Lake Delavan Wisconsin

Saturday morning we left Peoria at 6 am and stopped in at Didleys Restaurant in Metamora to meet up with the rest of our group and grab a bite to eat on our way up to Lake Delavan just across the Wisconsin border. Whew that was a mouthful but got er out. Speaking of mouth full, what a great way to start off a fishing trip!!! My grandma says I butcher the English language, but so be it, why not put er all into one sentence....

Anyhow I figured about 3 hrs from Metamora to the main boat ramp on Delavan, boy was I wrong. It only took 2 hrs and 5 minutes and we were there WAAY early for our noon meeting time. This trip started out as a trip to get my nephew Tyden onto some northern pike, but turned into much more! Tyden's dad and grandpa came along, my dad and grandpa and father in law and brother came along, and even a client from Texas James Holt flew up with his father in law for a chance at some northern pike. Its hard to impress a guy from Texas with perhaps one of the best private bass lakes in the entire United States. He has one of the most intensively managed lakes on the planet!

We hired the best guides Delavan had to offer (all four of them) for this Saturday evening and Sunday morning fishing trip. Just kidding, there actually are quite a few guides up that way that fish Delavan and Geneva. Our guides for the trip were Steve Everetts with Finseekers Guide Service, Walt Koch with Red Rock Guide Service, Steve Ryan and Dave King. The latter two dont have websites, but they seriously know how to fish and show up on fishing shows and magazines all over the place!

I was very shocked at how reasonable the guides were for fishing trips up there. $250 gets you and your son on the water to catch fish like these below. An additional angler yet is $50 or so. Everything is included except your Wisconsin fishing license which costs you $10. Our main goal, get Tyden some Pike. Mission Accomplished-




While in pursuit of the feisty pike, we also landed quite a few real nice bass-









Next Goal- Grandpa some big fish!





James first ever northern pike:


And his second northern pike:


His Father in Law Larry with a NICE bass:


My dad and father in law got a few good ones. Here was a nice double they hooked and landed together-


So we have some awesome pictures and we all had a BLAST the whole weekend from start to finish, but the highlight of the trip and probably my life was the Italian Beef sandwich from Riga-Tony's Italian Restaurant just 1/2 mile from the boat ramp. I am planning a trip back up to Delavan with Brook just to go eat at that little specialty meat shop again!!! Seriously I might tend to exaggerate a bit here and there, but this is the most unique unbelievable out of this world eatery I have ever been to. Its a bucket list item.......hey when you do end up going there be sure to call or text me to say THANKS!

If you want to learn how to fish those waters which are surprisingly close to home, definitely hire the guide for the first trip and you should be good to go with your own boat from there on out. Its a hard fishery to figure out on your own, but a not so hard fishery once you learn just a few tricks. Tip number one, go on a weekday if possible....It is not a well kept secret, everyone knows how good the fishing is there.

The guides I mentioned are more geared towards education and just a good time doing what you want to do rather than running you through the motions to collect the money at the end. Believe me I have been with many various guides from across the country and these guys are top notch first class educators and entertainers. Walt is a retired something or other, very laid back, do whatever you want to do professional. If your an older guy looking for a relaxing time on the water with someone to talk politics and maybe even religion while catching some fish, or a family looking for a relaxing time on the water, get in touch with Walt! I greatly enjoyed my evening fishing with him and my dad and grandpa.

If your a young adventure seeker looking to run all over the place casting like a maniac with the very best boat and gear on the planet than Steve Everetts is the guide for you. He will work you to the ground to hunt down and catch BIG fish. Just check out his website, the pics are unbelievable. I have fished with Steve a couple times here and there, the man is an extreme fishing machine.

Here is the perfect ending to cap off a great weekend fishing trip with friends and family across 4 generations!!!

Summer Fish

Filling up at gas stations is pretty much a daily routine that last few weeks. Been traveling all over and then trying to build my house with every waking spare moment. Got the drywall all hung and taped and even primed, but still got a ton of exterior work to get done before I get inside to trim it out. This house will end up taking just a hair over a year from start to finish working on nights and weekends. Here are a couple pics of the kitchen/great room. I'll get some more of the exterior later in the week.



I have squeezed in a couple short fishing trips over the last couple weeks. First time in a couple years I took people fishing without taking a camera, was a weird feeling. I was able to snap a couple of photos of fishing with my sister in law from kansas:





Chef Todd is on my Pro Staff for Illinoisfishingproperties.com. We have partnered up with Illinoislandcompany.com to create the ultimate opportunity to market and sell our clients fishing and hunting properties. He has been fishing like crazy and getting some amazing pics from some amazing fishing properties, even in the heat!
 

We decided to drain one pond to fill up the newly constructed smallmouth pond. Who wants to wait till rain....



Once we got the one pond all drained out as much as possible we had Rob from DNR come out and kill off the remaining fish with Rotenone so we can start that pond all over again without existing fish to contend with. Believe it or not, that actually is the fastest way to make a world class fishery as opposed to working with existing useless fish.

