So...when it comes to this board there are wolves and there are sheep. I, for one, am a sheep. If something works for one guy (or sometimes more) I like to try my hand at it. Whether thats a big fish caught in a lake near me or a particular style of fishing. Tonight, I decided to use my rare 0230 dismissal from work to test out the night bite.
Tried Diamond Lake in Mundelein, but the spot I tried was super dense with pads. I tried a frog but it never was really able to touch water so I called it after 10 minutes.
Headed to a pond in Buffalo Grove and tied on the dreaded Whopper Plopper. Arrived around 0330 and not long into my session got my first bite. Started reeling it and it felt like nothing was on the line, skated it across the top of the water to find a small crappie.
Continued on and got a nicer bite, turned out to be a 15" 1.7 lb largemouth. Had 'Nam like flashbacks of my hooking on Sunday, this bass was nearly the same size and hooked the same way. My lip gripper hasn't arrived yet but I was smart enough to just use pliers while removing the hooks :lol:
Was getting ready to call it a night, threw another cast and remembered while retrieving the bass my reel felt loose on its seat. Popped the lure 3 times and begun to tighten the reel down and hear a BIG hit. It was very dark and extremely foggy in BG so I never saw anything, not to mention I wasn't even looking at the water while tightening my reel down. Set the hook and man, there was some weight on the other end of the line. Wasn't sure if it was a lunker bass or something with teeth, but the only time it was above the water was right after setting the hook. Fought it awhile and flipped it on shore...a friggin CATFISH!?!? Never seen a cat hit topwater before. Wrestled the hook out (man their mouths are tough). Didn't bring my lip gripper for the scale and after the hook came out the smelly bastard started wiggling itself back toward the water and I was totally cool with that. Snapped a pic while it was struggling away and he eventually made it back in. Definitely a new PB cat!
Left just before 0430. About 1 hour of work, boy was that fun. Just wish I wasn't a first shifter! Glad I could get some work in tonight instead of today with the sunny and 90 forecast.
Tried Diamond Lake in Mundelein, but the spot I tried was super dense with pads. I tried a frog but it never was really able to touch water so I called it after 10 minutes.
Headed to a pond in Buffalo Grove and tied on the dreaded Whopper Plopper. Arrived around 0330 and not long into my session got my first bite. Started reeling it and it felt like nothing was on the line, skated it across the top of the water to find a small crappie.
Continued on and got a nicer bite, turned out to be a 15" 1.7 lb largemouth. Had 'Nam like flashbacks of my hooking on Sunday, this bass was nearly the same size and hooked the same way. My lip gripper hasn't arrived yet but I was smart enough to just use pliers while removing the hooks :lol:
Was getting ready to call it a night, threw another cast and remembered while retrieving the bass my reel felt loose on its seat. Popped the lure 3 times and begun to tighten the reel down and hear a BIG hit. It was very dark and extremely foggy in BG so I never saw anything, not to mention I wasn't even looking at the water while tightening my reel down. Set the hook and man, there was some weight on the other end of the line. Wasn't sure if it was a lunker bass or something with teeth, but the only time it was above the water was right after setting the hook. Fought it awhile and flipped it on shore...a friggin CATFISH!?!? Never seen a cat hit topwater before. Wrestled the hook out (man their mouths are tough). Didn't bring my lip gripper for the scale and after the hook came out the smelly bastard started wiggling itself back toward the water and I was totally cool with that. Snapped a pic while it was struggling away and he eventually made it back in. Definitely a new PB cat!
Left just before 0430. About 1 hour of work, boy was that fun. Just wish I wasn't a first shifter! Glad I could get some work in tonight instead of today with the sunny and 90 forecast.
