Kankakee Report for 9/10/12
Yesterday afternoon I decided to hit the backwaters again, with the cooler weather I thought I might hook into some decent bass. Upon arriving at my destination, the duckweed was visible everywhere I looked - bass heaven in my book!
Started off fishing a toad, but no takers, so I opted to lighter line (6 lb. test) and a weightless T-rigged 5" Yum Dinger worm...after a few minutes I nailed a 13 inch chunk; a few minutes later, missed another. I thought this was going to be an awesome day, but then I hit a dry spell...no hits for almost an hour and a half.
Went to a drastic ritual...started casting my bait all the way onto the opposite shoreline, let it rest for a bit, then softly let it pop off the bank into the water...after a few attempts at this I was bit off by a giant pike that slammed the offering from the top - exciting to watch, but bummed because it cut my light line almost immediately. Didn’t waste any time, tied on another 5/0 wide gap hook and grabbed the bag of Yum Dingers...after just a few minutes of doing this again at another location, I hooked into another large pike which swam into a massive laydown and broke me off again.
Tried going extremely shallow, fishing a flat area with a few stickups that couldn’t have been more than a foot deep, scared a few carp out of hiding, and then, wouldn’t you know it I cast into a snag (wind grabbed my bait) the worm dangling over the water and a nice chunk leaps out of the water, grabs my worm and breaks the line....grrrrrrr...starting to get frustrated at this point...couldn’t buy a hit on heavier line and couldn’t keep em buttoned on the lighter line.
Tried one more location and had the largest bowfin I’ve ever seen leap out of the water and attempt to slam my worm from the top - musta been over 15 pounds easily, over three feet long - get that fish some glasses! It missed the bait. Patiently worked the area for a considerable time, but couldn’t get another rise out of the fish.
Hundreds of mourning cloak butterflies were everywhere, along with biting lady bugs...gnats everywhere, and the mosquitoes were having a field day too. Vultures gliding overhead, herons hunting for crappies, and sandhill cranes flying overhead every now and then...starting to look like an early Fall pattern may emerge.
...all in all, still a great afternoon down by the Kankakee.
