Chain of Rocks and Baldwin Lake

We had an unbelievable warm streak in February with highs reaching into the seventies.  This got me pretty excited, so naturally I had to go fishing.  All my friends told me, "Yes Ben, but the water is still cold!"  I refused to be dissuaded though, so I woke up several hours before sunrise on Saturday and hit the road for St. Louis.  My plan was to fish the Chain of Rocks on the Mississippi River.  Perhaps the shovelnose sturgeon would be biting again (see my post from last September).

Fast forward six hours, and I was driving away from the Chain after not catching a single fish.  I saw other people catch one shovelnose and one shorthead redhorse, but that was it.  A lot of walleye fishermen came and then later left disappointed.

I salvaged the day by driving down to Baldwin Lake, a power plant cooling lake an hour south from Chain of Rocks.  I've heard good things about hybrid striped bass and blue catfish, so I was curious to see it for myself.

I walked along the shore until I reached the no trespassing sign near the discharge.  There was a pretty good current running parallel to the shore.  However, when I put my hand in the water, I was surprised to find that it wasn't warm.  I cast out a fish finder rig with a nightcrawler, and within seconds I had a small channel catfish on the line.

Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

After three more similarly sized catfish, I switched to lures to see if I could catch a hybrid striper.  I started off with my usual two jig setup.  I felt a few tiny bumps that didn't quite feel like bites, and eventually I discovered what was causing them when I pulled in a snagged threadfin shad.

Threadfin Shad (Dorosoma petenense)

I switched several times between spoons, swimbaits, and jigs.  After hundreds of casts I finally got a good hit on one of the white jigs right next to shore.  It turned out to be a very fat white bass, probably a prespawn female.

White Bass (Morone chrysops)

I hoped the bite would pick up after that first fish, but it did not.  The weather forecast showed storms headed my way, and I had a long walk back to the parking lot, so I packed up.  One good fish is good enough for me!

On Sunday I got up early again and gave Chain of Rocks another try.  I didn't have high hopes for catching fish, so I took some scenery shots instead.

I found some ancient hieroglyphics on one of the rocks.  Not sure what it means.

Around noon I packed up my gear and met up with a high school buddy who lives in St. Louis.  We went for a walk across the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge just upstream from the Chain.

It was neat seeing the Chain from a different perspective.

When we got to the Missouri side of the river, we really got a sense of how big the Mississippi is.

I'll return for those shovelnose sturgeon, but I think I'll wait until the water warms up a bit.

Clinton Lake spillway buffalo

On my way home from Champaign, I stopped at the Clinton Lake spillway to see if anything was biting.  I had fished it once before, and I remember catching quite a few black crappie.  I arrived a few hours before sunset to find several people already there.  They weren't catching crappie, but they were getting walleye on live minnows.  I tried a few swimbaits and jigs that looked similar to their minnows, but I didn't get any bites.

Right as the sun was setting I accidentally snagged a number of gizzard shad with the small jig I was using.  They weren't snagged randomly though; they were all hooked very close to the mouth.  For those of you who don't know, gizzard shad has been my nemesis for over half a decade.  I've tried for them in Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, but they always refuse to cooperate.

The last one I caught / snagged looked like the hook might have been inside the mouth, but before I could see for sure it flopped off the hook onto the ground.  There's no way I'm going to count it on my lifelist.  I need to be 100% sure it's a fair hooked fish.

Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum)

The next weekend I returned to Clinton to make another attempt at the shad.  I thought maybe they would bite at sunrise, so I left Peoria early so I could be at the spillway as the sun came up.  I tried a super tiny jig, a #20 hook with a bit of neon green plastic, and a #20 hook with small piece of bread.  The shad did not make an appearance.

As I was packing up to leave, a teenager hooked into a big fish.  He was using light tackle, so it took him a while to land it.  When he got it to shore, we saw that it was a large bigmouth buffalo.  Everyone congratulated him, which put a big smile on his face.  He dragged the fish up onto the bank, and then took a large rock and hit it on the head.  Not good...

I walked over and congratulated him again on catching the buffalo.  He said thanks, grinning ear to ear.  I asked him how he planned to cook it.  He replied, "Those f*$&ers are nasty as sh#$, I don't eat them."  I kind of figured he'd say something like that, but I didn't want to make a scene, so I said, "Yeah they're awesome aren't they! Isn't it great that we can catch these big native fish here?"  He wasn't sure what to say, so I followed up with, "They taste great too, once you deal with the bones." He told me I could take it, so I did.

Bigmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus)

Giving up on the gizzard shad, I returned home.  The buffalo weighed 23 pounds.  I would love to catch one this big someday!

I filleted it, leaving the ribs on the fish.  In hindsight, I should have filleted it so the ribs stayed with the meat, because I planned to smoke it.  Bones are easy to deal with in smoked fish.  I did remember to leave the skin on the fillets, because you can let the skin burn without worrying about ruining the meat.

Next I cut the fillets into pieces and boiled a pot of brine on the stove.  The brine consisted of filtered water, brown sugar, sea salt, fresh garlic, and several different spices.  I cooled the brine in the fridge and then poured it over the pieces of buffalo.

