I was excited to receive an email from Bob Clark, the vice president of media relations and speakers for the Lake Geneva Fishing Club. Clark is a great human being and a person I consider to be a friend. He does a great job promoting the club and also doing the same for Walleyes Unlimited.

Clark’s email was an invitation to join the Lake Geneva Fishing Club for a midweek outing on Tuesday. I participated last year and happily sent in my RSVP for the 2017 event. I love fishing Geneva and really like the guys from the club. The event couldn’t come soon enough for my liking.

I was paired with club member Jim Bloede. He called me a couple of days before we were scheduled to fish. The outing was to begin at 9 a.m., starting with a prefishing meeting to be held on the water and given by noted guide Billy Heim. Bloede asked me whether it would be OK to meet at 6:30 a.m. because he wanted to start fishing as early as possible. More fishing time? I was psyched for that.

We met at Williams Bay and launched. Bloede wanted to fish some humps coming out of deep water that he thought might be holding smallmouth bass. He had purchased some live suckers the evening before so we could begin fishing immediately. We headed for an area known as Crawford’s Bar.

Bloede is a class act as a fisherman. His boat was clean and well-organized. He operated his craft with the ultimate in skill. His fishing tackle was all top-of-the-line.

Bloede is 75 years old. He has been retired from owning a kitchen and bath remodeling showroom for four years. He lives with his wife of 55 years, Kathleen, on Lake Como, just down the road from Geneva. Jim and Kathleen have four children, 10 grandchildren and a pair of great-grandchildren.

We hit it off from the start. He is a great guy and a true gentleman. He knows what he is doing and does it well. He is a good conversationalist. He tells a good story and is a great listener. I like that in a fishing partner because it’s hard to get me to stop talking as anyone who has been in a boat with me will swear to. Fishing partners, in my humble opinion, do not come any better than Bloede.

We arrived on our spot, and Bloede’s electronics immediately marked a few fish. We dropped our lines, and I had a hit almost immediately. I dropped my rod tip backward to allow the smallie to eat the bait, but I was a bit premature. After a few seconds, the bass opened its mouth and let go of the sucker. I should have waited longer to set the hook. It’s a problem I have quite often, to be totally honest.

I dropped down again, and it only took a few minutes for me to feel my next bite. I allowed the bass to pull line off of my reel. When it stopped, I reeled the line up until it was gently taut. I felt the weight of the fish holding the sucker in its mouth. It was time. I set the hook hard, I mean really hard. The fight was on.

Smallmouth bass fight as hard as any fish that swims, and this one was no exception. I knew it was a good fish. I’d reel in, and the bass would pull line off my reel, making the drag sing. Bloede manned the net and landed the fish in a professional manner. We measured the fish at 19 inches and gently released it after taking a quick picture.

I rebaited and dropped down again. Not even five minutes had passed when the scenario was played out again almost exactly as it had done previously. After getting it in the boat, it measured out at 19 inches, the same as the first.

A new sucker was put on my line, and I was now ready for another smallie. The next bite came quickly. I set the hook and immediately knew this was a bigger fish on the end of my line. The fight was memorable. The big smallmouth bass jumped high out of the water two times. My heart usually races when this occurs, and this instance was no exception to that rule. The fish was difficult to bring in, and I was fearful that it might get off my line, but that did not happen.

It was only a half-inch bigger than the first two, 19.5, to be exact, but it was considerably fatter. It weighed about 4.5 pounds. It was the biggest smallie I had caught in quite a while, and I was darned proud.

Like flipping a switch, the fish ceased to bite.

We spent most of the day moving from spot to spot, but no smallies could be located. Finally, we spent an hour casting Senkos and drop shots toward the ends of some docks, and I caught a pair of largemouth bass that were 14 and 15 inches in length.

It was time to go, and my partner had not put a fish in the boat. In all honesty, this was not the way that things usually work out for me. If matters held true to course, Bloede should have been the one who had caught five bass, and I should have been the guy who was skunked. I felt badly for Jim but happy it worked out like it did.

My three big smallmouth made the trip memorable. In fact, I must say this was my best day of fishing so far in 2017. It was my best day not only because of the fish but because I was able to make a new friend who is a great guy, a great fisherman and someone I would be proud to fish with any day or any time again.

FISHING REPORT

Northern Illinois: Dave Kranz from Dave’s Bait, Tackle and Taxidermy in Crystal Lake reports: “The lack of rain has river water levels running very low. The fish are in their fall feeding mode, and we are seeing catfish, walleye and white bass all being caught at the McHenry, Algonquin and Carpentersville Dams. McHenry County Conservation Area, the Hollows, always has panfish. Use redworms or waxworms for nonstop action. This is a great place to take kids.

“Crystal Lake has Vulcan Lakes at the Three Oaks Recreation Area. The marina is only open on weekends, but shore fishing is available every day. No minnows are allowed here, but nightcrawlers will work just fine.

“For info on Northern Illinois fishing, call 815-455-2040 for an updated report.”

Fox Chain O' Lakes: Chris Taurisano of T-Bone Guide Service (www.tboneguideservice.com – 630-330-9090) sends word, "Crappies and white bass are active in 10 to 15 feet of water on jigs and minnows or plastics. Walleyes are slow right now. Muskies have been decent on bucktails and topwaters. Plastics have been working as well."

Lake Michigan: The Lake Michigan Fishing Report is provided by Caleb Weiner of Migrator Charters – 815-338-8093. “It is not too late to get out fishing. Numbers of lake trout, 3-year-old kings and the occasional steelhead and coho salmon are still being caught in the waters off of North Point Marina. As usual, kings have been the most active at first light. Magnum RV Moonshine Wonder Bread on a 300-foot copper and a White Hotspot with a Howie Bullfrog fly have been the best to catch these early risers. Once the sun comes up, the RV Moonshine Flounder Pounder has been a steady producer for all four species on a downrigger set down 100 feet. If you are looking for lake trout, now is the time. Deep rods with metal dodgers and Spin ‘N Glos or big 11-inch white hot spot paddles have been the best ways to catch these fish. Lots of bait fish have been showing up in 120 feet of water all the way out past 200 feet. With this amount of bait showing up, even more fish should follow.”

NEWS AND NOTES

High School Muskie Tournament: This is from Jim “Lucky” Beaty, president of the Shawnee Muskie Hunters and is intended for high school fishing club leaders:

“Are there any high school students in your area ready for a new ‘Challunge’ in Illinois? We hope you can bring a team from your area to our fourth annual High School Muskie Tournament on Oct.14 at this new midstate location, Prairie Lake. This program is for all students in Illinois. We also need volunteers to put on this program.”

For information, contact Beaty at jbeaty@certapro.com or call 618-971-7806. The group's website is www.shawneemuskiehunters.org.

Crossbows allowed: How about some good news from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources? Hunters in Illinois now are allowed to use crossbows during archery hunting seasons, including the Illinois Archery Deer Season and the Illinois Fall Turkey Archery Season beginning on Oct. 1. Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law House Bill 2893, which amended the Illinois Wildlife Code to repeal restrictions on the use of crossbows during archery hunting seasons in Illinois. Illinois law previously allowed the use of crossbows for archery hunting by persons age 62 or older, and those persons with disabilities who qualified for a crossbow permit issued by the IDNR. In addition, the previous law allowed certain youth hunters to use crossbows, and allowed all archery hunters to use crossbows beginning the Monday after the second firearm deer season.

• Steve Sarley writes about the outdoors for Shaw Media. Write to him at sarfishing@yahoo.com. Steve does a weekly podcast about fishing called "WeFishASA." You can find it at www.wefishasa.com.