New Years Eve

No. I won't make it until midnight. Not even interested. We hung out at Deano's for about four hours this evening. They were closed but had a private party in the restaurant and believe it or not, I was invited. I know, it's hard to believe. It was a pretty good time. Nothing crazy, just hanging around, shooting the breeze. No catfish talk. There wasn't anybody else there that likes to chase catfish like I do.

Is it spring?

55 degrees today? Maybe 60 degrees in the next few days! Is it spring? No its not spring yet. This is just mother natures way of screwing with me. Cruel right? Not really. She can't help it. Thats just the way she is. I had lunch at Deano's in Rome, Iowa earlier today. The Skunk was still mostly froze over but the ice looked to be pretty slushy and wet on top. There were multiple snow mobile tracks on the ice. Hopefully they were made before the warm weather hit. No chance of trying a little ice fishing now.

I spent the morning browsing catfish websites, just being nosey. There are actually quite a few sites but many haven't been updated in several years. most of them require registration before you can use the site. I'm not the one doing all that. I just wanted to look around, not give them enough personal information to write my biography.

Other than that I am just enjoying my News Years break from work.

Work is done and its another four days off. The warm weather has stopped the ice fishing around here, I think. A fishing buddy is laid up with a bad back so I took a stack of magazines out to him so he would have something to read other than Louis L'Amour. Louis wasn't a fishermen, nor has he ever contributed to a fishing magzine! Maybe some of us need to pick our reading material a little more carefully! You know who you are!

Ice age

Took a drive down to the river just to see how things are. Mostly frozen above the dam, open from the dam down passed Faulkners. The Skunk is getting low and really clear. Too bad its not that clear during the summer. Checked out the no snagging zone from the down river end of the boat ramp(which would be the top of the ramp) up to the dam. If there are guys snagging on the south side rocks it might be almost impossble to get a boat above the ripples. We'll see in a couple months I guess.

Had to go back to work today. Didn't like that one bit. Long, slow, quiet day.

back to work

Just in case you didn't know, four days can go by really fast. In the days prior to Christmas I was looking forward to Christmas break and now it's over. The worst part is I didn't get much done, other than tying up a few hooks. There was plenty of fishing on TV but no catfishing. I haven't heard much from the guys who ice fish the local ponds but I did hear of one guy who put an ATV through the ice on a local creek. Not really sure how thick the ice is on the ponds.

Happy day after Christmas. Hopefully Santa brought you something good. Cabin fever is setting in in a big way. There are no catfishing shows on the outdoor channels. I came real close to putting a video in but went into "my room" and tied up some stainless 5/0 hooks instead. In the boundary waters of Iowa, like the Mississippi, you can run up to four trot lines with a total of 200 hooks. It does require a boundary water sport trot line license, $22.50. I might. I'm thinking about it. Even if I did it on a long weekend just to see what I can come up with.

White Christmas

Christmas Eve and snow is falling. Nice, I guess! I suppose I'll have to fire up my big green tractor and clean off my driveway. I have a trot line project in the works. Maybe I can get that wrapped up over the holidays. I called the fat man in red about my new boat. He said not a chance. I was good all year for nothing! I suppose he will give it to some other loser.

Merry Christmas

Merry Cristmas

Visited my favorite restaurant for supper tonight. The owners who also happen to be friends know that I have been wanting a new boat so they gave me a toy truck, trailer and boat. Nice. I also got a t-shirt that says the size of the fish that you catch depends on the size of your worm. I think I need a bigger worm! As usual my interest in fishing is always worth a laugh.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve so I want to say Merry Christmas to everybody tonight because I might be busy for a day or two.

If you have never been to Deano's Place in Rome, Iowa you should give it a try. Its a small town but the restaurant is great. Believe it or not they take reservations and and sometimes that is the only way you will get a table. Tell them Roy sent you.

Well, I've got one more day of work left before I'm off for Christmas break. I'm not sure what I will do to occupy myself but I'll take the time off any way. I' not sure if we're half way through the non fishing months but I feel like we're on the down hill side. I'll take that too.

It sounds like I'm the only one around that doesn't ice fish. Although I have never fished the ice I'm starting to think I might have to man up and give it a try some time. I know some guys are happy to catch a bluegill or whatever through the ice but I'm just not into it. I'm thinking if I did try it I'd have to go after the cats. The bad news is that nobody is catching catfish. If my cabin fever gets any worse I might try it. But its so cold!

We took a trip to Burlington yesterday and of course I had to do a drive by down around the river just to see what was going on. The Miss was mostly frozen with just a small portion open, I believe because of some construction barges in the area. Needless to say there wasn't much going on. Usually I stop by a farm and home store in Burlington so I can walk the aisles of the fishing section but I skipped it on this trip. I had already spent my allowance. No need to look at fishing gear I couldn't buy. Next week I'll get some another allowance.

So far I'm hearing mixed reports about the thickness of the ice in my area. I've heard of ice from five to twelve inches in the area. No catfish yet.

Deer season, not cat season

My older brother and I went on a ride about just to see what was going on out in the deer woods. We didn't see any deer and just one group of hunters standing around three pickups with their orange on. So I guess we didn't see anyone really hunting. Things have changed or atleast it seems that way. All the local creeks and the Skunk River are froze over. The only way I can describe how I feel when I see "my" river frozen over is to compare it to a kid finally making it to Disneyland or Six Flags and the park is closed. Damn I'm a big baby! Don't say it, either one of you!

My big accomplishment today was getting the barrel cut in half for the shad tank I'm building. As you might think it was a little cold outside but it's done. I wonder how many days until the shad start running? Has winter even started yet?

I just looked through craigs list, checking to see whats for sale. Conclusion; not much. There were a few 1648's but nothing bigger in jon boats. When a guy buys an 18 or bigger he must keep it because you rarely find a used 18 or bigger for sale. There are times I want a bigger boat but then I find myself thinking I don't. I've been so damn good this year Santa might bring me an 18 or 20 footer. I know, probably not! I don't suppose a bigger boat would help me catch any more fish anyway.

?

It wasn't a good day. Started out raining, turned to a mix that slicked up the roads pretty good. Although she protested quite a bit I made the warden take me out for supper. Slippery roads aren't going to keep me from eating! Earlier today I finished up the last bait trap I was making so I think I have seven traps now. The next project is the shad tank. If all goes well I might get started tomorrow. It is awful cold though. Next to fishing, I like to spend time in the garage or outside just tinkering around with my fishing gear. It's something to do until the catfish come up the river next spring
The Skunk River is completely frozen over, even through the sharp bends by Rome. I don't like it! Nothing I can do about it, I guess

Flippin"

Tonight I was flipping the channels as I am often accusesd of doing and I came across a show called Hillbilly Hand Fishing. Although I wouldn't do it myself I am always willing to watch others do it but this show was a little different. There were a few experienced noodlers trying to teach what they called "city dwellers" to noodle. Just as I am sure nobody would want to watch me attempting this type of fishing, I couldn't and didn't watch but just a few minutes of it. Had it been just the guys who do it all the time it would have been a good show and occupied me for a half hour on a cold December night, but it wasn't so I continued to flip.

I ran into Terry down at Oakland Mills yesterday so I ran home, grabbed his reel and headed back down to the river and handed over the goods. There is no doubt he enjoyed it more than I did. I would have like to add that reel to my collection. Anyway, enjoy the reel Terry!.

I slacked off yesterday and didn't get much done but this morning I did get back to the trap I'm trying to finish. One more funnel to build and add to the trap and it will be done. The door, tag and tie line are in place already. I might get bored enough later and finish it just to have something to do.

For years I have watched countless trophy size flatheads and channel cats being taken illegally or tossed back into the river with injuries that were probably fatal by the snaggers at Oakland Mills but finally those days have come to an end. In 2011 snagging will be illegal below the Oakland Mills dam on the Skunk River, just south of Mt. Pleasant, Ia.

