Friday, November 02, 2007

Just a few minutes after work

Mandy's 19 inch Largemouth Bass
My buddy Tom called and asked if I had time for a few minutes of fishing after work. I could not get away from my desk before 5:00 and with the sun going down by 6:30, it was certain to be just a few minutes. His daughter Mandy had not been able to come out to join us on any of our previous outings, but she came along for this short outing. Well, I got the first fish of the night but it was just 12" long. Mandy got the second fish of the night. We thought at first that she was stuck in some weeds, but when it did the tail dance, we knew it was a nice fish. As you can see, it was a very Fat 19" Largemouth Bass. She certainly out did us old guys this evening. I ended up with two fish. I'm sure Tom got at least two, but one of his was the smallest fish of the night. And I did not hear if Mandy got any more. Not that it matters, she still earned the bragging rights tonight. Not bad for just over an hour.
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Monday, September 24, 2007

Water at Fermilab

This photo was in today's "Fermilab Today" electronic newsletter. Yes, there is plenty of water at Fermilab. And much of it is accessible to the general public. The cooling ponds on the Tevetron and the Main Injector (the two rings in the foreground) are not accessible to the general public. Even employees are not allowed access to the colling ponds on the Tevetron (the larger ring). But there are fish that can be caught in all the publicly accessible waters. Of course, some waters are better than others.

 

Please visit my web page called "Sport Fishing" for links to up to date access information for Fishing at Fermilab.
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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Somebody else's "vacation"

Sorry, here's another post that is not about fishing at Fermilab. It is about my regular fishing partner Jamie and his recent fishing trip. That last post of mine about my first Snook while I was on vacation last month, looks downright pale in comparison to the fishing trip Jamie recently came back from. Fishing was certainly not the central theme of my vacation and I really only got in one serious morning of fishing. And you could count the fish that I caught using all your fingers and a few toes. Jamie and his four buddies needed four digits to count the fish they caught on their trip. And they were catching Pike.



A Taltson Pike double
I'll just link to one picture from Jamie's Blog. I won't try to retell his story, after all it is HIS story. But I do recommend you check it out. Save the link for a rainy day. This is the stuff day dreams are made of.



Someday, I will take a trip like that. I'll bet it will be a trip with Jamie. And I don't bet on anything unless it is a sure thing. We may not catch stuff like this all the time, but I do get to fish with Jamie on a regular basis and we have great fun, even if our Smallies are not this big.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Fishing while on Vacation


So to truely get in some decent fishing, I had to really get away from work (I left the pager at home and everything).

I got out last week while on vacation with my family down in Sarasota FL. I know, who goes to Florida in early August? Well, I got a deal that was just too good to pass up. I went out with a local guide, Capt Rick Grassett.

We started before sunrise, fishing lighted piers for Snook. The first one I hooked up spooked badly when I got him close to the boat. One mighty shake of the head and he shredded the bite leader. So Rick tied on a heavier leader and the next one came all the way into the net. My first Snook ever and it was about 23", caught on a 6 wt fly rod with an intermediate sink tip line.

Approx 23 inch Snook

Once the sun came up, we fished grass flats and sand bars. I caught several nice Ladyfish and a juvenile grouper. The thrill of the day was seeing an 80 lb Tarpon (Rick's estimate, how would I know) jump out of the water while it was chasing Ladyfish. I shifted from the 6 wt to my own 8 wt rod and Rick tied on a bite leader and one of my own Clouser Minnows. Two inconsiderate guys in another boat slipped between us and the tarpon, so we never had a chance at it. They were throwing bait using spinning rods and were not even after the Tarpon. They were chasing the Ladyfish and Seatrout.

We did make a valiant attempt at a nice Tripletail. These fish float right next to marker bouys or the bouys on crab traps and look like just more stuff growing on the bouy. They hide there waiting for baitfish (aka. breakfast) to come along. My first two casts were not close enough and the third one hit the fish on the head. Apparently he did not think that was very friendly because he promptly left the bouy he had been hiding next to.

It was a great outing. I learned a couple new knots. I am more convinced then ever of the value of a quality pair of polarized sunglasses. This was my first experience with a sink tip line, and I know I am going to go out and get a spool set up with some for my own use here in Illinois. I also picked up a great book on Fly Fishing in Saltwater by Lefty Kreh.

After a very warm morning on the water, I drank Gatoraide, took a cool shower, and then took my son to a movie at a nicely air conditioned theater while my wife and daughter went shopping at an area outlet mall.

More later,Ken S.
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Ken Schumacher
Fishing Fermilab - "Where we smash atoms, so you don't have to"

Friday, July 20, 2007

Dynamic Duo...or just two guys with some free time.

OKay, so I have failed to update this very often. Well, last night was a really fun evening when my
buddy Jamie and I went fishing. I won't bother to write a report, when I can just link to his report (at CustomFish.com).

<*))))))<: Dynamic Duo...or just two guys with some free time. Whatever.

Rebuttal: It was a very good evening of fishing. And yes, I had borrowed Jamie's 5 wt rod. I admit that. But I am the one who caught the fish! (Make sure you check the captions on his photo slide show, then you might understand why I call this my rebuttal.)