Where Is Cappy?

Most of you have probably been wondering where the hell I ran off to, since you haven't seen any new posts from the pond. Well to tell you the truth I've been working! I know it is hard to believe that someone who enjoys fishing as much as I do would actually have a job, but I've got to pay the bills just like everyone else. The early mornings during the week are spent reading e-mails, checking on work related technical information and preparing my car for the long day in it. My position at Toshiba is going quite well but the days are long enough that I don't have much energy left during the evening hours. I'm lucky if I can stay awake past 9:00pm and I try to spend as much of it with Shirley and Bryan as is possible.

For the moment the blog at Cappy's Pond has taken a back seat on the weekends just so I can get out and fish a bit. The good news is that with each week I get a little more comfortable with the job and I'm sure that within a short time I'll be back strong with my writing. I really miss it, and I hope you do as well.

We did manage to get out this last weekend for a few hours at the pond and to my surprise I was able to wrangle up this catfish.

It was a collective effort. I reeled the fish in while using Bryan's rod and reel since he had to make his usual visit to the park. Tyler gave me a few catfish tips and pointers that I used to my advantage. His theory was that the catfish can smell the bait and will move into the general area but might not be able to find it. He suggested that I move it an inch or two to help trigger a strike from an interested onlooker. The boy was right! I moved the bait about an inch and it smacked it! My nephew and son are becoming quite the catfish kings. Sure was nice to feel a fish at the end of the line, even if I let the boys take all the credit with the pictures.

Well, it's off to bed for now, but I hope to be writing more posts soon. With the cold weather expected to hit later this week, ice fishing won't be far off. I'm looking forward to it!

Thanks again for visiting with us at The Fishing Headquarters & Cappy's Pond, and remember you can't catch any fish if your line isn't in the water.

I'll "B" At The Park!

Yesterday morning my son Bryan and I or "B" as we like to call him, managed to get out to our local fishing hole with my nephew Tyler to search for some big cats. The weather was hot and sticky, making for good catting weather in my book. The bite was slow however and we waited patiently for almost three hours for something big to happen. Other than a few small pick ups that resulted in empty hooks we were quite disappointed in our results based on the perfect conditions. We set up in three different locations with the same old story until we decided to give it the old college try (very fitting for the first day of the college football season) and moved over to one last spot.

Our presentation is quite simple and easy to use. A 6.5ft Daiwa medium action spinning rod/reel combo with 10lb test Trilene XL line. A Eagle Claw # 2 (red) snelled hook and a 1/2 oz sinker 12 to 18 inches up from the hook. Bring a few comfortable lawn chairs and plenty of water and snacks (we forgot them) and some Oscar Meyer franks for bait!

B decided that it would be more exciting if he went over to the playground to look for his friends from school, rather than sit with his boring old Dad and cousin and fry in the sun like fried chicken on a barbecue grill. He disappeared for an hour or so in the middle of our three hours of zilch, only to return and ask, "Are you getting any?" My response was the usual, "No, but at least we are trying."

I decided to give up on the cats and started searching the nephews tackle bag for a good bass bait, when B's line went slack and I told him that he had a bite. He gave it a few seconds, patiently reeling up the slack line, felt the weight of the fish and set the hook. We knew right away he had hooked into a good fish and the battle was on. The rod was bent over, but he is a strong kid and does a nice job fighting the fish. After a few good pictures we released the monster back into the pond for another tussle for some other kids.

Now this is the second time in the last two weeks that B has managed to catch the big one and Tyler and I have been skunked! I'm not sure what is going on here but the next time we go for the big cats...I'll be at the park!

Thanks for visiting us at Cappy's Pond and The Fishing Headquarters. Check out the videos on YouTube @ Cappy's Pond. Remember you can't catch any fish if your line isn't in the water!

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.