The winner is.....

Congrats to Terry from Winfield, Iowa.

Terry is the lucky winner of the Abu Garcia 6500C3. We contacted him by phone and he was thrilled about winning the reel. We will be posting a photo of Terry with his new reel in the near future. Be sure to check out sliprig.com on a regular basis as there may be a new giveaway or game for 2011.

Thanks to everybody who visited sliprig.com this year. We wish you the best for the upcoming year.

Its my birthday

It's my birthday. 44, for those of you who are curious. My wife Vicky (I call her Peggy) brought me lunch today as she often does. After work we went out for some pizza and then a little shopping. The kids stopped by this evening and gave me a food saver for my birthday. Although I am well aware of why they gave it to me (bagging and freezing bait), my first thought was I don't save food I eat it too quick. Hey, nobody ever had to tell me to eat my dinner! Now I need a run of shad so I can catch a bunch, vac pac them and fill the freezer. The bad news is that the shad won't be running for another four or five months. Thats OK though because I have projects to keep me busy. Next weekend I will finish the second trap that I have started and then I'm on to the shad tank.

it's over

As Thanksgiving approached I looked forward to having the extra time off from work but now looking back on the long holiday weekend it seems to have gone by so fast. Back to work tomorrow! I spent most of the day organizing the utility boxes that I use for tackle boxes and have them condensed down to two small boxes that will fit in the glove box of my boat. I have two other small utility boxes, one that is used when I am out to catch bait and a pocket sized box that I carry when I fish from the bank. It always seems that just when I think I have my boat and gear set up the way I want it I get another "great" idea to make it a little better. I don't know if I am actually making things better or not but one thing is for sure, all of my "great" ideas help me pass a lot of time in the winter. I took a drive down by the river this afternoon and to my surprise there were three trucks and trailers at the Water Works boat ramp. I would have liked to have been there when they got back to the ramp but didn't feel like waiting. The new 2011 fishing regs are out. The biggest change as far as I am concerned is that there is no snagging from the dam at Oakland Mills down to the Faulkners boat ramp. Boy there are going to be some ticked off people. Waa! If you haven't seen the new regs, be prepared. DNR put a mexican man and his little mexican boy on the cover. The good thing about this is that they actually have a rod and reel instead of a soda bottle with line wrapped around it.

To those who have to go back to work tomorrow, I feel your pain! To those who don't, well...

It has been nice to have these days off and the good news is I have one more day. I opened up that roll of hardware cloth and in the process took a chunk out of one of my fingers. It was rolled up so tight that when I removed the wire that was wrapped around the roll it unwound like a spring and got me. I soldiered on. I managed to finish one trap completely and have the second started. I have a white 55 gallon barrel in my driveway that will become a shad tank when I finish the second trap. See? Although I am a self confessed fair weather fisherman I really do think about cat'n all the time. Because I only have a 16 foot boat I am constantly looking for ways to condense the gear I have on board just to save space. I picked up another smaller utility box because I want to condense the the tackle I carry into smaller boxes which will fit in the glove box I have in my boat. Another project for another day!

Black Friday road trip

The warden had a meeting with a shop owner in Anamosa so I went along for the ride. When we made it back to Coralville I checked out the the new Theisens. I had heard they had a little fishing gear and a little was right. One thing I did notice was a shelf of blood bait of a particular brand. Thats odd because I hadn't seen any of it in several other stores. Anyway, they do have one short aisle of fishing gear but I didn't bother to look closely enough to see what it was exactly. I did pick up a ten foot roll of hardware clothe that I'm going to use to make a couple bait traps. I started last season with six traps but the heavy rains took three of them and one was damaged beyond repair so I need to make some more over the winter. I still have a couple days left before I have to go back to work so I'm hoping to get started on my winter projects.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Hoping everybody is having a good day with family and friends!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving eve. A little cold. A little rainy. A little windy. I have decided to build another bait trap or two since I have the next four days off. Although I'll probably spend most of the next four days in the garage I'll probably wear a trail in the floor from the garage to the fridge. The left overs are every bit as good as the dinner its self. Back to the traps. If I would have thought about it early enough I would have went to the hardware store tonight to get the hardware clothe for the traps but since I didn't I will have to wait until Friday to start them. I think I found a source for the white barrel so I can make the shad tank but I have to wait for that to happen. Another project I have to wait to get started on. It's a good thing I'm a patient man!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tinkering

I spent the day in the garage tinkerin' around with fishing tackle and equipment just to have something to do. During the fishing season things have a tendency to get a little scrambled so I always have cleaning up that mess to look forward to. Loose hooks, swivels, bits of line and maybe a dehydrated chub or sunfish or two in the bottom of the boat under the floor. At one point I decided to take a drive out to the bait store just to see what was going on and found it to be as exciting as my place.
I'm planning on bulding a shad tank sometime this winter. In the past I have been able to keep just a couple shad alive in a regular cooler for a short period of time so I'm hoping this tank will enable me to keep a dozen or so shad for an extended period. I think it is as simple as getting a round tank and putting a couple aerators in it. One external air pump and one aerator type submerged pump that will circulate and oxygenate the water. The key to keeping shad alive is to keep the water moving and keep plenty of oxygen in the water. I already have the aerators so I'm looking for a tank or barrel.

What to do?

Hopefully you heeded my winter survival advice and are still with me. With thoughts of catching a catfish swirling around in the back of my head I pulled the mower deck off my mower and put the snow blade on. Believe me I am in no hurry for even the slightest amount of snow but if we are going to get it I will be ready. I say lets face it head on and get it done so we can go fishing.

I usually check the local stores for any fishing gear that might be marked down after the fishing is done. Last week I found a favorite rod of mine was marked down almost 50%. I found it in a farm and home type store that also carries a good amount of hunting and fishing gear. It is a heavier rod 20 to 50 pound test rating. It should work great if I can ever get hooked up with a big flathead. I bought a rod just like it a couple years ago and have used it for channel cats even though it was a little overkill, especially with a 7000 on it. Hopefully, if the weather and river cooperate next spring I can put the pair of big rods on some big cats

Winter survival advice

Now that fishing season is over and we will be spending more time in the house than we care to I feel it is important to pass on some winter survival advice that just might keep you out of trouble with the warden.

Since you will be spending more time in the house and eating for no other reason than you are bored it might be a good idea to clean up the evidence which runs from the kitchen to your favorite recliner. It is almost impossible to convince your wife that you didn't eat her chocolate covered Oreos when the trail of Oreo crumbs leading to your chair are an identical match to those on your shirt. The lesson here is to eat all the Oreos if you want but clean up after yourself and get rid of the evidence. The warden will be thankful for the help in the house and you can blame the missing Oreos on a daytime intruder.

Catching hell, not catfish

My fishing season has come to an end and its times like these that I have a difficult time coming up with anything worth posting on this blog. In addition to suffering through the pain of the next four months I have to catch hell from one or two knuckleheads because I don't spend enough time on the computer and the blog. Here I am!

My first thought tonight personal hygiene. We all know catfishing can be a little messy but some of us forget to wash our hands on a regular basis. Keeping your hands free of shad gut or blood bait is really important because you never know when a talent scout might happen through your area looking for the next super hand model. Keep those nails clean. HAHA Terry!

Our next issue is boats with carpeted floors. I don't really care one way or the other but my personal preference is to leave the carpet in the house because I don't believe there is a carpet cleaner out there that will get blood bait out of a carpet. One fishing buddy of mine has a boat with carpet in it and he said I would have to take my shoes off if I went in his boat. I think he carries a bottle of stain remover on board just in case. I'm glad its November and I have four months to figure out if I want to fish bare footed. HAHA Chub!

Seriously though. I'm just joking with a few guys I know. Fishing wouldn't be the same if I couldn't laugh at them once in a while. I think they have laughed at me a time or two even though I didn't like it.

