Sept-Oct Illinois stuff

[BenCantrell]

Met up with a fellow Illinois species hunter for the first time a few weekends ago.  Slow day at the power plant cooling lake near my house, but he managed a nice sized lifer blue cat.



He brought a landing mat, which is something I admit I have not used before.  It was actually pretty handy as far as keeping grass and dirt off the fish so it would be nice and clean for some photos.





All I could catch were dinky carp, over and over and over, haha.



Last weekend I took a coworker fishing for the first time.  He's straight from Ghana, so this was a good culture shock for him, interacting with other fisherman, using rod & reel, and catch & release fishing.  Naturally his first catch was a bluegill.







Biggest carp of the day might have broke double digits, but we didn't weigh it.  I had promised him buffalo, but strangely they didn't make an appearance.



My surprise catch of the day was a walleye that picked up a nightcrawler off the bottom.  We saw three muskies caught by guys fishing out of boats.  As the temps drop they should start feeding heavily for a few weeks, so I may get out again to see if I can get one from shore.

[Pinoyfisher]

Nice!! That blue cat is making me hungry!