Buckets, Bears, and Birds

I couldn't help but notice a few frozen puddles on the side of the road this Wednesday morning. My eyes opened wide and the lights turned on inside my head, like the lighting of the Christmas tree last Saturday, at An Almost Winter Day. Time to clean out the five gallon buckets, turn them over and sit on them for a few minutes to see if they can still handle two hundred pounds of pure fisherman. The hardest part is waiting for the ice to become thick enough to support me and the bucket, but with a little luck we will be catching a few ice gills before too long.

The big topic around Chicagoland this week, is not ice fishing however, it's about a bird. No, not that bird. You were thinking of the turkey weren't you? I'm talking about the eagle and not just any eagle. This eagle can't fly but he can run around faster than most turkeys being chased by a farmer and his hatchet. Yes, our beloved Chicago Bears are going to be in the spotlight this weekend. I'm just hoping that we can have better luck in the headlights, than the deer I saw last night on the side of Randall road.

Now getting back to that turkey...if you haven't taken the bird out of the freezer, stop and go do that now! You can always return to read the rest of my stuffing later on. Did I just say stuffing? Did you remember the stuffing? I hope so, because a turkey without stuffing is kind of like a five gallon bucket with no ice to place it on. You need to have all of the parts to make the whole. Did I just say hole? I can't wait to drill that first ice hole, sit on my five gallon bucket and catch that first fish of the hard-water season. All in due time...

Cappy's Pond was selected as a Featured Outdoor Blogger of the Week at the Outdoor Blogger Network and I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Rebecca & Joe for the honor. I am a huge fan of the OBN, and if you haven't had a chance to visit these excellent blogs, please take a few minutes to visit the site. You will be glad to add the OBN to your favorites menu.

To all the followers of Cappy's Pond, I sincerely hope that you will have a very blessed Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, food, football and maybe even a little fishing.

If you haven't done so please join our facebook group at Cappy's Pond and thank you again for taking a few minutes to come along fishing with us.

Reel Reel Reel Slow Slower Slowest

OK! I know you were all waiting to see what happened on day two at the pond so here are the details. Thursday turned out to be another nice day and I awoke with the itch to get back over to the fishin hole and try to improve on the ill-fated fortunes from Wednesday afternoon.

Instincts were telling me that if I tried a different bait I might have better results so I opted for a spinnerbait. Strike King has a spinnerbait called the Red-Eye Special in a 3/8 oz model that is a white skirt with white willow leaf blades. I have fished many different brands of spinnerbaits over the years and this model has caught more bass and pike than any other model that I've thrown. Strike King doesn't pay me any money to endorse their product. It's just a darn good lure!

I started working my way around the pond, casting to the weed edges and turning that handle on my baitcaster just enough to keep that lure at a uniform depth. The tip of my 7 ft Shimano Convergence rod was pulsating with the vibration of the blades like a helicopter settling in on the landing pad.

About thirty minutes went by until I felt the first bump and I knew I was working the right bait, but maybe not the right area. On the next cast I found out I was in the right spot too! Watching the line, and lure on the retrieve, I saw my spinnerbait disappear right in front of my eyes, felt the weight of the fish and set the hook. Fish on again, only this one was much bigger than the day before. I managed to reel this one all the way to about 4 feet in front of me and got a good look at the bass. A good estimate was 21-24 inches and 5.5 to 6.5 lbs. Not too shabby for a pond 200 yards from my back door. The bass made one more run from right to left and I (stupidly) tried to turn it around instead of following it down the shore. I turned it around and a 3/8 oz spinnerbait came flying right back at me only it wasn't holding on to a 6 lb largemouth anymore.

Of course I started cussing and I probably drew some attention to myself from the residents who were sitting on their patio enjoying a perfect November afternoon. I'm just hoping it wasn't anyone who likes to fish with Strike King spinnerbaits. During the next hour I managed to catch 3 more bass but nothing bigger than 15 inches and they all looked like babies next to that other one. The good news is I know where it lives and I don't think that pond has ever seen an ice fisherman (until I start drilling some holes in a month or so) This is going to be man vs. beast, until the man finally wins. Cappy is looking forward to the fight on 2 lb test line and my Frabill ice fishing rod. Fishing is truly a 365 day adventure. Thanks for sharing a few minutes of your day at Cappy's Pond.

No Planes No Trains Just An Automobile

This Blog entry is my submission to the Sportsman Channel and Outdoor Blogger Network writing contest.”

Well, it's Black Friday today and (while you are all out shopping for deals) I am partaking in my own special way, sitting on the couch with black sweats, a Chicago Blackhawks sweatshirt and a good cup of coffee (black). A rather nasty sinus headache and cold has put a damper on what was to be a great Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.

Twice each year, for Easter and Thanksgiving, my wife Shirley and I travel south from Elgin, IL to the town of Red Bud IL, to visit Shirley's brother and his family. Red Bud is a small and mostly quiet town about 35 miles outside of St. Louis, MO and around 325 miles from Elgin. A great place to visit for an outdoorsman like myself, since Red Bud is located near the town of Baldwin and the Kaskaskia River State Fish & Wildlife Area. However, in the 11 years I've been traveling down here, I have never made it over to Baldwin and had a chance to tangle with any of the superb fishing that is available there. If I don't start feeling better soon, this trip will again end without a cast. Cappy is not too happy about that!

We started the drive on Wednesday, late in the afternoon, but a little earlier than usual. The trip takes about six hours or so, depending on how many times we stop. Traffic was quite light, for the busiest travel day of the year, and getting out of Chicagoland was easier than in the past. As we made our way south we encountered some extremely heavy rain, frequent lightning and gusty winds. A few times I thought about pulling over to the side of the road, but we pushed ahead. The worst spots were the underpasses, where the water was not as deep, then plowing back into the deeper water after clearing the overpass. We hydroplaned one of those times and I was a bit more cautious after feeling all the wheels of our Chevy Trailblazer leave the road.

The good news was that we never saw a car travelling the wrong way on the famed stretch of I-55 from the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. A classic Thanksgiving movie where Neal Page (Steve Martin) tries to get home for Thanksgiving in a snowstorm. If you have never seen the movie, this holiday weekend (and after reading this blog post) would be a perfect opportunity to take the time to see it.

As we drove through the city of Bloomington IL, I was reminded of a snow and ice storm that hit the area, during one of our trips to Red Bud. The traffic wasn't moving at all and Shirley and I decided it would be safer to get off the interstate after seeing multiple cars and semi-trailers in ditches. We saw an eighteen wheeler off in the distance, that was traveling southbound. I figured the road wasn't plowed and the snow cover would give us better traction than the ice, so we opted for the next exit ramp. It was hands clenching the wheel the entire way, but I liked the fact that I didn't have to be concerned about any other cars hitting us, because the road was nearly empty of vehicles. When the road cleared we made our way back to I-55 and contnued safely on our way.

It sometimes makes me wonder why we go through so much, for a little time to spend with family and friends around the holidays. Wouldn't it just be easier to stay home, mail a greeting card, and say that we're not coming this year? Could we save the money from the traveling expenses and buy that new HD TV that I want for Christmas? Those thoughts have crossed my mind, but when you walk through the front door, and are greeted with hugs and smiles from family or friends that you care so deeply about, it makes all the effort in going to see them, worth more than anything in the world. The gift of family and friends is truly the most special part of the holidays, and if I would just start feeling better, I might even get them to share in that special holiday fish or two.