I think the fact that my fishing season is over is starting to sink in. I don't really care for the idea but hey, what can I do? I am a self confessed candy-ass. Now I'll spend the winter months getting ready for spring and thinking about the good times and the fish we caught last year. There are a few people, including my wife, who have tried to convince me that the season doesn't have to be over yet. I'm starting to think she just wants me out of the house while some of the others may actually want to continue fishing. I may go here and there with somebody else but it won't be anything serious. Chub might try some icefishing this winter and I have already told him I would like to tag along just to watch, even if I have to watch from the truck because its cold outside. I know, I just showed my candy-ass again.

My next project, putting new plugs in the Mercury, will probably take up all of about ten minutes of my winter, then what? I've been into boating and fishing for about five years now and I am still trying to figure out why the spark plug for a boat cost over $5 while a plug for a lawn mower cost a $1.50. Any ideas? Help me out here.

See what you are going to have to put up with now that "my" fishing season is over?

The end

Its a sad day my friends. I think I am going to call an end to my fishing season. The last two times I went out I got skunked and to be honest, I don't like it! Oh, did I mention the frost bite I got on all areas I had exposed to the elements. Seriously though I think thats it for the year. I have already stripped by boat down as far as I can and taken it to the car wash. I didn't plan on doing it today but I even pulled the caps and repacked the bearings on my trailer. I probably shouldn't rush things since I have all winter to get my gear ready for next year but hey, thats the way I am.

The days are cold and numbered

Chub and I Put in at Water Works Park and headed up river. We worked our way to Rome and he only caught one little one. Me? I got skunked! I should have tied the boat up and headed up the river bank to Deano's. It would have been the most exciting part of my afternoon. The water has dropped to 48 degrees. The wind was blowing and cold, no danger of breaking a sweat today. We used stink bait and did get a lot of bites but they were just quick taps. Typical for a bunch of fiddlers in cold water. I never have had much luck in the afternoon during the fall. Thinking about going out Saturday morning and that might be it if things don't pick up a little.

No time to fish

October is almost over and the number of days left for fishing is shrinking rapidly. It is Sunday morning and I didn't get much done this weekend. Friday night we attended a small wedding and Saturday was spent getting ready for and attending an outdoor wedding reception of sorts. When Sunday morning (today)rolled around I only had one excuse for not launching the boat, I was feeling a little lazy and just felt like tinkering around the house. I did however drive down to Oakland Mills just to see what was going on. A few Asians were snagging just below the dam and there was one fellow fishing off the dam and if I not mistaken he caught a few small channel cats. If you can believe the BEST FISHING TIMES that are published in many magazines, this week should be a good week for fishing. The bad news is I have an appointment to get tires put on the wifes truck Monday afternoon after work so at best I may try to fish a little Tuesday after work.

Frosty catfishing

Chub and I put the boat in the river about eight o'clock this morning and a half hour later I was suffering from a mild case of frost bite but I was catching catfish. We didn't catch anything big but ended up with over twenty of them. Most were caught on stink bait but a couple of the bigger ones took nightcrawlers. Chub caught the biggest and the smallest of the bunch. We were fishing on the Skunk River near Rome, Iowa so we tied the boat up, climbed the river bank and walked to Deano's Restaurant for lunch. When I made it back to town and got my chores done I took all the fish to Gavin's Pond. His mom and dad just built a house on a small pond and I'm helping them put a few fish in it for Gavin to catch in a few years. There wasn't much traffic on the river until about 11:30 which was about to late because the bite had tapered of by then.

Howl'in wind

I was planning on putting the boat in the river this afternoon after work but the wind put a stop to that idea. I wanted to find a few atfish but didn't feel like fighting the wind. Because I was planning on going out I didn't run it through the car wash the other day like I normally do. I really need to get the leaves out of it, clean the stink bait off of it and put it in the garage. If all goes well I'll head out this weekend sometime.

The few times I have been out lately I have only found one stink bait that works. Go ahead, guess.

Time is running out to get registered for the Abu Garcia 6500C3. Make sure your friends and family are registered even if they don't fish. They ight win the reel and give it to you

Fall fishing

I made it down to the river after work today. Only caught three, kept two that weighed about two pounds and gave them to a friend to put in his pond. I did see another boater on the river but as it turns out he was recovering a boat that had been cut loose and sunk sometime Saturday night. He found it sunk and tangled in a brush pile and spent about eight hours freeing it from the brush pile and floating it. I helped him get it back to the boat ramp and on his trailer. They broke his trolling motor, flooded his 25 hp engine, flooded all his electronics to include depth finder and such. Apparently he only lived across the road from the river but I guess that was far enough to give some loser the opportunity to do his dirty work.

We're back!

I know its been a while but I'll try to get back into it. Here we go. My plans to fish last Sunday were scrapped because my 20 year old daughter rolled her (and by "her" I mean mine) car a couple times in a ditch. Fast forward to this weekend. I did manage to fish a little yesterday (and by "yesterday" I mean Saturday). Small channels were biting fairly quickly on a popular regional "stink bait" so I decided to try three other brands I had in the boat. Not a bite. Needless to say I switched back to the one that works. I probably caught my limit with the biggest being three (?) pounds. In the course of my fishing up the Skunk River I manage to tweak my back. Fast forward to today, I can barely get up and down or walk. Hopefully it will loosen up soon because I would like to get back on the water.

Fishing notes. About the only bait working is stink bait and maybe a nightcrawler. All but a few of the fish came from the back side of log jams, slack water? Water 59, fish still scattered around log jams.

Well, after not fishing through the heat of the summer and all the bad weather and flooding I finally made it back out onto the river. Chub and I spent about three hours moving from spot to spot looking for catfish. Admitedly we should have spent less time in each spot and moved even more than we did but it was still a good day. As the story goes the best fish of the day got away when he was only feet from the back of the boat. Although we tried liver, sunfish, nightcrawler and stink bait only the stink bait put fish in the boat. The big surprise was that I was really rusty when it came to casting and manuvering the boat. Remember it had been a while. It felt good just being out on the water. We only saw two other boats and a couple guys fishing off the dam. As does happen after each flood a new tree was stuck and submerged in the middle of the river and yes we hit it. Luckily we were just putting from spot to spot, no harm done unless you want to count Chub's heart attack.

I'm still in my prep time

Labor day weekend is over and it seems like the temps are beginning to drop a little. Didn't bother fishing over the weekend with the water high and muddy. Heard that some guys just started catching a few small ones and then the water came up. Looking forward to next weekend and putting the boat in the water. Who knows? Maybe next weekend I can catch a cat or two. I did spend some time in the garage putting new line on a few reels and cleaning up my gear. When I' not fishing I'm usually dinking around in the garage or the shed.

Make sure you are eligible for the Garcia reel in December. If you know of someone who isn't eligible, spread the word. If they don't want the reel maybe they will give it to you. If you don't want it, hell, I'll take it!

Time to fish

Sorry about the two month hiatus. Not much was going on and all the water around here was flooded, not to mention the summer heat. We're back.
Well, I think summer is about to come to an end. Although it is still fairly warm during the day the night time temps are beginning to fall. I actually started gathering all of my gear and getting it ready to go fishing. Sunday morning I sat in front of the TV and attempted to clean some of my reels. It was the first time I had worked up the nerve to open up one of my Abu Garcias so I didn't get far. I thought, Oh it isn't dirty at all, gave it a couple shots of oil and closed it back up. Anyway, it must be two months since I last went fishing and I think I'm ready. I almost ran down to the creek to put a bait trap in. Maybe tomorrow or the next day. The rivers have dropped quite a bit and a few guys have been catching some catfish. Recently I have been catching some green sunfish from Pond X and transfering them to Pond Y. You can never have enough bait holes.

Time well spent

Another weekend, more rain and thunderstorms. Earlier this week I recieved the latest issue of In-Fisherman and I can honestly say I'm ready to fish again. Now we just need a little cooperation from mother nature. During the storm that blew through this morning I finished a bait trap that I started last night. I started the season with five bait traps but lost a couple to the flash flooding that resulted from all the rain. I had to start rebuilding the inventory.

