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Saturday, 26 July 2008
Nice Bass from Diversey Harbor
Topic: Diversey Fishing Reports

diversey bassSpent a couple hours from 2-4pm this afternoon fishing for largemouth bass at Diversey Harbor. Right away I caught a couple smaller fish in the 12" range with a pumpkinseed colored power worm. Both bass came from under the docks.

I continued fishing along the west side of Diversey Harbor looking for any spots where I could drop in my lure. For a good hour nothing was happening for me. I was getting little bites here and there from some bluegill and caught a couple small rock bass, but that wasn't what I was after.

I decided to switch my lure to a watermelon colored senko. I worked the docks pretty hard the first time through, so I tried to work the heavier weed areas on my way back. So that's what I did.

Anywhere I saw a shady area and some heavy weeds is where I tossed my senko. The great thing about fishing a senko is that you don't have to give it that much action to fish it. Simply toss it out and let the lure wobble on its own as it dead drops into the pocket you're fishing.

With this senko fishing technique I came away with a nice 19" largemouth bass that swam up from the bottom, and inhaled my lure. It put up a nice fight with a couple jumps and I thought it was gonna break off my line with the weeds it had dragged me through, but I was lucky enough to land this bass with no problem.

 

Good Fishin'

Jon




Sunday, 13 July 2008
Diversey Largemouth Bass
Topic: Diversey Fishing Reports

diversey largemouth bassIt's been awhile since my last post, and equally as long since my last time fishing one of the Chicago harbors. I got out yesterday morning to Diversey Harbor after the rain storms. The skies were still cloudy, and the winds were calm. It looked like another front was pushing into the area, so I thought the fishing would still be great.

I tossed a weightless watermelon senko between the docks on the west side of Diversey Harbor, but didn't have any luck. I noticed I was getting some follows, but no strikes. I switched my lure to a Berkley powerworm in pumpkinseed color below a split shot, about 8" up.

I would cast out, and swim the powerworm back, past the docks, weedlines, shady areas, etc. I think the twirling action of the curly tail made the difference as far as strikes. I came away with two smaller largemouth bass, and one decent largemouth that was about 14". Not too bad for a couple hours of fishing.

-Jon




Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Bass at Diversey Harbor
Topic: Diversey Fishing Reports

largemouth bassFinally, I was able to locate (and catch) some decent largemouth bass this season. I fished Diversey Harbor yesterday evening from 6-8pm. Conditions were in the 70s with clear skies that eventually turned cloudy around 7ish.

I started along the west end of the harbor tossing a jig and minnow lure along the bank and across the weedbeds. I picked up a few rock bass here and there. I continued walking south, past the boat launch, where I tossed my jig into a dark pocket right alongside one of the docks and bam!...caught this largemouth bass in the picture above. He hit the lure almost as soon as it broke the surface of the water.

jig and minnow

The clouds started moving in at this point and I made my way further south and across to the other side of Diversey Harbor, right by the Fullerton Ave. bridge. I wanted to see if I could pick off any smallmouth bass sitting in the current.

I started tossing a chartreuse spinnerbait upstream, and worked it back about 10-12 ft. from the shoreline. I was getting a few little swipes at it, but nothing big enough to bite. I switched over to a suspending jerkbait, and made the same presentation by throwing upstream and slowly reeling, pausing and twitching it back. After my pass on that first cast I noticed there was a smallmouth trailing right behind my lure, but he wouldn't commit to it. I made the same cast a handful of times, and every time was the same. That smallie would just stare at my lure as I swam it along with its nose an inch away. Long story short, I threw a bunch of lures in that direction, but just couldn't get that smallmouth to bite.

I headed back to where I had caught that first largemouth bass and tossed a floating Rapala above the weed pockets. A couple casts later I hooked into a similar sized largemouth bass and yanked him out of the water with my line still taught. He made one good head shake, broke my line, and he dropped right back into the water, with my lure. Damn.

With that, I called it a night. It was still a successful one in my mind, knowing that the largemouth bass were finally turning on, and that some smallmouth bass in Diversey Harbor were still to be had.

Good Fishin'

- Jon


Posted by Jon at 8:43 PM CDT
Updated: Wednesday, 25 June 2008 8:38 AM CDT
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Monday, 23 June 2008
Get Firefox 3!
Topic: Miscellaneous

This is an off-topic subject, but for those who do follow what's going on in the world of computers and technology, you'll be happy to hear that Mozilla officially released its latest version of the popular web browser, Firefox. As of June 17, 2008, Firefox 3 is available to download for free.

Personally, I like using Firefox and it's been my default web browser for the past year or so. I like it better than Internet Explorer because it's a little less cluttered in the toolbars, it seems to load more quickly, and in my opinion, the text/images that open up are more clear to the eye. Version 3 of Firefox boasts all the same benefits of previous versions, plus claims to offer over 15,000 improvements. The toolbar is modernized a bit more, but the clean look is still intact.

Load time in Firefox 3 is supposed to be 2-3 times faster in this most recent release. Security and customization have always been strong points for this web browser as well, and you'll find plenty of options to choose from when working with Firefox 3.

You'll find a button for a free dowload of the latest version of Firefox in the lower right column of this webpage.

Keep an eye on these posts, I'll be getting some fishing reports out soon!

- Jon




Thursday, 19 June 2008
Fish Virus in Chicago?
Topic: Miscellaneous

I came across this story this morning in the Chicago Tribune about a fish virus that has possibly invaded the local waterways/rivers here in the Chicagoland area. After a massive die-off of gobies washed ashore in Milwaukee, WI, scientists discovered that it was linked to the VHS virus. This fish virus does not affect humans in any way, but it could potentially destroy a healthy population of not only gobies, but more important gamefish such as salmon, trout, walleye, muskie, perch and bass in Lake Michigan.

There's no real quick-fix solution to the problem, and scientists are hoping that fish populations here in Chicago can develop an immunity to the virus. It's not certain how the VHS virus in fish got here, but it's likely a result of cargo ships from neighboring waters emptying their infected ballast tanks into Lake Michigan.

Not good for fellow fishermen here in Chicago.

- Jon


Posted by Jon at 11:04 AM CDT
Updated: Thursday, 19 June 2008 11:09 AM CDT
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