Ron's Fishing Adventures

Ron's Fishing Adventures Guiding for Smallmouth Bass & Musky in Central Illinois

09/29/2024

Reposted this video from 15 months ago as a comparison with the photos of Nate Farriell's 49 incher he released yesterday. Catch and release works!

Here's a 49 inch musky caught by Nate Ferriell yesterday. I caught this same fish 15 months ago. This shows that catch a...
09/29/2024

Here's a 49 inch musky caught by Nate Ferriell yesterday. I caught this same fish 15 months ago. This shows that catch and release really works. I will repost the video from my catch for comparison.

09/22/2024

I was able to get out for a short, solo, kayak, musky hunt this morning. I only saw one musky, a 35 incher, that I was able to get into the net. It initially hit out on the cast, but missed. I kept reeling and saw it following fast. It struck on the first turn of the figure eight.

Shout out to Nate, who I was fortunate enough to meet while out on the water today. Nate is towards the beginning of his musky fishing adventures, but he seems to have a good positive musky attitude. I was able to give him some pointers that I'm hopeful will help him along the way. I'm predicting great things ahead for Nate!

The kids and I were able to get out for a few hours this morning and do some musky fishing. Despite the lack of wind, or...
09/18/2024

The kids and I were able to get out for a few hours this morning and do some musky fishing. Despite the lack of wind, or clouds, the muskies were fairly active. We saw seven muskies, including this chunky 34 incher that Nick caught, plus two bonus bass in the boat.

I recently returned from a several days fishing trip to Northern Wisconsin, with only one small musky in the boat to sho...
09/13/2024

I recently returned from a several days fishing trip to Northern Wisconsin, with only one small musky in the boat to show for our efforts. My first musky outing in Illinois, since returning, resulted in this beautiful 45 1/2 inch musky. Shout out to my daughter, Ashley, for an outstanding net job!!

Now, until the lakes close to fishing for duck hunting season in mid October, is prime time to catch a trophy musky. If you want a chance to catch your fish of a lifetime, send me a message.
www.ronsfishingadventures.com

Water temps at Banner Marsh are finally down to a reasonable level for musky fishing. Nick and I went on a musky hunt on...
08/23/2024

Water temps at Banner Marsh are finally down to a reasonable level for musky fishing. Nick and I went on a musky hunt on Thursday. Fishing was slow. We only saw one small musky. We did catch a few nice bass, including this giant. It's one of the biggest I've ever caught.

Ashley and I spent this afternoon chasing smallmouth bass on the Vermilion River. It was a beautiful day for fishing. We...
08/21/2024

Ashley and I spent this afternoon chasing smallmouth bass on the Vermilion River. It was a beautiful day for fishing. We caught 40, including some real quality fish.

The kids and I decided to head to Banner Marsh on Wednesday. With the cooler weather, I thought the water temps might be...
08/09/2024

The kids and I decided to head to Banner Marsh on Wednesday. With the cooler weather, I thought the water temps might be low enough to target muskies. However, the water temps were already in the upper 70's in the wee hours of the morning. So we shifted gears and went after bass instead. The fishing was slow. We only caught a few. This fish was the highlight of the day.

Just a reminder, even though muskies are apex predators, and they're the biggest, baddest, fish in the lake, they are vulnerable to delayed mortality if they are released after an extended battle in water temps of 80° or more.

Ashley and I had another enjoyable afternoon of smallmouth bass fishing on the VermilionRiver, including a beautiful 20 ...
07/30/2024

Ashley and I had another enjoyable afternoon of smallmouth bass fishing on the VermilionRiver, including a beautiful 20 1/2 incher!

Wow!! What a day!! Ashley, Nick, and I spent Thursday chasing smallmouth bass on the Vermilion River. We caught over 150...
07/26/2024

Wow!! What a day!! Ashley, Nick, and I spent Thursday chasing smallmouth bass on the Vermilion River. We caught over 150 fish! Mostly smallies, with a few largemouth and rock bass mixed in. While Nick and I brought in the numbers, Ash dominated in the trophy fish department.