Visit sliprig.com

Hot!

Ok, I have come to the conclusion that I am a fair weather fisherman. I am anxiously waiting for the temps to start dropping off before so it will be a little more comfortable to be out on the water. The other day it was 98 outside according to the neighborhood bank sign while the thermostat in my house read a very comfortable 72. A simple decision for me. If you have braved the heat and caught a catfish or two, let us know.

Be safe, stay cool and visit sliprig.com!

Blue skies and high water

The good news is that the black cloud that has been circling my neck of the woods this week is gone. The bad news is that the Skunk is still out of its banks in places. There were a few people giving it a whirl down at Oakland but there wasn't any fish being brought in. I was hoping to see a few fish to confirm that they did come back up river. Maybe I'll have to watch a video to see what a catfish looks like.

sliprig.com

Out of her banks, again

Well, let me see. How many times has the ol Skunk River been out it's banks this year? Personally, I've lost count. Doesn't matter. Rivers up and I'm thinking there might be a bunch of catfish down at Oakland over the weekend. Might have to give it try. Checked it out tonight but there wasn't a soul down there.

sliprig.com is giving away an Abu garcia 6500C3 in December. Are you eligible? You better get eligible. Check it out!

Signs of life

I took a drive down to the river just to have something to do and to get out of the house for a while. By chance I happened to be driving by as a regular at Oakland Mills landed a 2 or 3 pound channel cat. It must have been the first fish he caught because he had to go to his truck to get a bucket. I couldn't see what he was using for bait . I was just a little excited to see somebody catch something. It has been close to a month since I caught a fish. It seems like it has been a month anyway. I am hoping things are going to settle down now but if I was a betting man I wouldn't put any money on it. Stay safe. Roy

THE 4TH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYBODY! Its the 4th of July. Visited the Skunk this morning and as I suspected there isn't much going on. I ran into Terry. He did say he tried the Iowa last week and there wasn't much going on there either. It's that time of year. The fish are there but they are scattered all over and a little more difficult to find. The nightcrawlers I bought to catch bait with are still on ice. The thought was there but I haven't been able to bring myself to act on it yet. Who knows? Maybe I won't.

Take care and be safe. Check out sliprig.com!

?

I spent the morning tackling some of the things on my to do list. I'm not to worried about getting it all done because somebody will give me more to do I'm sure. It has probably been a couple weeks since I last fished so I am wondering if anybody has been out there and doing any good. The few people I have seen around Oakland Mills haven't been doing much. I'm guessing most of the fish have moved back down river. It has crossed my mind to give it a try this week end but I haven't made up my mind yet.

Let me know if you make it out and have any luck.

The Skunk River is down to a level where it can be fished but few are even giving it a try. It is probably a combination of the terrible weather through out the entire spring and the fact that a good portion of the fish have probably moved back down river. I have been frustrated with the weather for three months now and have all but given up. I'm sure the feeling won't last long and I will be ready go at it again. I usually do very little fishing in July and August and pick it up again around the first of September.

Check out sliprig.com

A little more rain

The Skunk is down but it is still out of its banks here and there. If all goes well we might be able to do some fishing in the near future. I visited Oakland Mills today and there was nothing going on. Water was still on part of the road leading down to Faulkners so I didn't try that. Somebody has been driving through the water because there were tire tracks and ruts in the mud on the road. Not me! Its Sunday night so its back to work tomorrow. My fingers are crossed for no rain.

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More storms

A thunder storm woke me up at about 2 a.m. Technically my dog woke me up at 2 a.m. because of the storm. I did visit the river today just to have something to do. There wasn't much going on down there. The high water and the 95 deree heat is keeping everybody away, I guess. I have made a little progress on some of my projects around the house, but when I say a little progress, I mean a little.

If anybody out there is able to fish, let us know how things are going. There aren't a whole lot of people registered to win the Abu Garcia 6500C3 so the odds of winning are pretty good. Make sure you make yourself eligible, one way or another. If you are eligible, make sure to get the wife, kids, uncle and grandma registered.

sliprig.com

Gettin' the chores done

Well lets see. The river is out of its banks just about every where. Whole fields are under water all along the river. My time on the river usually drops off around this time of year because of the summer heat and the fact that I have to work a little harder at work through the summer. I am making an effort to get some work done around the house. You know, the things that I have been putting off for who knows how long. Hopefully I can use the next couple months to tackle the to do list and by then the weather and the river will be back to normal. If that is possible.

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Today was a good day, relatively speaking. We only had two thunderstorms pass through compared to the three or four that we have been getting in recent days. Like everybody else in this part of the country, I have had enough of this rain thing. From one minute to the next I might find myself wanting to go fishing or maybe having a big garage sale and getting rid of all the fishing gear I haven't been able to use in weeks. With every body of water within a hundred miles currently about six feet above flood stage I find myself wondering what all the other catfish anglers do to pass the time. Chub, from southeast Iowa, gave up and went to Minnesota to do some walleye and pike or musky fishing. Hopefully the weather and the fishing is going well for him up there, even though it is only walleye, pike, musky or what ever else they fish for up there.
According to the weather channel we are suppose to have decent weather until Sunday, we'll see!
Visit sliprig.com. If you have caught a catfish in the last couple weeks send us a picture so we who live in the rain belt of the midwest won't forget what a catfish looks like.

Rain, high water and idle time

The good news is, it hasn't rained today, I think! I went to bed around 11:30 p.m. last night and I think the rain was over. I don't think it rained after midnight. Anyway! The Skunk is out and across the roads down around Oakland Mills. There won't be any fishing for a while. Because I can't get out and break or dirty up any gear, I have been slowly getting it cleaned up and stored because who knows when we'll ever be able to use it. I've never done it before but I have been thinking about taking an Abu Garcia 6500 or 7000 apart to clean and lube it. I haven't got the nerve to do it yet.

A new fishing buddy, Terry from Winfield, Iowa, might be celebrating a birthday today. If you are, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I caught the birthday announcements on a local radio station the other day and I believe I heard his name.

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Where should I begin? I guess I'll start by saying it rained again. I have given up on keeping track of how much it rained so I'll leave it at that. We tried to visit Oakland Mills by way of Faulkners but the road was closed. I had no desire to drive around so I turned around and went home. The good news is that I did get some of my gear cleaned and put away. My favorite time to fish is usually April, May and June and seventy of those days are long gone.

Did it rain at your house or was the black cloud hanging over my neck of the woods.

sliprig.com

"Not a"

Well, where do I begin? We waited until about 8:30 to hit the river thinking that some of the crowd might clear out but that didn't happen. It was near standing room only. With that many lines in the water one might think somebody will catch something. That something turned out to be 8 and 10 inch fiddlers on stink bait and not many of them. For the many who had either sunfish or bullheads in the water, "not a". They got "not a" bite. We only made it about an hour and forty five minutes before giving up. The bigest fish down there was a three pounder caught on chicken liver.

Bait night on Pond X

We spent about two hours this evening catching bait at Pond X. The sunfish were biting early and the bullhead bite picked up for about the last 45 minutes or so. The bite didn't seem to be as fast tonight but we still caught quite a bit of bait. It is hard to believe the amount of bait you can catch with three rods and a couple nightcrawlers.

Bill, Chub and I took a bucket of sunfish and a couple bullheads down to the dam at Oakland and tried our luck for maybe a couple hours. Chub was the last one there and the first one to catch a fish, a flathead (5 or 6 lbs.) on a bullhead. I only managed to land a perch on my bullhead. The water was falling pretty good and plenty muddy. There weren't that many people on the dam but there sure were a lot of lines in the water. Every time somebody brought in a line they brought one or two others with it. The fun of fishing on the dam! I'm getting a little too lazy to venture down to the rocks very often.

