Too much water

[cattracker16]

Well were havin a spring flood around here so's it's off to a local private farm pond. this weekend.

The muddy mississippi has crested and is slowly falling it will prolly be a few weeks before i get out in the tree laden waters.

Cedar river is also quite full

I did pick up a 8 foot berkley glowstick for nite and day fishing for cats, need to go pick up some line for it, not sure what i'm spooling it up with just yet.

Looks like the forcast is for a day of fishing on sunday at the private pond.

[Soupy_1us]

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p115/Soupy_1us/JustWondering.jpg


Wish I could go fishin'..... I got work to do.

Good luck, hope you catch a bunch.

[heath19]

Well ya know some of the best fishing i have had over on the mississippi has been when the water was up. Not up as much as it is right now but just a little bit lower and i think the fishing should be good over there. I heard they been killing the bass in the tournaments the last couple weeks, been bringing them in up to 6 1/2lbs.

[Rainman4u2]

Good luck with the fishing. Between work, the ambulance, fire, and training, I have no time to go yet. Maybe next weekend.....

Ray

[Fishaholic]

rivers slowly droppin here, shouldnt be too long for ya kenny. you probably need a break anyway after the KY trip.....

[cattracker16]

well me and the misses went out to a private pond this fine eastern iowa day was about 68 degrees, 1 st we stoped by the farm to see ifn any mushrooms were up, we found 6 of emm, small greys. too early i guess. so's we continued out to private pond.

Nathan was already there chuckin and whindin so's i figured he had the bass covered, then i looked to see the pond is extreemly clear and the bass are spinning a bed in the shallows and doing there thing, not sayin a guy cannot catch emm, but the boy was bound a determin to catch "Big Joe" or "Sam" he had a 202 zebco and a diver on. poor kid been there fishin for 2 hours before i even showed up and not caught a fish yet.

So's me and the misses set out to see what kinda fun we can have in the pond and try to help nate out. well i tried my darnedness to put him on a fish but he was insistant that Big joe or sam was going to come and grab his lure. neither happened but by golly i and the misses was fishin fur Bluegills and knew we'd get him to reel in a fish. so's he had a mess in his reel mono all wrapped up inside (dunno how he managed) but I tossed out a jig and wax under a bobber and told him to hang onto my rod and becarefull and watch the bobber. I farted around enough that the bobber went under. "fishon" I told him that he better reel it in find out what he had. so here is a pic of him with the fish he had to catch.

I also have some other pics of me and the misses catch. very enjoyable atfernoon.

[Fishaholic]

Iowagiller in the makins here!!!

[troutrageous1]

Looks like a fun day. Lot's of 'gill action.

[jason454ci]

Boy oh boy that ole Giller is ruinin ya as at cat man. Nice lookin mess of gills y'all got into though. What in the heck is that in the last picture, large mouth bait?

[cattracker16]

Boy oh boy that ole Giller is ruinin ya as at cat man. Nice lookin mess of gills y'all got into though. What in the heck is that in the last picture, large mouth bait?


Yes sir that wood be a bucket mouth bass, bout 3 lbs, i turned it loose so ole nate could try and catch it.

[heath19]

Looks like good day of fishing and some even better eating.

[cattracker16]

Looks like good day of fishing and some even better eating.

yepper buddy it was a bunches of fun and come damorrow nite them's going in me belly

[gofish]

glad ya had a good day buddy....aint even gonna ask the"question " lol

[cattracker16]

Nope ya don't need to ask, she whooped me again. LOL

[zim-cat]

one ? are you as fast as giller with your knife on those gills lol zim-cat nice fish

[Illinoisgiller]

Neat way to spend the day!
I agree with Fishaholic. Iowagiller in the makin for sure. lol
I can almost see the fillets off those pannies. You got it down for sure when going after the meat.
I plan to slip off and get a new Rapalla eletric today. I wore my two out.
I think it is good you put that bass back. They love those little gills and will help aviod overpopulation. Mike

[cattracker16]

Mike i was wondering ifn it behoove a fella to stock a few redear in a guys pond to control the snails? I seen a good sized snail in the private pond i fish.