The fillet pieces soaked overnight, and the next day I fired up the grill and smoked them for five hours.  I kept the temperature low, around 130 to 140 degrees for the first four and a half hours.  For the last half hour I raised the temperature up to 160 to make sure the fish was cooked all the way through.

Buffalo is a great fish for smoking.  The meat is firm and flaky, and the small bones can be easily picked out while you're eating it.

It's really such a shame that rough fish have such a bad reputation in the midwest.  I'm not saying everyone has to enjoy cooking and eating them, but at the least they should be respected.  If you don't plan to eat a fish, you should release it, simple as that.

I vacuum sealed the majority of the smoked fish and ate the remaining pieces over the following week.  My friends even came over for fish tacos featuring Clinton Lake spillway buffalo.

Native fish are not trash, regardless of what species they are.  Let's treat them with respect.  If you catch one, be it buffalo, gar, pike, walleye, or crappie, please either eat it or let it go.  Set a good example for the younger generation.  These fish are our heritage, and we want them to be here so our children and grandchildren can enjoy them.

Oh and gizzard shad, I will catch you one day!!!

Winter fishing in Champaign County

I almost let January pass by without catching a fish!  On the last day of the month I decided to fish one of my friend Jeff's spots in Champaign, IL.  This winter has been unseasonably warm in Illinois.  The high was 60 that day, but the water still felt awfully cold through my chest waders.  The spot isn't the most scenic in winter, but as usual I had it all to myself.

Usually I fish with bait, and as a result I often worry that my lure fishing skills are getting rusty.  This was a good opportunity to leave the worms at home.  I started out with a small inline spinner.  Striped shiner was my first fish of 2016!

Striped Shiner (Luxilus chrysocephalus)

Next I switched to a christmas tree colored curly tail jig.  It turned out to be the color of the day.  Usually I stick with white because that's what works well below spillways for fish like crappie and white bass.  I wonder if the christmas tree color reminds them of crayfish.

Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu)

They just kept hammering it!

A smaller jig caught the only creek chub of the day.  This is pretty typical for this creek.  You won't catch them very often, but when you do they're good sized ones.

Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus)

I worked my way further downstream to shopping cart pool.  My friend Jeff came up with the name.

The deeper pool had rock bass mixed in with the smallmouth bass.  They were really agressive.

Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris)

This creek is full of longear sunfish, but honestly I was pretty surprised when I caught one.  They usually don't bite until the water warms up spring.

Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis)

I got one green sunfish towards the end of the day.  Their numbers used to be much higher when the water quality was poorer, but now they are outnumbered by the other sunfish and basses.

Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)

Since the fish were biting well, I tried out a few lures that I have never used before.  One was a rattle trap.

It worked!  First fish on a rattle trap.

Next I tried a spinner bait.  A rock bass and a smallmouth bass both hit it.

It seemed like a good idea to end on a high note, so after my spinner bait bass I packed up and made my way home.  Thanks again Jeff for sharing this spot with me!

San Diego Bat Rays

During my San Diego trip I met up with a few guys from prehistoricsoul.com to fish for bat rays. It was incredibly generous of them to take us to one of their spots, share their bait, teach us how to fish for big rays, and let me reel in a couple of fish on their gear. I arrived at the fishing spot about 45 minutes before anyone else. I fished a few lures and soaked some squid while we waited, but there wasn't anything biting at low tide. Tom and Steve arrived and got to work setting up their rods. They use heavy conventional gear with braided line around 40 lbs. After they cast out their baits (cut mackerel), they set their rods in PVC tubes and turned the reel clickers on. As the tide came in we waited for bites.



Steve was the first to hook up with a nice bat ray on his surf rod. Tom I missed most of the fight because one of his rods went off, but when the fish that took Tom's bait came off we hurried back to help Steve land his ray. It looked to be the start of a good night!

Bat Ray (Myliobatis californica)


Tom's rod went off again. He was closer, so he grabbed the rod, set the hook, and then insisted that I reel it in. It was a fun fight, and we landed the ray, but I didn't set the hook so I didn't want to count it for my lifelist.



By this time the sun had set, and it quickly became dark. Steve had another nice bite, and this time he reeled in a butterfly ray. It was a big one too! We were all very excited to see this less common species.

California Butterfly Ray (Gymnura marmorata)


A few other people showed up and set up their rods as well. I had pieces of squid cast out with my small travel rods. One rod had 10 lb line and a #4 octopus circle hook, and the other had 4 lb line and a #8 octopus hook. My 10 lb rod went off, and to my dismay I had a fairly decent bat ray on the end. It would have been awesome to catch my official lifer on my own gear, so I kept my drag loose and fought it as carefully as possible.



I was fortunate that the ray didn't wrap my line around anything, and after a long and slow fight I had it up in the shallow water less than 10 feet from shore. You can see its tail in the photo below. However, once its belly began scraping the sand bottom, I had to tighten the drag to bring it in further. As soon as I did that, my line snapped. Bummer!



