First of June!

I spent this Tuesday a little differently than I had originally planned, after staying up late last night to watch the Chicago Blackhawks take a two games to none lead in the Stanley Cup. I TIVO'D the game so I wouldn't have to be rude at my Mother-In-Laws cookout, and I finished watching it around 12:30am. Thank you to all for not calling or texting me with the score and ruining my perfect end to the Memorial Day weekend. With that said, I didn't feel like doing much of anything today, and the weather is about as perfect as you can get it here in Chicago on this first of June. So off to the river I went to spend a few hours alone chasing after some Smallmouth Bass and whatever else will tug at the end of my line.

Being as lazy as I feel today, I didn't even stop at Cool Waters bait shop to load up on the fathead minnows like I normally do. No! I thought I was just going to cast a few spots with a minnow style crank bait and catch Bass after Bass until my son got home from school. I brought one extra lure with me just in case I hung one in the tree, and wasn't able to retrieve it. I was so confident with the bait I had selected, that my reserve lure was the exact same bait.

After applying all my sunscreen and getting in my waders I entered the water so quickly that I forgot to bring a bottle of water with me on my quest. I didn't care. I was going to catch them so fast, I wouldn't have the time to drink water!

Ninety minutes later I was one mile down river and hadn't felt anything tick my crank bait except for the river bottom and a few weeds. "Time to move below the islands" I said to myself, and so I exited the river, walked down the road another half mile or so and re-entered the river. From that point on I waded another mile or so, and again not one Bass even touched the back of my lure. And I call myself a fisherman? Not sure if that applies to me anymore, after the futile attempts I made this weekend to land a few fish.

What can be said about me, is that even in the jaws of defeat I enjoyed my four hours of wading amongst one of the most scenic stretches of river in the state of Illinois. Each and every time I wade in the Fox river I experience something different, new, or exciting, and I'm able to take that memory home with me until the next time I return.

Today I saw a Woodpecker sitting on a tree with the most perfect red head and white belly, a bed of Lilly pads with all it's yellow flowers in full bloom. Tadpoles swam between the small rocks over a shallow gravel flat. A Smallmouth Bass, leaped out of the water like a rocket ship and then splashed on his side. A Crane stalked it's prey in a small pool, and pulled out a river shiner. Lastly I came upon a school of carp, nearing three dozen strong, resting in the slack water.

Today, I take from my favorite waters, a sore arm, a few good pictures, all my lures that I brought with me, and the endless desire to Cast Across America!

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