Trip Report - Dupage 6-20

[Nickk]

I fished the Dupage for the first time this year, it's not very close so I don't make it there as often as I'd like.  It was hot!  I fished from around 6:30-noon, downstream and then back up the way I had come with a bit added on the upstream portion.  Weeds were pretty bad, loads of hairy clumps tumbling down fouling your hook when fishing down.  Very slow morning with only a single smallie spotted among the numerous small carp.  As I was wading upstream toward the end of my wade I saw a fish break the water near a mud bank so I tried drifting a hopper pattern with no luck.  Then I switched to a very sparse Clouser to work the subsurface zone of the same area and I noticed a small ball of baitfish moving downstream past me in the current, my fly was the perfect size if they start keying on those.  A few minutes later I looked upstream and saw several fish busting the surface, by now I had assumed everything was carp because I had be relegated to carp herder for the day but there's actually a good chance it's actually smallies busting bait.  I waded up to get in position and false casted to keep from fouling in weeds when all of a sudden I had half the rod in my hand.  The tip and second section had separated from my 6 weight and I was frantically gathering line hoping that my fly snags the tip, it did and then I had to just as frantically pull the line through the tip to get my rod to it's full 9' again.  A quick look showed that the fish were still active, I settled in and managed to go 4/5  until they cooled down(or I spooked them).  That's really what you live for fishing smallies on a fly, great to be there!  Pardon the bad pics but they fish were busting and I wasn't going to waste time.

[Scott Ferguson]

Nice report!

[John Gillio]

I hate when the rod sections separate like that. Nice report.