Home Waters

Fishing has picked up a little over the last few weeks. Serious flooding issues have made things a hassle at times, but fish are starting to be found

April 12th-Rock River-Fort Atkinson

Fished a river rig with a pink floating jig head and a pearl white colored Gulp 3” Minnow. Caught three saugers while letting bait drift through current downstream. Two saugers met minimum of 15” to keep. Fished before sundown.

April 20th-Rock River-Jefferson

Fished a Doc’s Dip Worm with Doc’s Blood Dip Bait. Needed heavy sinkers (2 0z.) to get bait down. Ended up catching three small channel catfish after sundown

April 24th- Rock River-Jefferson

Fished the same Doc’s Dip Worm with Doc’s Blood Dip Bait, as well as jig and twister tail for white bass. Caught one large channel catfish and one small catfish on dip bait, no results from twister tail.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been fishing since I was 3. Fishing is one of those things that I can almost say I’ve been doing for 20 years. After all of the time I’ve spent doing it, it wasn’t all that new to me anymore. Sure, there are lots of new adventures to take in fishing. Fishing for new species, fishing with artificials instead of live bait, and fishing in different places are all god ideas for those looking to shake it up a little bit in their fishing lives.

After fishing for as long as I have been, I exhausted out the list of things to do to spice up fishing. One method I always tended to ignore, however, was fly fly fishing. For some reason, I never felt like picking up fly fishing. To me, fly fishing was for guys fishing for trout in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. It was not until I started watching the Field and Stream series “Hook Shots,” that I realized fly fishing has so much more potential than that. Depending on the rod and line you use, you can fly fish for bass, pike, and musky. I think that versatility initially piqued my interest more than anything.

Let’s flash back to April 2016. My interest in fly fishing was starting to rise as I slinked through the fishing flea market that has been held every year in a neighboring town since I can remember. Usualyy, I use this show to stock up on things I need for conventional fishing. That year was no different. As I was walking out, I noticed a man selling old fly rods for 20 dollars. That rod got me int fly fishing. I still have remained fairly unsuccessful at fly fishing, but I feel like I’m getting better every day. The moral of thsis story s stepping out and doing things that make you uncomfortable. I have  cherished all the time I have spent having to re-learn something I’ve been doing my whole life

Take a chance! Tight Lines

Rigging for catfish is not very tricky. There are two concepts that need to be had in mind.

A. Catfish are bottom feeders, presentations should focus on the bottom of the water column.

B. Catfish can get really big, your rod, line, and terminal tackle should be sturdy and well maintained.

With that in mind, opt for rods rated for big fish. Medium heavy to extra heavy is appropriate. Using heavy line is also good. Braided line starting around 30 lb test is a good choice. Choose sinkers in the 3/4 ounce to 2 ounce range. Circle hooks are highly recommended as well.

Circle hooks

For rigging, a river rig that I discussed in regards to walleye a little while back is a good choice. Just switch out the smaller gear for bigger gear. You should be catching kitty’s in no time!

Catfish are eaters. That is why they get so big which is why they are so fun to catch. Both channels and flatheads love to chew, but they both have different palates. Let’s break it down.

Channel Catfish- Channels will eat anything, literally anything. They will eat worms, minnows, crayfish, hot dogs, shrimp, stinkbait, cheese, and any kind of rotten food. Stinkbait is widely available, and is usually applied to a dip worm (shown below)

Flathead Catfish- While channels will eat a variety of things, flatheads are different. Flatheads like baitfish, either whole or cut. Examples of good flathead bait includes bluegills, sunfish, sheepshead, shiners, gizzard shad, suckers, bullheads, and sculpins.

With the warming weather we are experiencing this week, we are beginning to approach catfish season. All this week, content will be related to catfishing. To start off this week, I want to highlight some different catfish species that are native to our area

The Channel Catfish

The Flathead Catfish

Both species are great fun to fish for, and both can be caught in the Upper Midwest. Stay tuned all this week for tips, tricks, and stories about catfish!