Visit sliprig.com, Make sure your friends and family members are eligble to win the reel also. Even if they aren't interested in the reel they might win it for you!

Back to work

Fished from the dam this evening and caught two flatheads, 6 and 8 pounds. Although we tried sunfish and bullheads, only the bullheads were working. Only had two bullheads and each one only lasted two to three minutes in the water before the flatheads hit them. The sunfish, well, I think we did get a couple bites on them but never lost them nor did we catch a fish on them. I was wishing I had more bullheads and more time but I had call it quits early. One other angler did bring in just a little flathead. Because we were fishing on the dam we had to deal with people casting across our lines and wanting to rub elbows with us because we caught a couple fish.

Vacation day 14

Last day to relax. I spent some time this moring cleaning and storing some gear. Now it is time to relax and get ready to go back to work tomorrow. My goal while I was on vacation was to catch a personal best fish. That didn't happen. Maybe next time. Despite the unpredictable weather and the mediocre fishing I had fun. I finally met and fished with Terry from Winfield, had a few laughs with Chub about catching the biggest perch (I still say he did) and I gave Bill a new headlamp and a pair of boots that he wears to bed for some reason.

Back to work tomorrow. I 've only worked 6 days out of the last 3 weeks. Its going to be tough!

Vacation day 13

Rain. The river was coming up again. I rode up to Iowa City with Chub. He had to pick up an item he ordered from Scheels. Of course we had to visit Fin And Feather so I could look at my next fishing pole. Someday!

After yet another storm cleared, right around 9 p.m., Chub, Bill and I hit the dam for about 5 hours. People did catch fish from one end of the dam to the other, small channel cats on nightcrawlers and flatheads on sunfish and bullheads. The two biggest were a 25 (my digital scale) caught by Jim of Big Creek Outdoor Supply in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa and a 19 (spring scale) by an unknown angler. The fishing seemed to die off around 12:30 a.m. or 1 a.m. but we stuck it out until 2 .M. There were two anglers on the dam when we left and one of them was out on the end of the dam and still catching small flatheads.

Vacation day 12

Morning- Rain. Going to Pond X to catch some bait.

Vacation day 11

River came up about four feet because of the 4 inches of rain we got. Surprise! The good news is, if you like to use stink bait and catch a half a boat load of fiddlers you're the lucky one. Me, no thanks. I think I'd rather stay home in the air conditioning.

Spent about 3.5 hours, ( 9 p.m.to 12:30 a.m.) over the culvert with sunfish and bullheads. I think we caught about ten smaller flatheads, the biggest about 5 or 6 pounds.

Vacation day 10

4 inches of rain last night ruined my plans and my attitude

Vacation day 9

Morning-Chub and I had the boat in the water right around 5 a.m. and were off the water by 7 a.m. Our plan was to fish maybe 2 or 3 hours and call it a day. Those plans were cut short by some dark clouds, thunder and a sprinkle or 2. We did manage to catch a half dozen channel ctas on stink bait. No bites on a sunfish. We did talk to a few guys who run bank poles and they told us they had just started catching channel cats on their bank poles.

I had to take the boat to the car wash this morning. It hadn't been washed down in a couple weeks and it was getting to me. I feel better now.

Vacation day 8

Morning-Today was the day to walk down the creek to see if I could find my bait traps. I put them in just before the last storm dumped rain on us so I have been thinking they were either gone or destroyed. I found all three. One was unharmed, one was damaged but I think I can save it and the third was pretty much a total loss. Two out of three ain't bad. Suprisingly, one had a few sunfish, chubs and crawdads in it. They were turned loose because it wasn't enough to make it worth the effort to carry a bucket of water the mile back to the truck.
Evening-I took my nephew Brody out on the river this evening. He caught 7 or 8 channel cats in about 30 minutes using just one pole. He had a dry spell that lasted about 5 minutes, got bored and wanted to go home. The stink bait was really working. I tried sunfish for about 15 minutes with no luck. Brody wanted to steer the boat on the way back to the ramp and I'm here to tell about it so I guess he did OK. I started calling him Captain Catfish. Thats his new name. Lots of fish being caught, mostly smaller ones though. Several ropes were hanging off the back of the dam.

Vacation day 7

Morning-I finally manned up and hit the river at day break, 5 a.m. Let me say its not as easy as it used to be. Today I fished with Terry, from Iowa, who I met through sliprig.com. Like me he got a late start into catfishing but is trying to make up for lost time. Things went well even though he caught more fish than the captain. If I remember this right he caught 6 or 7 to my 4 or 5. We'll let it slide this time. The recent trend has been stink bait only so I had to put it on one pole. Sunfish, shad or shrimp on the other. Like a rookie, I missed 8 fish early so I Switched the hooks in the dip worms from 084s to trebles. Things did get a little better. Terry brought several different types of bait including a buffet of stink baits and switched it up until he found the special of the day. A fun morning, a new fishing friend and a drink after a morning of fishing. The drink was a diet Coke.
Evening- I noticed law enforcement and a large tow truck at the dead end of Faulkners bridge. It turns out that the tire we've been seeing sticking out of the water wasn't a stray tire stuck on a log, it was attached to a whole truck that was upside down in the river. Another boat was helping the deputy and the tow truck driver in their attempts to pull the truck from the river. My involvement was limited to pulling the assisting boat to the bank when it ran out of gas. When the truck was upright and on the bank we all went fishing. In about an hour I caught 4 or 5 channel cats on stink bait. Still no bites on shad and sunfish. ???

Vacation day 6

I'm not even going to lie. I didn't put a line in the water today. I did manage to get another anchor to replace the one I lost yesterday. My older brother Carl had an anchor made that should work well in the rocky area that claimed my anchor yesterday. I also bought another anchor that I'm hoping will work in the sand and mud areas.

I made my daily trip to the river to see what is going on. The river is at a level that has been productive in the past but is extremely muddy. Quite a few channel cats being caught on stink bait. Some guys came in from running bank poles and they had several flatheads including one nice one that was probably in the upper 20's.

Vacation day 5

Morning-I didn't get up real early this morning but then again I didn't plan to either. Was probably on the river by 8. Tried several different spots in the tailrace below the dam at Oakland. Even donated a 16 pound anchor to the rocks of the Skunk River. It got hung up and I couldn't get it loose. Ok, we're off to a good start. I'm sorry, the good start started when I hooked up the boat this morning and noticed that one of the quality, plastic fenders on my quality "American made" trailer was broken. It took hours to catch 4 fish. Using my math, that is an hour and fifteen minutes per fish. Plenty of nap time today. No bites on sunfish, A few chubs, and a few pieces of cut shad caught the 4 fish I mentioned earlier. In another boat they were using stinkbait with some success, Ok, more success than I was having.
Evening- I decided I would have a lot better chance of catching catfish if I went to the river than I would if I sat at home on the couch. Guess what? I could have caught just as many fish on the couch as I caught on the river tonight. Some where between 2 and 3 hours of fishing and not one fish. What can I say? I am out of excuses. I saw one person on the dam catch a flathead that probably measured 10 inches long. This is getting frustrating. Anyone want to buy a boat?

Rain, again?

I had plans to go fishing this afternoon but the sky grew dark, thunder rolled and then it hit the fan. The rain only lasted about 15 to 20 minutes. The radar showed some more rain coming so I cancelled my plans to fish. So far no round 2. Mother nature is doing a good job of keeping us guessing.

Update: I had plans to fish this evening but canceled those plans due to a storm that went through the area early this afternoon and a radar picture that showed more storms to the south and moving north. Well, those storms didn't hit us. I drove down to the river 7:30 p.m.to see what was going and what I witnessed was a little upsetting. I watched one fisherman catch 5 channel cats, nothing big, just two pounders, in about 20 minutes using just one rod. I blew it!

There is some more bad weather coming this way and I'm guessing that the high pressure between the two fronts is responsible for the sudden upswing in the fishing action.

