Catching Pigs at the Secret Pond

 

 

For me, work was done for the day.  Lil' Shaka finished baseball practice and had a few hours before football practice would start.  We decided to hit the pond not far from the house...well, that didn't work because it was Wednesday and the lawn and landscaper crew was cutting around the lake.  NO!!!!  LoL!!!

Ok, we took a detour and ventured out to another pond that is notorious for two things. 

Number one...this pond has been a keeper of GIANTS or TANKS size bass in the past.  Lil' Shaka and I have caught up to five pounders in this little pond.  

Number two...this pond can disappoint you!  The bass in ths little pond are smart.  You can get skunked at this pond quite often, and it gets hard to find any type of pattern.

Well, as you can see in the video, God blessed us on this day.  We did in fact find a couple things these monster bass wanted to chew on.  Lil' Shaka was able to bring this beauty to the bank using a Zoom Fluke.  This tank weighed in around 5lbs. 

I was throwing around a shaky head with a Zoom trick worm with a chartreuse tail all over the pond.  I was able to get two of these pigs to chomp down on it.  What a fun day!  Stay committed, Stay Driven.

Fishing Lake of Egypt in Southern Illinois July 2022

It was a "scortcher" over the weekend at Lake of Egypt in Southern Illinois.  We traveled down there with some family and friends to hang out at the lake the entire weekend.  It was tough to get comfortable because it was so hot.  But we of course made the best of the situation and still had a great time.

When I think about fishing in the last couple of years, there is a specific time that I have a marker built to reflect and look back.  It was September 2019 and the family and I spent the weekend at Lake of Egypt.  Below is a picture of that time.  I am fishing off a dock with my daughter.

I remember having a fairly good time on that trip.  I remember buying a bunch of tackle, and not really knowing what I was doing. ☺  I don't remember catching any fish during that trip.  I definitely didn't know what I know now about fishing.  That picture reminds me of a time that was innocent compared to the world now after Covid-19.  So much has happened since this picture!  I talked to people all the time who have blocked Covid-19 from their brains.  I think it is a mechanism for humans to actually cope with something as catastrophic as a global pandemic.  So, I use this as a marker because Covid is what brought me back to fishing and showed me that passion could be re-ignited from my young man days.  AND, of course I have given this passion down into my son who likes to chase these little green fish around like I do.

Catching Bass at Lake of Egypt July 2022

Lot's of things have changed since September 2019.  There have been many fishing trips taken during the Covid Pandemic.  It was the only thing at one point you could do!  I remember thinking during the Pandemic that there were only so many garage projects I was willing to do until I need to find something else to do.  And then it happened, I took my son on a bike ride and we brought some fishing poles with us to go fishing.  That is when it all came back to me!

Over the weekend the temperature touched 100 degrees farenheit.  The humidity made the heat index somewhere around 110 degrees.  When we went swimming in some of the coves we also noticed that the water was really warm.  Also, we noticed you would get some water that was colder in the lake, but then warm water would hit you.  So if you think about it, the thermocline that is formed in the summer months was really ALL OVER THE PLACE.  So I think the bass were all over the place.  They were probably located in brush piles or under structure.  

Good news is that my buddy and I took the Pelican Bass Raider out every morning at 5:30am and we were able to catch fish every time.  All of my fish were caught on a Shakey Head Zoom worm with a chartreuse tail or a black and blue Speed Craw.

So as I reflect back about September 2019, and I think about where the world is in 2022...I am appreciative that my family is okay.  I am appreciative that I have a hobby that my son, myself, and my friends enjoy.  With all the negativity, and problems the world is dealing with at this time, my reflection reminds me that I am fortunate.  Stay committed, and stay driven my friends.

Hunting Bass in the Heat of July 2022 with Flukes

 

Yesterday morning was a really solid session of bass fishing.  It is the Lil' Shaka's birthday weekend.  We had a great time fishing with flukes.  I tried a couple other baits but the bass seemed to only want the flukes on this day.

We normally use Zoom Flukes and rig them up weedless on 1 or 2 aught hooks.  We tried a number of different colors that work really well.  I think the main color in the Zoom Super Flukes that the bass really wanted was the Arkansas Shiner color.  We also tried a new Googan Fluke called the Dart.  These were the five inch models and the specific color was a Green Gizzard Shad.

I also went to Academy and purchased a rod and reel that I thought would be a great birthday present for Lil' Shaka.  I picked out a Ugly Stik GX2 casting rod.  It is not an expensive rod, and you don't need a very expensive rod (by the way).  All you need is a rod that has medium power.  You need it to flex much like a rod you would use with spinnerbaits.  I paired that rod up with a Diawa CR80 baitcasting reel.  He was happy!  And, now he has a nice rod/reel combo that is medium power that he can use for fluke fishing.  It might even be great for some other finesse applications.  It worked out very well as he was catching fish immediately.

I hope you all are having a great summer, stay committed, stay driven!

When fishing, Mother Nature is undefeated

Mother Nature opened up from the skies over the weekend!  I have to say, in 2022 I think this fishing excursion will be one of most memoriable for Lil' Shaka and me.  AND, it was really fun!  If you are anything like us, you've fished in many types of conditions.  Rain, Sleet, Snow, Ice, Sun, Extreme Heat...all of these conditions come into play at different times of the year and this day was no exception.  

The picture above is me right after we pulled the Pelican Bass Raider to the boat ramp.  The rain was coming down in sheets!  The Accuweather.com weather report showed this rain coming in, but I did not check my phone while we were fishing.  The rain came in about an hour earlier than what it said previously that morning.  We were having a great morning catching bass (we were around 20 bass for the session, which is exceptional this time of year).  Sure enough, I look up and the skies look like they are about to unleash hell LOL!

I told my son, "No, not one more cast...we gotta go now!" Ha Ha.  And, that is what we did.  I put the trolling motor in full blast mode and Lil' Shaka also paddled.  We were almost to the dock, and then it completely unleashed on us.  We dove into the truck to hide from the rain.  Maybe we could wait it out?  Not so much, it just kept coming down even harder. Ha Ha.  To give you an understanding of how much rain was coming down, before we even left the lake, we had to dump the boat on its side (twice) in less than 20 minutes because the boat was full of water.  The awesome thing about this monsoon rain is it felt very refreshing against the July heat here in the heartland.  You dry off quick.

As for the fishing, like I said it was a 20 bass type of day!  Lil' Shaka hit a great learning milestone...he was able to get the hang of throwing weightless, weedless flukes.  Flukes in my opinion are one of the deadiest lures or bait that you can thow.  If you know how to utilize them and present them in the right way, they can produce for you throughout the year.  A lot of your success throwing flukes is with the type of rod you use...I have a cheap Shakespeare Synergy rod that works great for fluke presentation.  I just swapped out the spincast real for a nice baitcaster a couple years ago.  It is literally the cheapest rod I have and it has produced the most and biggest fish for me.  I let him use this pole and bang, he learned it quick and started to catch them!

This specific lake we go to a lot with the Bass Raider is weeded up quite a bit.  There isn't much you can throw without getting hung up.  So your options during this time of year is anything weedless.  I have not perfected the use of the Shakey head worm, but WOW it produced well on this day.  I was just flipping it, shaking it, and slow retrieving it through and just above the grass and they were hammering it.  

All in all, it was a great morning of fishing, and an even better memory of getting caught in the downpour!  Stay Committed, Stay Driven.