While water temps have been too high to safely target muskies here in Central Illinois, we've been getting our fishing f...
07/20/2024

While water temps have been too high to safely target muskies here in Central Illinois, we've been getting our fishing fix by kayaking for smallmouth bass.

It's a fun adventure with beautiful scenery. On recent trips we've seen deer, blue herons, kingfishers, and a bald eagle, in addition to lots of hungry fish.

Here are some highlights from the Vermilion River with Ashley and my friend Brent.

06/05/2024
06/05/2024

To those who are skeptical about the effect the moon has on fish activity, I went musky fishing yesterday from about 5:45 AM to 11:45 AM. I saw five fish. The predicted major activity period, based on the location of the moon, was from 9:41 to 12:41. The first fish a I saw was at exactly 9:41. The last fish I saw was at 11:45, which I caught and released, and then headed to the boat ramp.

Based on my own observations over the years, there is undoubtedly an increase in fish activity during the moon overhead, and moon underfoot, periods.

I had three follows, the biggest being an upper 30 inch fish. I had a small musky on that got off by the kayak. I caught a very nice largemouth (21"), and a 34 inch musky.

The musky was an interesting catch. I was pedal trolling back to the launch when I saw a spot I wanted to throw a few casts at. I stopped trolling, reeled in my line, and saw the musky following the crankbait. I began a figure eight, and it hit on the first turn.

It's the third time I've had a musky follow while reeling in from trolling, but the first one I've gotten to bite.

05/16/2024

Didn't get the catch of this one on video. My Gopro keeps overheating.

05/16/2024

The release.

05/16/2024

Had my first two musky day of the season. No giants, but two respectable fish-34 inches and 34 1/2 inches, both very healthy and beautifully marked fish.

Had a minor hiccup when my net got hung up briefly, but the crisis was quickly averted.

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Videos

I was able to get out for a short, solo, kayak, musky hunt this morning. I only saw one musky, a 35 incher, that I was able to get into the net. It initially hit out on the cast, but missed. I kept reeling and saw it following fast. It struck on the first turn of the figure eight. Shout out to Nate, who I was fortunate enough to meet while out on the water today. Nate is towards the beginning of his musky fishing adventures, but he seems to have a good positive musky attitude. I was able to give him some pointers that I'm hopeful will help him along the way. I'm predicting great things ahead for Nate!

To those who are skeptical about the effect the moon has on fish activity, I went musky fishing yesterday from about 5:45 AM to 11:45 AM. I saw five fish. The predicted major activity period, based on the location of the moon, was from 9:41 to 12:41. The first fish a I saw was at exactly 9:41. The last fish I saw was at 11:45, which I caught and released, and then headed to the boat ramp. Based on my own observations over the years, there is undoubtedly an increase in fish activity during the moon overhead, and moon underfoot, periods. I had three follows, the biggest being an upper 30 inch fish. I had a small musky on that got off by the kayak. I caught a very nice largemouth (21"), and a 34 inch musky. The musky was an interesting catch. I was pedal trolling back to the launch when I saw a spot I wanted to throw a few casts at. I stopped trolling, reeled in my line, and saw the musky following the crankbait. I began a figure eight, and it hit on the first turn. It's the third time I've had a musky follow while reeling in from trolling, but the first one I've gotten to bite.

Didn't get the catch of this one on video. My Gopro keeps overheating.

The release.

Had my first two musky day of the season. No giants, but two respectable fish-34 inches and 34 1/2 inches, both very healthy and beautifully marked fish. Had a minor hiccup when my net got hung up briefly, but the crisis was quickly averted.

35 incher caught last week.

I haven't posted in awhile. My fishing season has been off to a slow start. I haven't been able to get out nearly as much as I'd like to. Hopefully that will start changing soon. Here's my first musky of the year, caught a few weeks ago-31 inches.

Here's a better quality video.

Another Central Illinois giant! 48 inches! One of the fattest muskies I've ever seen. Well over 30 pounds, I'm sure. Sorry about the foul language. If your delicate sensibilities are easily offended, I suggest you mute the video.

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