Did I mention that I blew it?

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It was 91 when I left the house and went to the river to meet Chub. We fished for about 4 hours this evening and only put 2 fish in the boat. I caught a channel cat and he caught a flathead. He wanted me to let everybody know I caught the perch today. Anyway, thats done. I think both fish went for the sunfish. I did try a few chubs but thats how I ended up with the perch. At one point we thought we were getting bites from smaller fish so I switched to stink bait just to see who was down there. Nobody was home. Did I mention that it was hot?

I stopped at the dam at Oakland to catch a couple shad for the evening fishing. Terry was there throwing his cast net and catching more shad for the freezer. I don't know how he throws that net without getting it snagged up every time. I'll have to see if he can fit me in for a few lessons sometime.

Let us know how your fishing is going. Better yet, send a picture and prove it.

Good luck, Roy

Vacation day 4

Morning-Went to the river around 7:30 to catch some shad. There were a few shad running. It took about a half hour to catch 10. The most in one net was 2. They were the smallest, about 8 inches. Most were large ones, about a foot long. The river had dropped about another 18 inches since yesterday afternoon, about 18 hours. A few were rying to fish but it is still pretty slow. The wife said I have to go to a graduation party around lunch time today. Later today I'll probably try to catch some more shad for the freezer. You can never have enough bait.

I have been putting them in ziplooc bags, submerging the bag in water to get the air out, then squeezing as much water out of the bag as possible before zipping it up.

Afternoon-I did make it down to the river again this afternoon and caught a few more shad, 11 I think. Fairly slow, just as the morning was. Very few people at the river. I bumped into a gentlemen that I have talked to on the phone just a couple times. Terry was down at Oakland throwing a cast net and putting a few shad in the bucket. Like me, he is waiting for the weather and the rivers to settle down so we can do some fishing. He built his own bait trap and put it in the creek this morning. I'm hoping he catches a bucket of bait. It's my reputation on the line.

Well, it is back to work tomorrow. I have to work until Wednesday and continue my vacation starting Thursday and going right through the following week.

Good Luck, Roy

Vacation day 3

Morning-Time to get some chores done. I had to get my truck cleaned out, inside and out. Fishing gear and clothes were piling up to the point that something had to be done. The yard is trimmed out and I will mow it when it a little later. I'm also helping out with the laundry. I have no problem helping out around the house and I also have no problem being down at the river 8 to 10 hours at a time. The kids are raised and the work is done, its time to fish! I think I will try to put the boat in this afternoon.
Afternoon-Slipped the boat into the river around 3:30, was fishing at about 4 and fished until 6:30. Not a bite. We tried sunfish and chubs most of the time and stink bait right at the end for about 15 minutes. Nothing. Water dropped about a foot since yesterday, fishing is off. A connection? I think so. Mixed reports from some guys running bank poles. One group reported two channel cat and one flathead. Another reported 14 with no breakdown by species. Two over 20 though. Nothing happening with bank and dam fishermen either. Several people were doing a lot of work to net only a few shad.

Vacation day 2

Morning-Rain. What a surprise. Spending the night in a lazyboy lawn chair on the river bank Wednesday night was rough but I might have caught up on my sleep now. Time to do it all over again! When the rain moves out of here I need to run the bait traps that have been in for three days now. Probably hit the river this afternoon or this evening and stay the night again.
Afternoon-I did run the bait traps and to be honest it was no where near fun. Naturally everything was wet from the rain and the humidity must have broken the triple digit threshold. Despite it being a lot more work than fun, I did end up with quite a bit of bait. We're going to hit the river late this afternoon or early evening. I will be more prepared than I was the other night. Overalls in the third week of May. It may be crazy but it is necessary.

If your weather is cooperating and your fishing is good, let us know at sliprig.com. Hey, thats all you have to do to win the Abu Garcia reel in December. I'm the only person on the planet that isn't eligible to win the reel and thats not cool with me but thats the way it is. Check out sliprig.com to find out more
Night-We didn't make it through the night. It is 10 p.m. and I'm home. In the four and a half hours we fished we didn't catch one catfish. The perch seem to have settled into the area and taken over because that is all that was being caught. I won't even bother saying how many perch I caught. I'm embarrassed. A cooler full of bait tipped over in the back of my truck on the way home. I think I got them all back into the cooler. I'll know for sure in the morning.

Vacation day 1

Chub and I hit Pond X yesterday evening. The good news is we caught plenty of bait. The bad news is that the gnats were biting every bit as good as the sunfish were. I went down to Oakland at about 8:30 p.m. or so and ended up spending the night in a lazyboy lawn chair. The action was pretty slow but it was just enough to keep me interested. Every time I looked at the clock and started thinking about going home I caught another fish so I stayed. Packed up all my gear and headed home at 6:30 a.m. I think the score sheet was at 7 or 8 flatheads and 2 channel cats, the biggest was six pounds. I missed several others due to my laziness. You know, the old rod in a rod holder and hands in the pockets trick! In my defense it was cold. It almost cost me a Bass Pro Shop CatMaxx rod and a Penn 320gti reel. The pvc pipe I had wedged in the rocks to hold my rod gave way when a 4 pounder took the bait. Luckily I was able to grab it. I'm glad it wasn't a 40 pounder. Ah what the hell, if it was a forty pounder I would have had a good story and of course a lot of grief about it. That would have been an expensive lesson though.

Let the record show that the rain continues, even during my vacation. It doesn't look like it will last long though.

A lesson reinforced

Admittedly, I have been so disgusted by the weather lately that I haven't been in the mood to give fishing an honest effort. The high water has been enough to keep the boat in the garage and the competition for the few productive spots at Oakland has been enough to make me turn around and go home several times. During my almost daily visit to the river to check on the goings on, I saw that someone who doesn't fish there regularly had caught a nice flathead. Somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds. On sunfish I believe.

Once again, somebody who got off of their butt and went to the river caught a nice fish. The guy that didn't, me in this case, who was to busy being ticked at the weather and the river and anything else that came to mind caught nothing. The good news is that the message, stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop being mad at the world and just go do what you know how to do, got through my thick skull again. After work tomorrow I am heading straight down to the river and I'm going to fish. I will fish somehwere because somewhere is better than no where.

Take care and good luck.

Another weekend gone

It is Sunday afternoon, maybe early evening, I'm not really sure. Anyway, another weekend and it has rained on my parade both days. With the river running so high I guess it doesn't really matter if it rained or not. There wasn't going to be much fishing going on anyway. There won't be any fishing next weekend either if it doesn't stop raining though.

There are a couple spots at Oakland that offer good fishing when the water is high but way to many people know about them. Who ever is lucky enough to get those spots rarely gives it up. I have seen people sit all weekend so they wouldn't lose "the spot". It is getting bad when a guy has to call his wife or who ever to bring them some more bait or food and water. Other fishermen will sit down there for hours and do nothing while waiting for "the spot" to open up. I have on ocassion done this my self but not anymore. I like to fish but I'm not going to camp out in my truck waiting for any spot. When the river gets down to a reasonable level I will put the boat in the water.

Spent a few hours in Burlington having luch and what not and of course I had to check out the Mississippi. Although the Miss is high, one runabout had just been launched and there was one other truck and trailer at the ramps. Lots of debris floating down the river.

Hey, did you see that Abu Garcia reel they are giving away at sliprig.com?

High and muddy

I checked out the Skunk River this afternoon and as expected the water was up and over the gravel road that runs along the river. Two spots of interest to me looked like they might be fishable in a couple days. A few guys were snagging and I heard of one flathead that was snagged. His estimated weight was about 20 lbs. Since fishing is out of the question in this area due to all the rain I knocked a few more items off of my to do list. There is still a lot to do around here but I guess I have the whole weekend. Chub, a friend from work who has been fishing with me this year, was home mowing the grass and trying to get caught up on his chores as well. He is worth a laugh or two when we are on the water. I think he is trying to set a record for feeding the river the most sinkers in one year. I already told him if he catches one more perch I'm going to make him swim back to the truck. He thinks I'm joking!