[Illinoisgiller]

Kenny, I was told by our local fisheries bioligest the there are no red ear fry available from any midwest hatcheries that are large enough to last long in an established pond. He said it would be like pouring them down a bass's throat.
I would suggest you catch some and put them in the pond. Mike

[heath19]

Or what about some of those hybrid bluegills?? those things get huge, ive caught them close to 12" in a local pond that nobody can fish near here anymore...and man oh man are those things that big a blast to catch. i think you can get them in the state here for stocking but not sure

[Illinoisgiller]

Chris, I don't know how to put a link up, but try Google for[hybrid bluegill myth ]
They have done extensive testing in MO. Those hard fighting hybrids come with a price. They are a cross of Green Sunfish and Bluegill. The pond will eventually cross over to a green sunfish population and very prone to overpopulation Please check it out. Mike

[cattracker16]

Guess i'd not wanna waste my moneys on the redears then. I appreciate the info. I do plan on stocking up a few cats, hope they make it. i figure that a few will be ate for diner but alot of emm should make it through as long as they figure out they need to hide in a pipe.

[cattracker16]

one ? are you as fast as giller with your knife on those gills lol zim-cat nice fish


well zim it's like this he's a master at using his fillet knife i'm tryin to get half as good at it as he is.

[gofish]

one or 2 flatheads 5lbs or so will put a dent in them stunted gills...dont put many in though or itll turn into anuther problem lol

[heath19]

Thanks for the info mike, ill check it out. The pond that i have caught them in they might not even be hybrids, im not exactly sure. They may have just been some HUGE redear. I never knew of them stocking or anything in it but im not sure. The old lady wont let anybody in there anymore, i sure wish i could get some pictures of a few of them big things...they are by far the biggest i have ever caught, i do know they arent bluegills though.

[cattracker16]

I went ahead and went to fish that farm pond again. the misses and i were having a blast she was using her new 9.5 foot micro and just happened to catch a 5 lb channel on it. LOL she was crappin her pants when it started to take drag all she could do is laugh and hang on.

I was using a arcadia baitcaster i burrowed from schoe, with matching reel, tossin a 3" blue shad and low and behold a smaller female cat desided she wanted it. that was a fun little tussle. Then it was back to bass fishin. i eneded up catchin and releasin several bass all about 2-3 lbs. only caught a couple smaller 6-10" bass. was a real blast somthing to pass 2 hours of time. here is a pic of the fish i'm goin to smoke prior to cleanin.

[dipper69_2000]

nice looking fish ya have there.hope we can get out on the river next weeknd for the tourny i am running. would like to get a few for the table. i am not fortunate enuff to have private ponds to fish. looks as tho if i am going to keep a line wet it will be state lakes and may be the feeder cannal.

[gofish]

cool!.....reckon my teachin services aint needed no more! good job ta both of ya........missus may be lettin ya catch fish now but seems shes still catchin the bigger ones lol:icon_biggrin:

[DaveIN]

LOL's- When kids and women go fishing with you, expect them to steal the show!

Great looking fish..........

[Sharon]

man those are great looking fish, congrats on the great catch! Uhh Mrs. Cattracker16 :party0011:

[cattracker16]

yeah I know she's the one that catches most all the fishes when we go, not for lack of me tryin , but somehow's she always manages to out fish me. I tried ta get her to hold her catch but she didn't want nuttin to do with it. LOL

[gofish]

tell her i said that jus aint right kenny,oughtta git ta see pics of the proud fisherwoman holdin her catch lol.:icon_biggrin:

[Illinoisgiller]