So anyhow I had a good friend and client James Holt and his Father In Law from Texas come up on Friday and we did some fishing before heading up to Lake Delavan on Saturday and Sunday. James has one of the best private fishing lakes in Texas, but he wanted to come up north and try for some northern species of fish. Here are a couple pics from a short Friday afternoon fishing trip, but the rest of the Lake Delavan pics and adventure will be for another day...






So anyhow the Lake Delavan fishing adventure is a must see for anyone who like bass, pike, and walleye fishing. We headed up there with 10 guys for a Saturday evening and Sunday morning fishing trip.......

Building Perfect Smallmouth Bass Lake

This has been the absolute perfect summer for building lakes and ponds! We have a handful of lake construction projects rolling at various stages right now and here is one we are finishing up tomorrow. Its the absolute perfect smallmouth bass lake!!


Along with smallmouth bass, it is actually already stocked with pellet trained blue catfish, yellow perch, hybrid striped bass, and redear sunfish. Sounds like a pretty fun combination eh? You bet!!

Ok so the dam actually went in this spring and we have been pumping in water from another lake on the property so the fish have got a great head start on life (even in this drought), they are looking great with most of the smallies already a rock solid 7-9 inches.

Anyhow since there was going to be alot of shallow water for about a 2 acre zone on the upper half of the lake we decided to build some really cool islands and peninsulas. We do these islands and peninsulas to actually save lots of money. It costs alot to move dirt a long distance, but it actually doesnt cost much at all to simply move dirt just a few feet.

So we turned a 2 acre zone that was gonna have an average depth of 4 feet or less into a smallmouth bass wonderland with an average depth of 8 feet and more in less than a week. Here are some pics, let me know what you think:


This area we threw alot of dirt on the shoreline to use for making the future building site.




With this island we eliminated shallow water on the east side of the lake. Also you can see the channel we cut in down the middle while making the dam.


This peninsula we made because we wanted to eliminate some shallow water on the west edge of the lake.


Jared putting the finishing touches on a really cool island:



Justin finishing up spreading the dirt needed for the building site and road:


Some sunflowers we planted along the west edge of this new lake earlier this spring. It is very cool to see all the birds coming in and out of this mega bird feeder all day long. Most folks think food plots are just for hunting, but we get more people wanting them just to enjoy them and their benefit to all wildlife all year long!


Reminds me of a story at our 6 acre bird feeder plot. We had a missionary from Haiti out to our place last week who went out and counted like 24 species of birds one morning from our plot consisting of sunflowers, winter wheat, sorghum, sweet corn, beans, and probably some other stuff Justin and Jared planted this spring. Anyhow it looks very cool right now and even a bunch of geese were milling around the ripe winter wheat just last night.

I guess while I am at it, it has been a very eventful and fun last few days. On Friday I took Mae and Noah to work with me. Our mission was to take the team from HorseMeister up to a critique large horse property we have listed for sale just north of Henry next to I-80. For those who don't know, HorseMeister is a pretty big horse operation located near Glasford that specializes in breeding Fresian horses. They sell and breed these prestigious horses all over the United States, along with several other types of horses too. Also they do vaulting camps, and several other horse things that I know absolutely nothing about.

Anyhow this property for sale has a state of the art horse operation and I needed to get some experts up there to learn the ropes and make sure the horse stuff is all set up correctly. Judy and Karin did a phenomenal job critiquing the entire property and now I feel confident we can help the seller market the property correctly and help the future buyers know exactly what they are getting and what it will take to operate.

Here is a video clip Judy made of there day up at the property, of course we had to bring some riders up with us to try out all the trails as well. They had a blast:


So back to Mae and Noah's adventure. They tagged along and just loved hanging out with the horses. Also I gave Noah my old digital camera and gave him a mission to take photos of all the horses which he was super proud to have that job! He took it very seriously:


So anyhow for a house update (Brook is watching the olympics, so I am just typing away listening to them) Who knows I might just keep writing all the way till 11 pm. I am not used to having this much free time lately. Every spare moment has been working on my house. I dont got any pics at the moment, but finally am stocking drywall tomorrow baby!

Oh yeah, some lady interviewed me a few times a couple weeks ago for an article she was doing about the drought and heat's affect on midwest fish, lakes and ponds. I was polite and answered all her questions and bam I start getting calls from people reading that article that hit the top story news headline on their smart phones, etc. Here is one of many links to the various major websites that picked up that article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48372976/ns/weather/t/drought-killing-fish-waterfowl-threatened-too/

Then here is the kicker to that story- CBS National Evening News team calls me up on Sunday afternoon and wants to do an article about that story on Monday. Very cool to be called by a major news network, but we were unable to make that work out on such short notice. However once another round of fish kills rolls through the area they want to come and shoot some footage of the dead fish, interview the owner of such unlucky fish and have me explain what happened. So the next person to have a major fish kill, call me up.

According to Brook the American men are doing terrible in gymnastics, but a few minutes ago me and the kids were doing a victory dance just before bed as Americans went Gold and Silver in the 100 Meter backstroke.

