Don’t forget to wet the net too.
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I caught a blue cat the other day on a chatterbait.
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That’s what I usually do so I never have to handle them, but I wanted some pics to show
you good folks here the fruit of my efforts. I manage the pond by feeding 2 gallons of fathead minnows in the spring for the perch. I give them another two gallons of fathead minnows mid to late fall to get them through the winter.
The hybrid bluegills get fed a large Folgers coffee container of Zeigler 3/16 inch floating
pellets every morning. l feed them this from the beginning of April though the first week or two of November. What the perch and hybrids don’t get to, the wood ducks and the turtles clean up any left overs.
I also skim algae from the pond from April through November about 4 hours a week. It
works great in my compost pile for the veggie garden. I don’t fish it very often. Maybe 2 or 3 times ice fishing and 4 or 5 times open water. I also add Aquashade pond dye. The greenish blue coloring is one that cuts down on the wave length of light that promotes weed growth. I also added artificial structure in the pond that give small fish a place to hide from the predators in the pond. Largemouth bass are the apex predators in the pond. The largest one caught weighed 7 lbs on an old De-Liar and was 23". That’s a huge bass for Michigan.
I also have two bubblers/aerators that run 24/7 and help to keep the pond healthy and the fish happy. Happy pond / Happy fish.
Love the pond and all of the wildlife it
attracts. Everyone should have one.
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I always dreamed of owning a small rustic cabin up in the mountains and the property with a year round small stream or brook running through it. Step it up to create a waterfall into one end of the pond and drain out the other end back into the stream or brook. Stock it with Brook trout or rainbows…probably rainbows as I prefer their meat (smoked) to brook trout.
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Feeding time at the pond is my trigger that the day is finally winding down
Take a bong rip and relax
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RIP Dad - I Think Of Him Every Father’s Day
I lost my father 18 years ago, but miss him very much. Every Father’s Day I think of him. These pics are of some fond memories I have with him out trolling on Lake Michigan for King salmon. I let him reel in every one of these. It was his first trip trolling for salmon and he had as much fun as I did watching him reel these in. Love, cherish and remember your fathers today.
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Looks like some happy fishing days! 
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looking forward to going tonight/morning for some perch,
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shore fisherman, lake michigan, chicago, IL, multiple harbors are worthwhile.
nice catch. haven’t had a bucketful in years. some of those look pretty small for keepers, atleast here they are.
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To black lake is killer fishing ! About three hours from me wich end did you end up staying on !
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We stayed just down the road from log cabin bait shop. It was a great time. Wish I were back there.
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Hell yeah can blame you massawewpi camp grounds don’t ring a bell does it ?
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Can say that I seen that one. But really only left the camp twice. My fishing buddy and i went at those pike and crappie pretty hard
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Hell yeah
We use to spend a week up there top notch fishing !
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I tied up my first rod in the early 70s and have probably done about 5 or 6 dozen for
myself and friends. I bought my first rod tying book by Dale Clemens, (RIP), titled
Advanced Custom Rod Building, followed up a couple years later with one titled
Custom Rod Thread Art. Both of these are still available on Ebay and they made a
big difference in the quality of what I was doing.
These books were also instrumental in getting the basics of thread art on blanks.
Many of the first ones I did were fiberglass and S-glass blanks by Lami-glass.
In the early 80s I bought a jig to make it easier to tie up eyelets and do thread art.
With the thread art, I was sometimes winding 3 or 4 threads at a time and the jig made it much easier to do.
In the last 25 years or so, my favorite manufacturer of blanks has been Loomis, although
Sage, St. Croix and Fenwick have also been used. My favorite eyelets have been the Fuji SIC (silicone carbide) style, usually single foot, but not always.
It’s been a dozen years since I’ve ordered blanks, eyelets, threads, or finishes, but I
use to buy from Cabelas where I could buy the eyelets in bulk and get better pricing,
as well as a nice selection of blanks from different manufacturers.
Another place that sells rod building components including blanks was The Mud Hole.
I use to use a barbecue slow turn roaster motor to attach the completed rod to while applying the color preserve and then the 2 part finish once the color preserve was cured.
This motor turned at 4 revolutions per minute. I finally bought one specifically designed for rod curing that spins just a little faster then that, but it still turns slow enough to apply the 2 part epoxy cure while it’s turning.
I like long noodle rods for surf fishing Lake Michigan so many of the Loomis blanks I used were 11 to 15 foot in length and designed for light line. 2 lb test. A general rule of thumb is one eyelet for every foot of rod, but I always seemed to have one or two more than that when finished. We surf fish Lake Michigan for steelhead with 2 lb test leaders and the small hook and light line presentation is key for consistent catches.
Pics.
Thread art on an old Lami-glass blank that’s a 13’ rod. I still use it.
Here are a couple done on graphite blanks from Loomis with Fuji single foot silicon carbide eyelets *SIC
Fishing on the beach for steelhead a half mile south of the Frankfort piers on Lake
Michigan.
Lami-glass S-glass - 13’
Lami-glass fiberglass - 15’
Jig for tying up blanks
Loomis blanks - 11 1/2’ - Sunset on Lake Michigan.
Waiting for a rod to bend surf fishing Lake Michigan
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