Visit sliprig.com. Why you ask. Why not! Oh, if you contribute to our website you might win an Abu Garcia 6500C3

More rain

It was raining buckets all night and continued to drizzle on and off all day. Skunk river is out in many locations which means it will probably be a week before it is fishable. Visited Big Creek Outdoor Supply to get some more tackle. Spent time in the garage tying up more slip rigs. It is just busy work that helps pass the time away.

Is any body out there catching any fish? Let us know at sliprig.com. You might win a $90 reel. Check it out.

RAIN!

It's raining once again. I spent the evening in the garage tying up slip rigs. Started with 2o lb and tied some with different size Eagle Claw 84's. 2/0 is my go to hook majority of the time with the average fish size in the Skunk River being three to four pounds). Jumped to 40 lb and tied some from 5/0 to 9/0 because there are some 40 to 50 flatheads around. Thats what I do to occupy myself when the weather doesn't allow me to fish.

Hoping for a better day! Take care.

Its raining, again!

I've tried to be patient up to this point but I have to admit that the weather we have been having for going on three years now is testing me. On the bright side, rain, cold and wind days do keep me out of trouble. I use these days to catch up on as many of my chores as possible. Ok, when the work like cleaning out the boat, re-organizing the tackle box and cleaning the reels is done I try to catch up on my chores. That being said, today is a catching up on the chores day. We have had quite a few of them lately and it sounds like we have many more to come. I can't help but wonder when things will calm down so we can get on with it.

If its raining where you are, use this time wisely. If not, catch one for those of us who laid down for a nap three years ago and are in the middle of a bad dream about constant rain.

Visit sliprig.com, See what you might win!

Where do I start? We had big plans for this weekend and it turned out to be a dud! Unfortunately it sounds like this week will be a repeat of last week. I can say I did catch fish despite the adverse conditions but a couple fish a day just isn't cutting it. I don't really know what to say. We hope your weather and luck was better than ours. Take care!

I thought it was spring

I woke up to cold and wind this morning and decided not to get up until the dogs demanded to go out. We made it until about 7:15. Checked the river only to find that absolutely nothing was going on. Took a ride to the big city and checked out a couple outdoor stores in Iowa City and Coralville. Because the wind took my hat a week or two ago, I needed a new one. Problem solved. This one has a clip to clip to the collar of your shirt so you can't lose it. Got home, cut the grass and headed back to the river. Nearly everybody down there had at least 1 or 2 small flatheads. They were taking nightcrawlers. I just happened to have a couple rods and a bucket of sunfish in the truck so I decided to give it a whirl. I ended up with 2 flatheads and missed a chance at the third. I was wishing I had some chubs to string up. When it got dark and cold I decided it was time to head for the house.

If you have been able to get out and catch some, let us know at sliprig.com. It will qualify you for the drawing in December for an Abu Garcia 6500C3.

More bad weather

We had big plans for the weekend. A big storm hit us last night and dropped about 2.5 inches of rain on us. As I expected things were slow but I did manage to catch a couple channel cats. Probably 4 and 5 pounds. Both took a chub. No bites on sunfish or bullhead. There were some flatheads in the area because some snaggers snagged a couple. I only saw them from a distance but the biggest looked to be about 12 pounds or so.

The storm left us with cold and windy weather. About 20 degrees cooler than yesterday with winds 30 to 40. it got windy enough at one point to blow the top out of a tree by the dam.

We' try again tomorrow!

Pond X

I hit pond X after work this afternoon. Its the perfect pond for a river cat-man. Sunfish and bullheads in the same pond. Couldn't be better right? I used only about 4 nightcrawlers and caught about a half a cooler of bait. The wind was out of the East and the fish were on the east bank. All systems are go for tomorrow evening. Setting bank poles and fishing afterwards. All weekend will be running poles and fishing in beyween. I'll do my best to keep you updated on the success with the poles and rod and reel fishing. Wish us luck as we do you.

Working for the weekend

Big plans for the weekend! All the bad weather up to this point has cost me time on the river and I plan on getting it back this weekend. I don't ususally run bank poles, throw lines or trot lines but I am this weekend. We'll run them morning and night and do some fishing in between. The troops have been warned that there will be some long days and nights. We'll start catching bait tomorrow(Thursday). Put lines in Friday afternoon. Will post the daily results each night. Stayed tuned! If you're going out, Good Luck To Ya!

I keep a fishing log on sliprig.com, on the fishing log page. Check it out

Stable weather, maybe?

It didn't rain today so I'm hoping things will settle down. Went fishing for bait yesterday and today. My bait cooler has sunfish, chubs and bullheads. Tomorrow is the day, at least I'm going to give it a try.

When I'm at home I run an aquarium air pump in my bait cooler. Up until last weekend the smallest model of pump did ok but I guess I had to much bait in the cooler and I lost about half of it. I froze the dead bait in pond water so they won't go to waste. Went out and bought the largest pump they had and it seems to be doing ok. Instead of the blue air stone I bought a foam element that is about 15 inches long. It really put the bubbles to them.

Just about have all my chores done for the week. I'm trying to clear the schedule so I can keep the boat in the water this weekend.

Good luck to the rest of ya! If you have any luck let us know.

More rain

As usual we were expecting more rain today so I decided not to go fishing. In years passed I didn't worry about the rain. If it was raining I wouldn't go but the threat of rain didn't stop me. I would have went out and if it started raining I would have put on my rain suit and continued to fish. Reguardless of what the weather man says these days it isn't if it will rain anymore, now it's when will it start raining and how much. It's getting tiring. Everything is wet all the time. When is the last time we had an entire weekend with sun and NO rain? I can't remember. Now it's May which is usually the best month of fishing all year and I'm getting a little anxious. I want to get out there and catch a new personal record, which really isn't that big. To date my personal best on rod and reel is a 12 pound flathead so I only need a 13 pounder and I'll be happy. Of course I'll take a 40 or 50 if I get a chance. Maybe the rain will take a breather, I hope.

Wishing you some better weather!

Auction day

Since the river was going up or coming down and muddy I spent most of the day at a local auction. Every spring they have an auction for outdoor items such as lawn mowers, trailers, campers, motorcycles, tools and most importantly, boats. It took most of the day but I wanted to see what the boats and one utility trailer went for. Some older boats that would make decent river boats with a little work. The "nicer" boats with carpet and what not were in good shape but carpet does nothing for me. My Boat tends to get a little dirty when I fish and I am in the habit of spraying it out regularly but shampooing the carpet in a boat wouldn't be something I am interested in doing.
Unstable weather and water conditions have the local fishing coming and going. Hopefully things will calm down and the fishing will turn around. The way things have been going lately I just haven't gotten around to putting the boat in the water. Maybe the weather and water will settle down and we can get back to fishing 4 or 5 days a week.

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Almost there

Wanted to check out the river so I grabbed some chubs and sunfish that I had been keeping in my modified cooler baitwell and headed out. I have a culvert that I use to monitor the water level. When the water is about half way up that culvert it's time to soak some bait. It's almost there. The Skunk is dropping pretty good so the fishing should pick up just about the time most of us have to put our rods away and start thinking about going back to work. If thats the case I might have to launch the boat Monday or Tuesday evening. I just ran my bait traps because I wanted to collect the bait and pull the traps just in case the weather man is right about tomorrow night. It's difficult to count chubs when they are swimming around but I'm guessing there is close to five dozen. Oh I almost forgot, I did catch a half a dozen small flatheads on my little recon mission.
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Free bait trap plan

The skunk is still high and muddy so I decided to get some chores done so I can do some fishing when things settle down. Visited the river and saw only a couple guys trying their luck. It didn't look like anything was happening.

