From Puddles To Pelicans

Although I am somewhat accustomed to my new job, the thought of going to work on this beautiful Monday morning did nothing to excite me. For I have left my heart in another place, far away from the hustle and bustle of suburban Chicago. It hit me hard, last Friday morning, while walking the city streets, with lightning, thunder and pouring rain. The taxis and buses took their turns in a splash fest, trying to soak me a little bit more than I already was. It seemed to be in far contrast from the playful laughter heard by open fire hydrants, where children cooled themselves from the intense heat, less than twenty four hours before. There, while standing in the puddles of  the concrete rain forest, I realized that this was normally our week to be vacationing in Northern Minnesota.

If you have read any of my posts in the last two years, you know of my deep love for Pelican Lake, in Orr Minnesota's north woods. Our summer trips, although too short, were always filled with fishing memories that I have tried in some capacity to share with all of you. I headed east this morning,  looking into a bright golden sun. The only problem was that I was on the left side of my Chevy Trailblazer, instead of the right side of my seventeen foot Lowe. Oh how I wished to be heading the boat into Saunders bay, maybe to search for hungry small-mouth along the rocky structure on the south shore of the main island. But on this day, I was headed to the office to ramp up my service knowledge of Toshiba's line of products, instead of over to the resort boat ramp. Don't get me wrong. The launching of my new career with Toshiba is a good thing. Two years of unemployment was long enough, but you all know I'd rather be launching my boat.

The deep blue sky overhead today, clouds all but disappeared, reminded me of those mid summer days as a young teenager back on Pelican. Lying down on a wooden boat seat, feet up on the gunnel, while the sounds of the water splashing against the aluminum, lulled my cousins and I off to sleep. The call of the loon swimming near the boat, would wake us from our slumber, then casting Gator spoons for Northern Pike would once again be foremost on our minds. Returning to the docks for supper, the smell of fresh cooked fish and homemade fries would fill the late afternoon air. Cooler evening breezes, like the ones we had today, helped to make conditions perfect for good fishing, great campfires, and some of the best sleeping weather you'll ever find.

I'll make it through this week, although it won't be easy, and I might get caught daydreaming a time or two. Maybe of a large-mouth bass hitting a power craw as it falls off  the side of a log, or an eagle as it swoops down to grab a surfacing crappie at dusk. My mind might be taken back to night time walks on the beach hand in hand with someone special. Whatever it will be...I know the hard work this week and the ones to follow will bring me closer to my next trip back to Pelican Lake and the pristine forests of Northern Minnesota. At the least, it will help me get through a few more of those puddles.

Thanks for following all of the bloggers at Fishing-Headquarters. Please feel free to share the links and posts from Cappy's Pond, and remember: You can't catch any fish if your line isn't in the water.

Updates From The Pond

I don't know where the spring of 2011 ran off to, but it sure left in a hurry. It seems like only a month or so has passed since I was fishing from the portable ice shanty and now it's summer already. Looking forward to an afternoon/evening of fishing today after some yard work. Maybe the fish will be in a better mood now that the sun is shining again!

The long road from the workplace to the unemployment line and back to the workplace is almost complete now. After trying to just land any decent paying job I could find, knowing I wouldn't be happy, I received a call from Toshiba Business Solutions of Arlington Heights, IL. Finally a job that fits! I will be starting there as a Field Service Technician on July 11th. I am looking forward to this opportunity and working toward re-establishing my bankroll (for a new boat) after 23 months of being unemployed!

Our baseball season just ended last night for the South Elgin AAA (8,9,10 year old) Pirates. We ran into a good fielding and hitting team in the Red Sox at the South Elgin, Sperry Tournament.  I think the final team record for the year was 19-5 give or take a game in the win column. One loss was by forfeit for only having 8 players. The kids had a stretch of 12 wins in a row and we had a noticeable improvement in our game as the season progressed. I was very proud to be a coach of such a great group of kids. Their effort was outstanding and we even talked a little fishing in the dugout from time to time. Congrats to these young ball players on a superb season!

July is just around the corner and I can't believe that my son Bryan is going to be 10 years old in just a weeks time. I'm sure that Shirley and I just brought him home yesterday. I can remember giving him his first bath while we listened to the Cubs game together his first night in the hospital. The amazing part is that the Cubs actually won that night, something that doesn't happen very often these days. Happy 10th Birthday to my super fantastic son Bryan. I know that I am the luckiest father in the world to have a son like you.

