Rockton, Illinois

Caught it on a senko very surprising catch

Decent walleye. Follow my YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/c/GoodFreePhotos?app=desktop

*ROCK RIVER SMALLMOUTH BASS* Hello All! Hope you're all enjoying these warmer days Mother Nature has provided us. It seems that bites are happening pretty much everywhere, so get off your butts and get out there and catch some fish!!! Ok, Two days ago I took the afternoon to explore the Rock River. I set out casting for Smallmouth Bass, the Rock River is an excellent fishery for Smallies. That days temps reached the mid-80's. And that created a problem...... Pleasure Boaters. OMG they were thick. I was getting sea-sick while trying to work the shorelines. Joking aside it was near impossible to keep the boat in position to cast and work the shoreline. I tried for a couple of hours with no luck. So I headed up river, WAAAY up river to my favorite spot, a small hydro-electric powerplant, which turned out to be a 40 minute boat ride, nice! And the water is so shallow getting there that there are no Pleasure Boaters to worry about. Only die hard fisherman travel these waters, along with a few nuts like myself. I alone wrecked 3 props last fall, YIKES! Once there I carefully work my way up near the discharge, off to the side where the water backflows back towards the dam. Warning signs say *STAY BACK 50ft* so that's where I anchor, at 51ft, lol. From that point it's just basic stuff. Throw it out and hope you get it back. If you're very lucky, you'll latch on to one of those bronze beauties! That evening I caught 5 Smallmouth Bass before I had to head back. Nothing big, but fun just the same. It's amazing the fight they have in them. They definitely put on a show for their size. But sunset came fast and I had to head back to where I launched from. It's a long ride. I'm guessing around 12 miles back down that winding river. In fact look at the sunset pictures. The same sunset.... one with the bow of the boat and one with the stern. I assure you, I did not do a u-turn for the camera, lol. You're just unaware of your directional changes. So yeah, the same sunset from two different directions about 2 minutes apart, lol. Pretty cool I thought. That was it. A little exploration. A lot of traveling. equaling.... A whole bunch of fun! Until next time my Fishy Friends. Looking forward to seeing all of your your outings. Now Y'all take care! Later 🙂

*Full Moon Thursday* Hello All! I snuck out for a couple of hours late yesterday and fished the Rock River for the first time this year. I must say the fishing was pretty darn slow, but hey at least I didn't get skunked! My main source of entertainment was a lone Pelican that watched my every move. The current is still really fast and the water is high, but I managed to get my first Smallmouth Bass of 2023. And what else but another gosh darn White Bass. I just can't keep them things out of my boat, lol. I tried numerous lures but the only success came on a small crappie jig which caught both fish. Ok peeps, that's it short & sweet, lol. As always thanks for looking. Until next time, later! 🙂

Oh man that open water looks so dang inviting, but it's oh so cold. 25° daytime temps right now. And I still have to wait about another 2 whole months before launch? NO! In northern Illinois the earliest I've ever been out on the water fishing was the 3rd week of March for a Walleye tournament. Lines be icing up all the time, fingers freezing, no fish, no fun. Man, I tell ya waiting for Spring to come is pure torture! I MISS MY BOAT!!!

'WIFE DOES IT AGAIN' Hello boys & girls. We wrapped up our 2022 season last Thursday, it was a helluva day! But this post I'm going to make about one catch in particular. A fish caught by my wife of course! She gets referred to as 'Bubbly Princess Leia'. That name given to her by another fisherman on this app named LITTLE BEIS. So yeah buddy, thanks for that. IT STUCK!!! So here we go..... No storyline 😮 No description 😣 No BS 😖 I guess I do need to tell you we were Walleye fishing with jig-minnows. This fish was NOT on our agenda, lol. Heres a 3 part video showing my wife catching the BIGGEST FISH of her life. I had to split the video because of its size, sorry. But I think you'll enjoy seeing and listening to us two old farts that have been married for 47 years, bicker at each other. Well mainly me at her, lol. Sorry for the language. You all know how that goes, lol. I hope you all enjoy and I'll make another post about our last 3 days out this year. This catch deserves its own spot! Take care & enjoy! 🙂

ANOTHER FISHTASTIC DAY! Ok, before we get into specifics I wanna know how so many of you know my wife so well??? Y'all predicted she was gonna out fish me and dang it, she did! Ok I caught the Northern, but she caught the big Smallmouth and only Walleye. IT'S NOT FAIR! Waaah... Alright it started fast & fishy. You gotta gear this! I got her set up and I grabbed an ultralight pole already rigged with a crappie jig, I tip it with a minnow, I don't even cast I just lowered it over the back of the boat and WHAM it felt like a bowling ball hit the line. It almost pulled the pole outta my hand I wasn't ready yet. My pole tip hits the water and instantly sprung back towards me with loose line. I didn't even get to fight it. Gone. I think a big ol Northern sucked it in and cut my line on a tooth. Brand new line. Of course my wife's like "what's wrong" as I stand there with my mouth hanging open. She says "I heard something, what was that"? I said "you didn't see it, but you heard it"? Just so y'all know, she's got advanced hearing loss yet she heard it. She says she can't hear me most of the time, lol. So yeah we're off to a great start and as I'm tying on another jig, she says "honey, I got a fish". She did. A 17" Smallie. Nice, right? So then I get back to fishing and I catch that 27" Northern Pike which confirmed that Pike were there and hungry. Then I hear again, " honey I got another fish"! This time it's the 16" Walleye. What!?! UGH, but nice again. My next fish, my first Twinkie of the day. Hey now, I do like Twinkies! From that point on it was all small Smallies. I believe we caught 11 Smallmouth in total and the one Pike and the other uh, Pike. Ok Northern & Walleye. I never understood that, they look nothing alike. Except the teeth maybe? So that was our day. Caught 13 fish and only hit one rock, the water is pretty low right now. Well it IS the Rock River for Pete's sake. Who the heck is Pete anyways. Lol. Alright my friends, enough already! Just Keep on Kastin'!!!