Bryan's Catfish!

There are only three reasons a man should ever be awake at 4:30am. The first one is obvious, for no man would turn that down...well with exception for the other two. Fishing & Hunting could cause me to think otherwise... holding out until after lunch when it's too sunny for Mr Buck and Mr. Muskie and I could use a little help to jump start my afternoon nap.

As I pour this first cup of coffee, I realize that I am not about to partake in any of these things this morning and that doesn't make it any easier to be awake. However, the job beckons me to be there by 8:00 and the visiting puppy woke me up from my fishing dreams at 4:30. So now you know why I am taking these precious minutes to hammer out a few paragraphs to share with my fishing friends.

We've been catching a good amount of bass and catfish from the neighborhood ponds. The cooler nights of the past week or so have helped things wake up a bit...but heat is expected to return just in time to mess things up for the holiday weekend. The bass have been hitting mostly on 7.5 inch Culprit worms in any shade of purple, rigged on a 1/8 oz plain worm head. Stick to the deeper edges of the weed line, but don't stray too far. These fish aren't chasing any thing down with all this sun, so be patient and you will still have a few good tussles with Mr. Bigmouth.

The Catfish really have a taste for good ole Oscar Meyer franks, served up just like you used to make them when we were kids. A wiener (ha, I said wiener) on a hook with a weight about 2 ft up the line is all you need. Fish the deepest holes you can find for best action, and make sure your rod is stiff enough to handle a big Flathead or Channel catfish.

More updates to follow over the weekend as I spend a few quality days fishing the Elgin, IL area with my son Bryan.