Jackson: Moving is the key for great action

Shore fishing is a lot of fun, except when your gear lets your down.

Take hiking boots or shoes as one example.

I generally spray a waterproofing compound on my trail boots at least a half-dozen times a season. Even though the boot manufacturer claims the product I purchased is supposed to be waterproof, that factor seems to disappear halfway through a typical fishing season.

I wear these kinds of boots because I like to roam the shorelines of streams and ponds early in the morning. The sun hasn't done its job yet of drying the wet grass and shrubs, so I need to keep my feet dry as I explore.

I did a lot of fishing travel this summer, targeting some regional streams, lakes and ponds.

I left the boat in the garage for more than 90 percent of these excursions because I fished in areas that didn't have launch facilities. That's where the boots came in handy.

First a gear and tackle rundown.

While on foot I carried two Grandt rods with one being a 9-foot, No. 6 weight fly setup. The other was a Grandt 6-foot-6-inch-XLH-70 spinning rod and reel rigged with four-pound mono.

I carried two small boxes of lures and jigs in a backpack, along with two cartons of leeches. The live bait was part of an experiment I was conducting. My main fish enticement was a tiny 1/16-oz. spinner for the spinning rod and a few black, sinking, bead-head flies for the fly rod.

I located a bluegill hot spot on the upper-Fox River, just yards north of Rt. 50 in Wisconsin.

I flipped the spinner in to a slack-water pool expecting to get hit by a jumbo 'gill. I was instead greeted with a hard strike. Two minutes later a three-pound channel cat was flopping at my feet.

I forgot to mention I was on a quest to catch as many different species of fish as possible in a single day. The channel catfish was number one.

I moved upstream for about 50-yards and made another cast. Species No. 2 came to ground in the form of a nine-inch rock bass. I kept going.

This next arm exercise I made involved several false casts with the fly rod. I extended about 50 feet of fly line with the black fly landing inches from a tree overhang. I made two inbound strips of line and then watched as the fly line moved sideways. A very chunky smallmouth bass jumped clear of the surface. A 1½-pound smallie has tremendous energy but the fly rod had more than enough backbone to bring the fish back to the bank. That was the No. 3 on the species list.

I drove back into Illinois and continued my hunt on the Kishwaukee River.

I worked some slack water near one of the bridges. My fly line went taut on my fifth cast and I thought I had hooked a submerged log. When I lifted the rod the log suddenly started moving downstream.

This treasure was a five-pound "Kish" northern pike.

After releasing the northern, I walked upstream and hooked a leech to a No. 8 hook and shot the setup to a stretch of shallow, gravel.

It seemed like it came out of nowhere. A 12-inch walleye grabbed the leech and started pulling away. That was No. 5 on the list. Not bad for a short day of exploring, even though I wasn't trophy hunting.

I caught a few more smallmouth, all from shore mind you. And then I hit No. 6 in the form of a two-pound largemouth bass hiding under a log.

My day was now complete.

I sat down on the bank of this beautiful river with my lunch and contemplated how residents along this treasured stream strive to protect it and keep it healthy. Well done, people, and thanks for the memories.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.