Here is another article I am in about fish kills and hot water- http://smallwatersfishing.com/2012/07/15/lake-management-plants-heat/

Well we have jampacked quite a bit into this blog post, but I am sure I can dig up some more good stuff. Noah loves his Herman Brothers T Shirt, wears it proudly.


He also loves Justins new Blood Hound Copper. Copper is only like 14 weeks old or something and is getting huge. These two young pups are best friends:



Chef Todd sent me this pic from a kid who caught a monster bass at Otter Creek last week:


I find myself daydreaming of offshore fishing alot lately. We are gonna be pike fishing up at Lake Delavan in a couple weeks, then salmon fishing up on Lake Michigan a few weeks after that, and then fishing down on the beach in Gulf Shores a few weeks after that, but yet no daydreaming about those places or fish species.....the blue water way off the coast of the gulf of Mexico is what inhabits what little time I have to think about stuff other than what is right in front of me.

The next couple weeks are gonna be pretty exciting. We will be filming a top secret show for a few days next week with a major production company from the East Coast that I am not allowed to talk about but am on a roll so why not just a brief mention. Now I am out of time as the Japanese just paid off the judges to get them to reverse their original scoring to steal the silver medal back from the Great Britains. Is that what you call them- Great Britains? Englishmen? Oh well.

Summer Bass Class

Summer Bass Class

Advanced Tactics for High School Anglers

Presented by Hooked on Fishing

Date: Thursdays, August 9^th, 16^th, 23^rd, and 30^th.

Location: Hooked on Fishing Park

                 1807 N. Main St.

                  East Peoria, IL 61611

                  (309) 219-3560

Our camp will feature pro angler instruction in a classroom setting with an on-the-water guided practice here at the park.  All anglers will learn casting techniques, lure presentation, tournament fishing, and tournament preparation.
Registration: All forms will be available at the Hooked on Fishing Park.  You may register by phone or in person. Availability is limited to the first 30 applicants. 

At this time, the registration fee will be $20.00 per session. (unless we can find a sponsor or donor to cover these costs). Attending all four sessions will qualify you for a special six hour fishing tournament at Otter Creek Preserve on September 22^nd, from 7:00am to Noon. Otter Creek is a privately owned premier fishery that boasts a 125 acre lake and 45 acre lake intensively managed by Herman Brothers Lake and Land Management. Do not miss your chance to fish some of the most famous fishing waters in the state of Illinois!  

All anglers are required to bring their own fishing pole. Tackle boxes must be labeled with participants name for security and safety purposes.

If you have any questions regarding the camp please contact the camp director(s) Mike O’Reilly at (309)256-1801, or Ryan Ortega at (309)256-2435.  You may also visit the website for more details at http://www.HookedOnFishing.org.

If you would like to volunteer for the camp please use the contact information above. We would like to encourage coaches of the participating schools to attend. Here is the schedule/speaker line up:

August 9  

5:30-6:00 p.m.             Dinner

6:00-7:00 p.m.             Ron Boyer – Tube Tactics

7:00-8:00 p.m.             Steve Anderson – Shaky Worms

August 16

5:30-6:00 p.m.             Dinner

6:00-7:00 p.m.             Chef Todd - Chatterbaits

7:00-8:00 p.m.             Chad Fargher – What’s Hot

August 23

5:30-6:00 p.m.             Dinner

6:00-7:00 p.m.             Bob Rask - Jerkbaits

7:00-8:00 p.m.             Jim Crowley – Wacky Rig

August 30

5:30-6:00 p.m.             Dinner

6:00-7:00 p.m.             Dave Thompson - Crankbaits

7:00-8:00 p.m.             Terry Brown - Spinnerbaits

September 22

7:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.  Tournament at Otter Creek

SEE YOU THERE!

High School Bass Fishing Clinics!

Hooked on Fishing Park will be hosting four bass fishing seminars for high school aged anglers! Very exciting opportunity for anyone in high school to get together and learn stuff from pros on the water.
Also the fishing park has a very newly renovated meeting building that is just AWESOME and perfect for these types of events! You definitely have to stop down at the park to check out the new building!



Ok so back to the high school fishing program...The seminars will be at the park on August 9, 16, 23, and 30. They will be held from 5:30 to 8:00 PM.

Each class will feature two guest speakers with a history of tournament competition. Both speakers will lecture in depth about a particular bait or type of fishing. Along with the lectures, each session will include live on-water instruction so bring your rod and reel!!

Here is the kicker that every high school angler needs to take advantage of- At the conclusion of our four sessions, each student who attends all 4 sessions will be invited to fish a special six hour fishing tournament at Otter Creek Preserve this fall. Otter Creek is a privately owned premier fishery that boasts a 125 acre lake and 45 acre lake intensively managed by Herman Brothers Lake and Land Management. Do not miss your chance to fish some of the most famous fishing waters in the state of Illinois!


Just look at all that water! This fishing tournament will definitely be one of the funnest events of the year so definitely do not miss this opportunity. You must be present at one of the fishing seminars to sign up for this tournament!

High School fishing coaches and parents are encouraged to sit in on our classes at the park. To sign up or for more information, please contact Mike O’Reilly at (309) 256-1801.