With the prolonged rainfall we have had in our area, the local rivers are being affected severely. Right now, the Rock River is starting to crest over it’s banks, which can be potentially dangerous for fishermen. With this in mind, do heed caution when extreme high water conditions present themselves. Make sure you are on sturdy banks to avoid potential washout. Make sure people know that you are on the river. Make wise decisions while on the river. Another important reminder regards transportation to the water. As it stands currently, Bark River Road, an access road that leads to the Rock River, is currently impassable due to flooding. This happens often to roads adjacent to flood-prone rivers. Don’t ever drive through floods, and make sure you have alternate routes in the event that your normal routes become flooded.

I would assume with this forecast that the flooding will calm in the next few days. However if the storms they are predicting next week occur, conditions can shift quickly.

Be Safe and Tight Lines!

Not too long ago, the Alabama rig was a big hit  in the fishing world. The set-up that mimicked schools of baitfish was celebrated and persecuted for it’s success. A lot of people were using “schoolie rigs” with great success, but the fad died out after the Alabama rig was banned in most large fishing tournaments. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of anglers using tandem rigs for walleye and white bass.

This is the aforementioned tandem rig. For the most part, it’s a rig with two hooks and two identical swimbaits. Generally they are spread out by a couple inches, and they imitate two fish swimming together. As for my opinion of the lure, I’m critical. One of the knocks on the Alabama rig by BASS and other governing bodies was potential snagging concerns. With all of those hooks, snagging was a problem. While tandem rigs don’t have nearly as many hooks as Alabama rigs, Instill have concerns about this rig ending up in fishes bellies more than their mouthes. In the river systems, there are times when it is easy to snag fish with a single hook. Right now, with spawning migrations happening, I feel like this rig is not completely ethical.

As an aside, while I’ve said that I’lol be condensing fish reports during the spawn to protect my spots, I will still make safety reports if necessary. My follow up to this will address that.

Hello Folks,

Sorry the dry up in posts. It’s been a very busy time lately. I have also decided to do my fishing reports in blocks, and not on the day of. I do this because giving a lot of information in real time in the fishing world is dangerous. Give too much, and you tend to find a bunch of people in your spot. Doing reports in blocks allows me to still tell you how I do things, while also protecting my fishing.

3-15-17

Rock River-Jefferson Dam

Fish caught-2 short sauger

Rig- 3 way river rig w/fly and minnow

Daytime

It was tough fishing in Jefferson. The water was really churning up under the dam, creating really dirty water. Classic spring conditions

3-20-17

Rock River

Downtown Fort Atkinson

Fish caught: none

Rig: 3 way rig, Moxie jig, Jig and Gulp

Early evening

Fishing was tough yet again. The stretch of river in Fort has a lot of timber on the bottom. Lot of tackle donated tonight. Need to try other methods to avoid snags.

3-24-17

Grand River-Allendale, MI

Fish caught: none

Rig: Rapala crankbaits

Daytime

This was a shot in the dark. I was visiting a friend in Michigan and had a rod in the car. Was told that there was a lot of trout/salmon and smallmouth in the river but did not catch anything. Always fish in unsure situations, you never know.

April 2

Rock River

Rig: River rig with minnow

Fish: 1 keeper walleye, 3 shorts

Early evening

Pretty good day, hopefully a sign of things to come.

With the blizzard we are currently experiencing, I thought I’d discuss the approach necessary to fish in cold, snowy conditions such as these. When it is as cold as it is outside right now, fish get sluggish. Fishing lures really fast is not a good way to get bit during conditions like this. Methods such as live bait or slow-moving lures is your best bet. Another concept to think about is the size of your bait. Fish want a big, slow-moving meal during cold conditions, so present a larger offering than you normally would. Fish can be caught in the cold.

This sauger was caught in snowy conditions on a fairly large crankbait. Fishing isn’t the best in snow, but it is doable.

Hello Home Waters folks,

You are probably wondering why I have been so shabby at posting. Fishing is something that I am very passionate about, and for that reason, I also have very strong feelings about it. With that being said, I have been having a really tough time on the water lately. For a variety of reasons, fishing has been really tough. For one, it is hard to cultivate a consistent bite when the weather has been as weird as it has been. There has been days where I have been out an been comfortable, and there has been days where I have had to leave because of frostbite. I’d say that right now, we are in a weird purgatory between ice and the spawn and it is not ideal. However, from now on I will try to report more frequently instead of hiding, Fishing is a tough sport and that is what makes it great. I will continue to cast and cast because it is what I do. You cannot catch fish on the couch.