bill sheridan

In the mornings, with breakfast and coffee I scan through the 5 Chicago TV stations. This morning I caught 32 weather. Mike Caplin always shows pictures that viewers send him. Today he showed 2 pictures.of the Vermillion River. The first picture was just of the River, trees, rocks and water. The second picture was of the guy holding a smallmouth. In this picture you could tell exactly where on the Vermillion he was fishing. If he was member he would know: No Locations! Bill Sheridan

About 10 years ago I bought a book: Commando Canoeing in Illinois. The 2 guys who wrote the book used that title because there is very little free water in IL. They would canoe on week days when people where at work. They did get their car towed and had to retrieve at the county pd. 2 creeks that they stated as “ guaranteed to get arrested “ Big Indian & Little Indian in LaSalle County. I bought the book just to get ideas about creeks to fish. The book is a very good read just for the history research that was done about original land owners back for 150 years. If you can find it I give a good reqemendation.

Dayton Il to Ottawa is a nice trip. Parking by the powerhouse in Dayton. Parking in Ottawa down stream from I & M canal. You will have to paddle the last 1/2 mile . The Fox River is real low now.

Two weeks ago about a dozen guys were netting carp in the Starved Rock pool in Ottawa. I stopped and watched them for around 15 minutes I asked one of them if they had made dent in the numbers. He answered That there was no end to the carp.

I remember as a kid all the cups were coated with wax. We would use them to wax the sliding boards. I do not know how they used to decompose. Might be something to back to, more natural.

Type in Grundy County Gis. .This web site has maps that if you click on the property number it high lights the property lines and the owner. Type in any county name in any state with gis and you get the same info. Land owner, lot size, address and where the tax bill is mailed. All the same information about you is on the county gis that you live in too. Bill Sheridan

2,629 acres has been purchesed in LaSalle County by the state. It is most of the land that was owned by the old Lone Star Cement Co. The land is now Buzzi Unicem. This land is on both sides of The Vermillion River and on the west edge of Matthiessen Park. This area includes Wildcat Rapids and Bailey Falls along with several ponds. It also includes the old pit along Rt 71 that is across the river from Ogesby. Bill Sheridan

Buy a roof rack. I would suggest you stay away from the foam blocks unless they are placed as close to the front & back as possible. Your car roof will flex and after a year or so I think it will cause the liner to come lose. It feels like a fly is waking around on top of your head. It will make you crazy when are driving! Bill

If you have a little extra money, check this place out. N 1211 Eastside Rd. Serona Wi. on Realty.com or Zillow. MY dream house! Bill Sheridan

Conoecopia 2017 will be on March 10 -12 in Madison WI. It is held at the Alliant Energy Center. If you want to see everything in canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards this is the place to go. There is a huge selection of fishing kayaks on display. There are free seminars about how to rig for fishing, also safety on the water and a lot of general knowledge to help get started paddling. The show is worth seeing and Madison is not that far away. There is construction from the state line north to Madison. Bill Sheridan

The Fox River between Dayton and Ottawa is an easy canoe trip. There is parkiing at Dayton and in Ottawa. When the water is low you can put in on the west bank and paddle across, land and walk up to the dam. The water is deeper from there until the I-80 bridge with sand stone walls on the east bank. After I-80 the river gets shallow, the west bank is all private property. the east bank is now a nature area, the City of Ottawa bought it and has somebody look after it. Open to the public? There is houses on the west bank with clear land down to the river, where the trees and brush start on the west bank is state land for maybe 1/2 mile. This used to be listed as Fox River State Park. The remains of two shelters are still there. After that a few houses on the west side. The river turns west then gets deeper. You will then have to paddle to the take out. There are sand stone walls on the right all the way to the I & M Canal Aquaduct. Ottawa's Fox River Park is on the right with docks, launch ramps & parking.

I was in the same situation, free ticket & free parking to the hockey game also had my Blowout ticket. I had to experience open air hockey. It got kind of cold sitting in the snow by the end of the game. Glad I went. With the snow & slow drive I made it home about 3:00 am, I had to stop for breakfest. There were 8 people in the place and 6 counting me had gone to the hockey game. Bill S

I think that the eagles are sitting on eggs. The nest on RT 251 is close to the road and easy to see. It looks like a lot of cars do stop along the road. If you do please be careful. There is also an eagles nest on RT 71 just west of RT23 in Ottawa IL. Its on an island north of the Cargill Grain elevator. Bill S.

The US Patent Office is a must go to site. Even though there is some legal speak, the site gives you every thing to file for and receive a patent or trademark. The site allows you to do your own searches. This idea might help, get a crossword puzzle dictionary. Start with your base word, lets say it is "bracket" look up the word bracket in the dictionary. Write down every word that means bracket, then look up those words. Keep looking up words until you run out of words to cross reference. Here is the part that takes hours & hours, during your patent search you will have to type in every variation of the word "bracket" to see if anybody else has already thought of your idea. Here is an example, at one time in our fishing lives we have all still fished. This consisted of finding a short stick with a vee notch to set the pole in while we waited for a bite. There are hundreds of patents to hold a fishing pole when a simple stick is all that is needed. The last line sounds kind of a downer, I am not trying to sound all doom & gloom. Jump in with both feet and make it big! I hope you become a 1 percent Bill Sheridan

You can get access to the Vermillion River at most of the LaSalle County highways. There is a good canoe trip from The Hop-a-long Cassidy canoe launch on Rt 18 ( Main Street ) just west of downtown Streator IL to The Sandy Ford Bridge on County Highway 5 ( N 18th Road ). You can also park by these bridges - County Highway 29 ( E 15th Road ), & County Highway 57 ( E 12th Road ) this bridge is known as The Red White & Blue Bridge. This bridge is where the river gauge is located. I think you can get to the river on Oakley Ave., County Highway 29 I am not real sure about this one though. One place by Matthiessen Park is at the west end of N 2309th Road, this is just a one lane gravel road that ends in a small lot to park at. The path to river will fork, the left fork takes you to Big Bend. It's big limestone formation that the river curves around. It is a big cliff, The right fork is a more gradual path to the river but it is a longer walk and you have to remember where you came in at so you can find your way back out. Bill S.