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High and muddy

The Skunk River is flowing high and muddy. From Saturday to Sunday morning the river came up about 7 feet. I tried dropping a few chubs down below the dam hoping to find a big flathead with no success. Unfortunately there was a couple guys dropping nightcrawlers straight down from the dam and they had a rope stringer full of little (1,2 and 3 pounders) flatheads. What can you do? Anyway. It seems like flatheads of all sizes like the night crawlers early in the year when the water is still cold. The bad news is that it is raining again.

I picked up my copy of the Catfish Insider on Saturday. I get mine at the local bait store, Big Creek Outdoor Supply in Mt Pleasant.

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High water

I'm not sure how much rain we got last night but it was enough to bring the river up about 7 feet since yesterday. If I'm not mistaken I believe I heard that the water wouldn't crest until sometime Monday so it might come out of its banks in some spots. We'll have to wait and see how high it gets before we know how badly it affects the fishing.

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Rain and more rain

Its saturday evening so I would like to be at the river but it is 62 and raining. Maybe I'll give it a try later tonight or early in the morning. One person that I know of put his bank poles in yesterday. He said they had 10 channel cats this morning. About a half hour ago I went out to see if the rain had brought out the nightcrawlers but I only saw two little ones. Im getting ready to go out and check again. I picked up about 5 or 6 dozen the last time it rained.

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Couldn't give it away

After almost 2 weeks of fast action you couldn't give bait away tonight. Some how I just had a feeling that it would be slow this evening. I decided not to launch the boat tonight so I fished from the bank below the dam at Oakland just in case the bad weather set in early. A few small ones were caught from the dam. I did catch one flathead (about 3 pounds) on a chub.
This was the first time I have fished from the bank this year and I have to say I was disgusted by the amount of trash that has been left behind by other fishermen. Beer cans, bait containers and many other types of trash line the banks of our river and it is still April. It reminded me of something I saw earlier this year at the dam below the Coralville Reservoir. A bird nest had fallen out of a tree and I noticed that part of the material used to make the nest was fishing line that somebody had left on the bank. Sure it was a good choice of material to hold the nest together but I wondered how easy would it be for the baby birds to get caught up in the line.

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Rock shy

Put the boat in the water tonight. With a virgin prop on the boat I was a little rock shy. I was afraid to navigate through the rocks so I wasn't able to fish the tailrace below the dam at Oakland. I tried some large chubs for bait tonight but my bait was bigger than the catfish, I think. I only caught two, a 3 and 5. I cut the outing short because its a week night. Between work and fishing it was still a 13 hour day.

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Time for a new prop

Had a good day on the water. Could catch as many channel cats as you wanted and a few flatheads as a bonus. Bad news is I hit the rocks on the way into the tailrace below the dam at Oakland. The prop is missing a good size chunk. Was catching all of those fish worth the price of a new prop? Well, I would rather not break a prop but since it is broke and there is nothing I can do about it I'll say it was worth it.

Its on

I dropped the boat in at about 6 am. Although I thought it might be cold on the way up the river I failed to realize how cold. I almost froze! I think it was 39. The water temp was 62 and I thought the bite might have slowed down but it didn't. 2, 3 and 4 pound channels were feeding good. I'm not even sure how many I caught. Did get 3 flatheads though. I didn't check my lines and re-tie knots as often as I should have and it cost me two fish. One must have been of decent size because the line went tight real fast and broke even quicker. It felt really solid. Pulled the boat out of the water at 12:30 pm. Ran out of chubs.

Getting there

The water is warming up. 65 degrees to be exact. A co-worker and I used only two poles and stayed fairly busy with quite a few channel cats and one flathead. All on chubs. Even better news was that the boat didn't leak. Can't wait til tomorow

Boats out of dry dock

Well, the boat is all welded up and I'm ready to hit the water. Ran the bait traps this evening. We had four traps out and ended up with about 5 dozen chubs and a few crawdads. I haven't been on the river since last saturday so I'm getting a little anxious. Visited the river this evening and saw them catch a few small ones. No sign of any shad yet. River temp was 61

Holes in the boat

I pulled the boat out of the garage to get it ready for tomorrow. I'm taking it to get the crack I found in one of the welds fixed. I decided to look it over for more cracks one more time and I found another crack in the same weld on the opposite side of the boat. I'll get both sides taken care of tomorrow and be on the water Wednesday evening, hopefully. I wish I had checked it over during the winter so all of this could have been done before ice out. Lesson learned, I guess.
Check your boat guys. See you on the water!

hole in the boat

Didn't hit the water as early as usual this morning. Was headed up the river by 8 am. Water was about 2 feet high and muddy from the storms that went through the area a couple days ago. Anchor winch decided to stop working. As I tried to fix that I noticed that water was coming into the boat through a busted weld. Although the fish were biting, I dumped what I had, packed up and headed for the house. Managed to get an appointment to get the busted weld re-welded. The boat will have to be beached until they weld it up on tuesday.

Unstable weather

Just as the fishing was picking up the weather has thrown us a couple curve balls over the last three days. A big rain storm two days ago and now severe thunderstorms passing through the area. You can still catch a lot of fish, in the 8-10 inch range.

False start to catfishing?

It's only April 2, 2010 and the cafish have been hitting fairly steady the last couple days. Just a few days ago the only bait that would work was nightcawlers and now it is almost entirely a creek chub bite. The sudden jump from crawlers to chubs caught me off guard. I did manage to pick up a couple dozen frozen chubs from a local bait shop. Although the air temps have been near 70 for a couple days, we are only at about 57 today. Coincidentally, the air temp is the same as the water temp. My concern is that the fishing may die off again before the real bite gets going. This bite seems to be about 2 weeks early for this area, probably because of the recent flood and the water temp which is up about 10. I probably caught 20 -30 fish today with about 6-8 nice ones.

Ice out cats

Last of the ice has been gone only a couple weeks. Conditions today; slowly falling water, 27 degrees at 7:30am, water temp 47.2 degrees. I fished a local tailrace first thing this morning. Caught several small channel cats on nightcrawlers, nothing I would keep. Decided to fish a feeder creek about 20 minutes up river. Was hoping the water would be slower and warmer and provide better fishing. Upon arrival, water was slower but slightly cooler than the river, probably because the air temp had dropped to 27 the night before. Caught more fish in the creek than I did in the river but the average size was smaller. I used nightcrawlers and dip bait but caught most of the fish on the stinky stuff. I tried shrimp in both locations and did get a bite or two but didn't catch any on it.

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First fish of the year

I visited Big Creek Outdoor Supply, Mount Pleasant, Iowa and talked to owner Jim Smith. He informed me that several guys had been catching channel cats over the course of the last several days. Although the temperature had dropped 30 degrees and we have snow on the ground today, the fish were still biting. One angler stopped by the shop with 5 or 6 fish weighing from 2 to 4 pounds. Nightcawlers were doing the trick. Late in the afternoon I decided to give it a try myself and ended up catching just a few small ones. Conditions today were falling water, water temp 42, air temp 32, wind chill 19. Angler claimed to have caught 32 fish over the three previous days when the air temp was around 58 and the water was high and steady.

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teaser

Its been nearly sixty degrees the last several days so I decided today would be a good day to hit a local reservoir and try to hook a few channel cats. Just my luck, they started talking about snow last night and I woke up to thirty degrees, eighteen degrees wind chill, an inch on the ground and a wind driven snow still coming down. 4 to 8 expected. Hopefully things will be better next weekend. I want to drift cutbait over a large flat that runs about 3 to 6 feet deep.

First sign of night crawlers

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Winter might be on the down hill side, I think. Saturday, March 13. It rained on and off just about all night last night. Just after day break I got up to let that dogs out and to my surprise there were night crawlers on the sidewalk and driveway. I decided to walk the street and see just how many crawler were out and found just a few, mostly smaller ones. Make a note! March 13, 41 degrees, and rain. First sign of night crawlers.

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