We got a few fish this spring! The collage below showcases some of the action we had from local Illinois ponds to the pristine woods of Northern Wisconsin. I hope that the end of summer collage for 2011 will be just as fun and exciting. A  bass fishing tip for this summer.... It doesn't matter what type or color of lure you are throwing, as long as you learn how to use it correctly. Location of the cast, speed of the retrieve, and paying close attention to the subtle differences, on the casts that produce a fish, will help you to become a better angler. I fished almost the entire spring season with one spinner bait and two types of plastic worms. Almost all the bass I caught were on these 3 lures. Simplify your arsenal. Study your results. The more time you spend learning the baits you use, the more fish you will be taking pictures with. Have a great summer fishing season and remember, you can't catch any fish if your line isn't in the
water.

Thanks for visiting with us at Cappy's Pond and we'd love to see your digital fishing photos. You can send them to: kirkcahill@sbcglobal.net or post them at Cappy's Pond or The Fishing Headquarters on Facebook!

Sufix 832 Advanced Superline Gear Review!

The spring of 2011 here in Illinois has been far from ordinary. Rain has played havoc with our rivers leaving just a few days that were available for wading. Shore fishing the Fox has gotten us the occasional smallmouth bass, but turbid and murky conditions can make it difficult to consistently produce fish. I have spent the spring concentrating on largemouth bass opportunities that have been available at some of the retention ponds here locally. Needless to say, I have not been able to get out and test this new Sufix 832 Advanced Superline that was sent to us courtesy of the Outdoor Blogger Network and the folks at Rapala VMC Corporation. When I spooled this new line onto my ultralight spinning tackle about three months ago I was eagerly awaiting the start of the open water season and my first encounter with Fox River walleyes. Little did I know that the amount of times I would get to use this line would be far and few between.

When spooling up the reel I noticed right away that this line has a very thin diameter, one that is rated at a 4lb mono equivalent. At a 10lb test rating I was impressed at how much line I was able to spool onto my reel. I took a few minutes to read about the differences in this line over other braided lines and how it was made. It seemed like a product that was manufactured with some extensive scientific research and a process that was very unique. To say the least I was very anxious to get out and try this line, well that is if it would ever quit raining!

The 832 in the Sufix name refers to the 8 fibers (7 Dyneema & 1 GORE Performance Fiber) weaved 32 times per inch of line. Like I said before, this isn't your ordinary braid. I tried to break it with my hands and it's some very strong line,  it can be a little difficult to tie knots because it is so thin and very limp. Also, I noticed that it's not that easy to cut with an ordinary line/nail clipper and will fray a little at the cut which can make it even harder to tie your knots. Here is a picture of the back of the package that shows the 832 weave.

The ability to make long casts with this line is something that I really liked compared to some other braids that I have used in the past. It flows off of the reel spool quite easily and doesn't seem to catch in between itself when it is reeled back on and casted off the spool repeatedly. The green color was also a plus because I have been using different green colored lines for some time now and I feel it will consistently out fish any other color of line. So far so good. Now lets see if we can catch a fish!

We (Rich Korolewicz & myself) made it out to the local pond this weekend for a day fishing for catfish and I was going to test out just how good this line actually was. One thing I wanted to mention was that the Sufix 832 line is very difficult to see being that it is so thin. Which is why I haven't used it while bass fishing because it is so critical to be able to see your line when casting in and around structure for bass. We set up at the pond with four rods and some pieces of chicken/pork franks on a hook large enough to keep the bluegills from hooking themselves. A local pond fisherman that I have met before always catches cats with this method so I thought it was a good place to start. As we were fishing, here comes "local pond fisherman" to set up down a ways from us and proceed to catch 2 nice cats while fishing with (you guessed it) the same thing we were using. Here is a picture of one of his cats.

After catching his 2 fish he was tired and decided to go home, leaving us a head of some cut bait that he hadn't used. We continued to fish about another hour or so with not even a bite. I grabbed the cut bait and hooked it to my line and sailed a Sufix 832 Advanced Superline mega cast toward the middle of the pond. Rich sat and watched the now three rods as I took the other to cast for some bass. A half hour or so later I saw Rich holding my rod/reel and looking a bit perplexed. Whats up? I asked. He said. "You had a bite!" My response went something like this. Nothing is going to bite that fish head unless it's really big or a turtle. Within seconds, Rich felt the fish again and set the hook.  The video link is at the end of the post  for what happened next. Enjoy it!  Oh and by the way the Sufix 832 line is really good. I think you'll like it!

Thanks again as always for visiting with us at Cappy's Pond and feel free to share our posts and links with your friends and family. Remember, you can't catch any fish if your line isn't in the water.

Disclaimer - Kirk B Cahill & Cappy's Pond have written and filmed an independent and honest review of this product for the Outdoor Blogger Network. The product was supplied free of charge by Sufix/Rapala VMC Corporation to Cappy's Pond through a contest on the OBN in return for a gear review. Kirk B Cahill & Cappy's Pond are not  associated with Sufix/Rapala VMC Corporation in any way and we did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Now for the video at Cappy's Pond on You Tube!