November 3, 2009
Met up with George Moss of Outdoor Water Solutions to install a few windmills today and tomorrow. We use these windmill aerators for a variety of aeration needs, especially when there is no electricity available. Some are used for summertime aeration to keep ponds from stagnating, some are used to keep open water in the winter to let sunlight in and keep the pond oxygenated, and some we use to keep open water in the winter to attract ducks and geese for hunting and wildlife viewing!
We finished up installing windmills a bit earlier than expected, so we headed out to do a bit of trout fishing before sunset. At our last windmill install we were talking about trout fishing with our client Josh Catour and we all decided to just head out to the lake. En Route, Chef Todd called and happened to have the afternoon off of work and I think his sixth sense just knew I would be heading out to the lake on this fine November afternoon.
At the lake, the trout were definitely digging this nice cool sunny weather! They were up shallow and chasing pretty much any bait tossed in front of them. We caught trout on mepps spinners, curly tail grubs, jigs, minnows, chicken livers, and canned corn!
We also caught this nice cold water catfish as well.
October 15, 2009
Otter Creek is an
HB Featured Property over near Astoria, Illinois. It is quickly becoming the very best fishing property in the midwest with over 200 acres of trophy fishing lakes and hatchery ponds devoted to Largemouth Bass, Hybrid Striped Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Tiger Muskie, Pure Muskie, Crappie, Albino Catfish, and Hybrid Bluegill. Anyhow it is very hard for me not to talk about the fish when talking about this property, but it is also a very nice hunting property as well!
The wetlands, food plots, and aeration systems hold about 4500 geese and ducks throughout the winter, but still the subject of todays little article is the deer. Here is a picture of a deer harvested by Ryan Pudik last week. The body is so big it makes the antlers look small:
Working on this property is like going on VACATION! Just going around and filling up the feeders on all the lakes takes about 5 hours, especially when you stand with your jaw wide open as you push the test button and watch the fish feed at each station. There I go again, thoughts always drift to the fish when thinking about this property. All of the lakes have been built and stocked within the last few years and I just shiver inside thinking about the fishing potential this place boasts not only presently, but in the future. These fish are still young and have alot of growing up to do!!!
