which is only about 10 miles from home and fished the back waters of the Kankakee River. The leaves on the trees are changing and it was a beautiful day to be outdoors, especially because I was fishing. At home the ladybugs were everywhere. Those Japanese ones that bite. Makes being outside miserable. At the river there didn't seem to be any ladybugs ( for which I was eternally grateful ), but I did get one mosquito bite. Its supposed to be even nicer tomorrow and hubby wants to go fishing again, but i won't be joining him as its my bowling night and I can't miss that. After tomorrow its going to get cold again. But then again the sooner it gets good and cold the sooner I get to go ice fishing. WooHoo !!!!!

Frost

2009-10-18T08:25:00.002-05:00

Woke up this morning at 8:00 to frost. This is a good sign for us ice fisherman. I said in an earlier post that i thought we would be ice fishing sooner rather than later and this sure helps get us on our way. The sun is shinning brightly and it looks beautiful out but looks can be deceiving. Its 35 degrees out and there is a heavy frost still on all the car windows. Think maybe I will wait just a bit to take my walk. So maybe I will go browse around Ebay and see what goodies they have for sale today. I will also be waiting impatiently for my beloved Bears to play. They have the Sunday night game this week and had a bye last week, long time in between games. Little tough for the die hard Bears fan.

It's too cold to fish !!

2009-10-16T06:58:00.000-05:00

Wow, I can't believe how cold it's been this October already. Not only did we have a really mild summer, ( I don't think I ran the air conditioner in August), it's unseasonably cold right now. Makes going fishing a bit of a drag, I really don't like to be cold when I'm fishing unless of course I'm standing on the ice. Not that I like being cold when I'm ice fishing, I don't, but then I would have my ice shelter and a heater. And don't forget the big thermos of hot coffee. My husband and I like to fish some really nice areas in Indiana as we only live 10 miles from the Indiana border. In Indiana however they close our favorite lake to hunting right around this time of the year, and even though hunting doesn't go until the lake freezes, there will be no more fishing until the ice comes in. Makes my hubby crazy. We can still fish in Illinois, we live on a river, but someone stole our outboard motor a few weeks ago. Unbelievable!! That motor has been on our boat in the driveway, ( we put the boat in the garage in the winter), for 7 years and never had a problem. We went out a couple of weeks ago to go fishing and the motor was gone. So no motor, no river fishing for us. Going to have to get a new motor this spring when we get our income tax check. So now I sit and wait for the lakes to freeze. I'm thinking it will be sooner than later because of the weather we have been having the past month. Usually in Illinois we don't get to ice fish till well into the winter months, usually January. This year I think will be earlier. Hope so, its unbearable when you can't fish when you really want to. Good things come to those who wait, or so they say.

Columbus Day Stuff

2009-10-12T17:53:00.000-05:00

Today is Columbus Day and most kids have the day off. My son who is in the high school band had to march in the Columbus Day Parade in Chicago. He had to be at the school by 9:30 am this morning to ride the bus into Chicago. We live in a very small town about 50 miles south of Chicago. It was a very cold day and the kids in the band had on their band uniforms consisting of a tux shirt,red cummerbund, red bow tie and black tux slacks and black shoes. They all look so nice when dressed up. My son knew it was going to be cold, it was only in the 40's today, so he put a Under Armor shirt under his uniform to help ward off some of the cold. The parade started at 12:30 in the afternoon and Danny (my son) called to let me know what number had been assigned to his band so I would be sure to not miss them on TV. He later told me that they had waited in the cold for 2 hours before it was their turn to march. Needless to say I was anxious to see the band. I sat looking at the parade for an hour and a half to see the band. I taped the parade so I could show him when he got home. It was exciting to see him and the band and this is like the 5th or 6th time his band has marched in the parade. Was glad to get him home and warm, he wasn't happy about getting up on his day off for the parade but when he got home he told me it was kinda sad as this would be the last time he would be marching in that parade. The Momence Marching Band, which consists of 6th thru 12th grades, combine for marching in parades only. I am a proud mom.

Welcome

2009-10-09T20:29:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, so glad you joined me. As most of you can probably tell I am very very new to blogging but am excited to be here. Today my husband was off work so we were going to go fishing, and of course it started to rain as we were getting ready to go. Now I love to fish but when its 50 degrees out and raining I am not nearly as excited as usual to go. So instead of going fishing I made a wonderful diner of fish he caught 2 days ago. Yummy bluegill, probably the best tasting fish ever. The days are getting longer and colder so that will lessen our fishing outings until the lakes freeze. Then watch out. Get out the long johns and the ice shelter cause I'm going to hit the ice. I am usually the only female on the ice, and that's not so bad, cause when I out-fish the menfolk its the biggest rush ever. I actually started to fish when I was dating my future hubby and only went because I wanted to be with him and he loves to fish. Well it turns out so do I. But I certainly didn't know that at the time. Get in a boat and throw out a line, and truly its such quality time to spend with someone you love. Now its been 26 years of dating and marriage and we still spend tons of time out on the water. So once we got married we decided to have kids. I wanted sons because I figured they would love fishing as much as my husband and I do, and we were blessed with 2 wonderful sons. Guess what, they both hate to fish go figure. Thankfully they are both almost grown so we can still go fishing without them, as they are old enough to be left home. I do believe I am rambling so I will stop for now. Hope you all enjoyed my post and please feel free to add anything you wish.