I and my wife Loraine slipped off to a small southeast Iowa Lake for 3 days panfishing. We stayed 2 nights in the trailer cabins they had available there.
We stopped by a small lake on the IL side and got a dz. or so gills and smallish Red Ear. We them moved on to Iowa. We crossed at Gulfport, Ill. and could see the flood water was lapping at the top of the levee. On the way to the lake we seen a sign for a small county lake and checked it out for a bit of shore fishing. It turned out the gills were stunted and skinny, but I got a couple channel cats letting the breeze drift my jig across a sand point.
We proceeded on to the lake, and wasted no time getting the float tube out on the lake. Loraine was happy to stay on shore to fish. The gills here were fat and scrappy. The hot bite was on the 1/80 oz. hair jigs. At the first lake the Red Ear liked an ant jig that new member, rebg38 is teaching me to make. We met a few nice folks on this trip, ate a lot of fish and brought a few home.I'll post some random pictures. The wife had to get the largest cat of course. lol
When we returned we were sad to hear that the bridge at Burlington was closed till further notice. The levee breached and flooded Gulfport and Gladstone, IL is fighting to stay dry. We were able to cross back into IL. at Ft. Madison, IA, by driving through a short stretch of flooded street on the Iowa side and on the IL side was watching the flood water lapping at the temp. levee along the hwy. even with my side window.
My heart and prayers go out to all affected by this epic flood.
On a brighter note, I hope all that wished to, got out for a bit of fishing. Mike

[jason454ci]

Another job well done Mike and Loraine!! Heck Mike we might just be able to convert her over to the catfish too!:icon_biggrin:

[DaveIN]

Get report Mike!

Looks like your homemade ants work! Did you tip them with anything?

[Illinoisgiller]

Dave, I tipped the ants with red worms. Sure looking forward to using these on water where there are a decent population of nice red ear. Lots of work (time) to make these but I enjoy working with them. mike

[cattracker16]

great report mike. I'm really happy the waters started to go dfown around here.

[cattracker16]

went to private pond yestarday. the misses daughter and I. we ended up with one channel cat four nice bass that were hooked too deep and several bluegills. I tried the no meat jig fishing and it worked for a few but they prefur to have a waxxy on the jig. they's spoiled fish ya know. and well fed they get fed atleast 2 times a day. the channels woodn't even hit that dip bait.
The bass wood hit anything that moved, with the exception of the dip bait.

The wife caught the channel on her new favorite rod. 9.5 foot micro lite. she had lots of fun getting that 4-5 lb cat into shore, but the black lab helped her get it on the shore. LOL

[dipper69_2000]

good ta hear i am not the only one that has a black lab that thinks they need ta help land your fish lol

[gofish]

oh boy:confused0024:.....an here i thought ya were gittin better an not gonna let the missus catch more cats than you anymore lol......did ya fry them bass up with yer eggs like i was tellin ya bout?

[cattracker16]

I did catch a female cat with a sassy shad, she was just a smaller one. i put her back. I did cook up some fish in a skillet and flaked it out and poured eggs over them. I gotta say it was a tasty treat for breakfast. finally got my ole truck runnin, but i got more work ta doo the rear axle still needs to come out, and the engine has one heck of an oil leak, just hoping it's just the oil pan leakin not the rear main. on a side note tho the gear drive i put in is quite noisy. LOL

[gofish]

whirwhirwhirwhir!!!!!! had a pete jackson in my ole hotrod....took it out cause i liked ta hear that 454 purr....till i stomped it lol..........what would yer day be like ifn i didnt mess with ya a bit?..i know peaceful! lot less fun though lol....keep gittin better with them jigs an such....im comin up there this winter fer sure!them eyes are in trouble cause i wanna fill my freezer with em

[jason454ci]

They still makin them dang ole noisy gear drives? Wife had a camaro once with a set of them in there. Could hear her coming a mile away.

[gofish]

an whats yer problem with that jason?.....give ya plenty of time ta hide the liquor that way lol:evilgrin0039:

[jason454ci]

Ya do have a point there Joe. :icon_biggrin:

[cattracker16]

well ifn it wasn't the gears it wood be the pipes. aroun here they say that loud pipes save lives. i just letm rattl a bit to let the misses know i'm only a couple blocks away and she betta have her bf outta da house.LOL