Next my 4 lb rod went off, and I pulled something tiny in, more or less dragging it along the surface of the water. It was a salema, a small fish in the grunt family. Tom was surprised to see it this far in the bay. I was happy to have my first lifer of the night.

California Salema (Xenistius californiensis) - new hook & line species #315


Tom let me grab his rod when it went off again, and this time I set the hook and reeled it in so I could count it on my lifelist. It wasn't a big one, but I was excited to have the monkey off my back.

Bat Ray (Myliobatis californica) - new hook & line species #316


My 4 lb rod went off again. This time is was an adorable round stingray. You can't tell the size from this photo, but I assure you that it was VERY small. It would have been more sporting if I had used 2 lb line!

Round Stingray (Urobatis halleri) - new hook & line species #317


Tom caught a few fish on his gear, and then he let me have another turn. This time it was a much larger fish! The fight was fun, but the ray was no match for the heavy gear. Still, by the time we landed it my arms were pretty sore. I can't imagine what a really big shark or ray would feel like. This one measured 43 inches across its wings.



Tom caught the biggest ray of the night with a wingspan of 50 inches. Their bodies get really thick at this size! Tom also caught one with two stingers, which was pretty cool and freaky at the same time.



I received the honors of catching the smallest bat ray. It had an adorable wingspan of 15.5 inches. It was a good fish to end the night with.



California once again left me both humbled and impressed. Humbled at how generous the fishing community is and impressed with how productive and varied the fishing opportunities are. Tuna fishing with Eli last October was without a doubt my best boat fishing experience, and bat ray fishing with the prehistoricsoul.com gang in December was easily my best shore fishing experience. Check out their website and online forum. They're a great bunch of folks.

Thanks again everyone!

Intro to SoCal pier fishing

Ruoxi and I spent the holiday break in southern California, and during my stay we made three short trips to Oceanside Pier, and one trip to Shelter Island Pier.

12/22/2015 - Oceanside Pier

Ruoxi and I stopped by to check out the pier, but we didn't bring bait, and the shop on the pier was closed.  It was mid-morning, the tide was low, and it was windy.  I threw a krocodile spoon on a fish finder rig from about three quarters of the way to the end of the pier.  I hadn't used a lure with a fish finder rig before, but I felt it was necessary to keep my lure below the surface of the water with how strong the wind was .  I caught a few clumps of seaweed and then got a nice hit by this barracuda.

Pacific Barracuda (Sphyraena argentea) - new hook & line species #314

12/25/2015 - Oceanside Pier

The time of day, tide, and wind were the same as above.  I know rising and high tides are better for fishing, but I worked with what I was given.  This time I was armed with squid left over from bat ray fishing.  I set up one line with a dropper loop and small baitholder hook and the other with a fish finder rig and circle hook.  This time I fished about half way to the end of the pier.  Each rig caught one yellowfin croaker.  We didn't get any other bites.

Yellowfin Croaker (Umbrina roncador) - new hook & line species #318

12/27/2015 - Oceanside Pier

For my third trip, I checked the tide charts the night before and drove to the pier early to catch the rising tide.  Ruoxi wanted to sleep in, so I was on my own.  I set up at the end of the pier with a fish finder rig with a circle hook and a big chunk of squid as bait.  It didn't get touched all day, and I swapped the squid out every half hour.

With my other rod I fished a sabiki rig, sometimes straight down close to the pilings, and sometimes out as far as I could underhand cast.  On a slow retrieve, I got some quick taps and reeled in five chub mackerel.  Two flopped off, but I landed the other three!

Pacific Chub Mackerel (Scomber japonicus) - new hook & line species #319

I swapped out the squid on the fish finder rig with fresh cut mackerel, but it still didn't get any bites. It was a nice sunny day though, and I enjoyed myself a lot more than my previous trips.  Pods of dolphins cruised by every so often.

12/29/2015 - Shelter Island

For our last fishing adventure of the trip, Ruoxi and I drove to downtown San Diego to fish the Shelter Island Pier.  We set up as the sun was setting over Point Loma, and the tide was moving out.

I tied two dropper loops in one of the lines and tossed it out as far as I could.  It got hit pretty quickly, and both Ruoxi and I landed some nice barred sand bass.

Barred Sand Bass (Paralabrax nebulifer) - new hook & line species #320

I put out a fish finder rig as well, but it did not get touched.  While we waited, I rigged up my micro rod with a small hook and a piece of squid tentacle.  I dropped it as close to the pilings as I could and right away got small taps.  After a few juvenile barred sand bass and kelp bass, I caught a tiny California scorpionfish (the locals call them sculpin).

Kelp Bass (Paralabrax clathratus)

California Scorpionfish (Scorpaena guttata) - new hook & line species #321

Conditions weren't the best on this trip, partially because it was December, but also because of poor timing on my part with respect to the tide, wind, and time of day.  Nonetheless, it was fun to experiment and catch a few fish, learning a little more about southern California fishing each time we went out.  I'm definitely looking forward to spring and summer when I come out again!