Michael Gillig

Sorry, this year I'll miss it, family reunion takes precidenes

I'll be there

I'll be there.

Michael Gillig 

I'll definitely be there.  Great group usually shows up (well 'cept for the year we lost to the pandemic) and I love the venue.

I'll give it a go.... we're eating via curbside pickup so, alas, I won't be able to get a dish in time.  I will bring some comradery though

Looks like the north aurora dam's days are numbered, yeah!!

https://patch.com/illinois/aurora/north-aurora-officials-eyeing-dam-removal-once-again

Scott, you are the Man.  Maybe I should contact Time Magazine an nominate you for their annual person of the year.

Here's the motley crew, fun breakfast, great restaurant.  Good to see my fellow ISA members in the winter months

One of my lake fishing buddies got pretty creative this year.   No idea how he moved around in this thing but he sure nailed the spinner bait!

Amazing trip this year.  Weather was perfect and the bite was on!  Bart was kind enough to let me play 2nd mate in his Towee.  I caught a slew of 18.5 inchers on a whacky and Bart was slaying then on a little fly popper.

Bourbon tasting at nite around the fire, life is good

Damn, summer vacation in valiant county runs right into the potluck; (

I'll plan better next year, have fun, I'll miss the gang

Michael Gillig

Such a long winter, cabin fever had me feeling like Jack Nicholson in the shining......

After a great breakfast at Cherry Valley we split up to attack different sections of the river, I was excited, first time on the Kish.

Once we got on the water the spring fever broke, just couldn't help myself so I bailed off the kayak and went for a swim.  Jude saw me go and caught the enthusiasm and joined me.  Water was a little chilly, not too bad for a Minnesota boy.  After swimming around for a bit we decided to call it a day and let the others have the river.

Next time out I'll try to contain myself and fish the river instead of swimming it.

I have the ultimate solution, well for boats/trailers under 2,000 lbs, and it will save you money.

Unless your boat is actually in the water for a long time, like in a marina (think it's a 60 days a year rule) you don't need to register it in Illinois.  I register my trailer and boat in Minnesota. Boat registration is about the same as Illinois, but the kicker is any trailer for under 2,000 lbs setup is a one time permanent sticker.

I boat the sticker for about the cost of registering it in Illinois and put the sticker on the tongue of the trailer.  No plate, no plate holder no more fees. Sorry Jesse White

And it's legal

But you are my fellow fisherman Scott

Ok, I'll bring a breakfast, lunch and dinner.... I'm assuming we get pots and pans and plates and silverware...

Psyched up about my first trip to the Menominee!

But, as usual, I'm out of touch with the details

I'm guessing we volunteer to do different meals. How does this usually work?

Any idea if the river can be waded or should I prep for class 4 rapids?

I'm in Ed, I'll bring some salad thing of some sort.

Wouldn't miss it, love this event

Ed,

I'm in, wouldn't miss it for nothing!

Well I'm ready for a summer of kayaking in my new Cuda 12. I was up at Cabelas around Christmas and said I was going to use my Co2 vest for comfort. The sales guy asked me to reconsider as the chances of getting wet in a yak are quite a bit higher than in my bass boat.

He told a story of having a Co2 vest deploy on him and having his mouth slammed shut, cutting his tongue pretty good. Sounds more like an air bag explosion than the slow deploy I thought a Co2 vest would do.

So now I'm trying to find something that will do the trick for a sit-on-top with a therma-rest seat.

Tried a couple, one with a high rear pad that was supposed to ride above the seat. Had trouble getting it high enough (I'm a 5'6" midget). Then I hit the 20% off sale at REI today, grabbed an Astral Ronny. Nice thin back which was very comfortable. Had a nice feature with a quick access knife tab for cutting anchor line and avoiding the submarine maneuver

The trouble with all I've tried is that the front is pretty bulky and rides up, Seems like it would get in the way for fishing.

Any feedback is appreciated: what you like; what you don't; what's your favorite; what features you like.

Long as I'm posting today.....

Found another map site I'll share. University of Wisconsin (Madison) put together a zoomable, searchable map of WI lakes as well. Focus on this one is lake clarity.

Don't want to end up living on a catfish lake when I'm fishing for Smallmouth.

http://spatial.ssec.wisc.edu/LakesTSI/

So I started a search for a lake cabin up 'der in Wisconsin. Grew up in Minnesota so I really didn't have any idea just where all the lakes were in WI. Messed with Google Earth, got tired of zooming, got WI state HWY maps, they show roads and towns, missing my lakes.

Tried and tried to google lake maps, the realtor's have hijacked this search Eventually I decided to just drill down in my searches. About page 15 I found Professor Higbee's Stream & Lake Maps.

Ordered up a 4'x4' laminated copy, maybe $40. It's detailed and beautiful. if my wife didn't have veto power it'd be hanging on the living room wall. Simple truth is that one map saved me a year of poking around in WI to figure out where to go. Still has HWY's and county lines but they are pushed into the background to highlight the lakes.

So I contacted the published, asked to get a copy of the two counties I am interested. He says just as soon as his new printer is up and running that will be easy as pie.

They do Illinois. Wisconsin and a scattering of other states (Minnesota is coming), heck, if you want a wall size map they'll even churn on of those out. On the laminated version they put a couple of grommets in to make hanging easy. You can use those non-permanent type markers and write on it to your hearts content.

If anyone is interested here's the link (and, no, I'm not affiliated with the map making industry)

http://www.streammaps.com/showmap.php?id=SMWI

Enjoy,

Michael G

Always check out REI when looking for outdoor/camping gear. Not a fishing rod in the store but lots of tents/bags and even a kayak or two

20 some years ago I went up to the only Midwest store where I could find a Kayak, Rutabagas up in Madison and bought a 'Rebel' for $500.

It served it's purpose, fished the 4Lakes Ponds in Lisle day and night, lot's of fun..

Well after this summers attempt to fish the fox fish with the ISA I realized it was time for an upgrade.... something not too heavy, built for the rivers, able to track so I can fight back upstream and make do in still water and I needed it by early spring so I can tag along on the Sylvania trip....

The 2016 Cuda 12 on $200 off end of year closeout from our friends at RockTown Kayak.

Had to get the wife to sew some 2" Nylon straps to upgrade the ceiling mount.

Too much fun...[

I missed them this fall, but this spring I saw them heading north for the first time. Soooo far up there and still easy to hear.

Wonder how many years I walked the dog looking down and missed them.

An old friend who led me to chasing smallies in moving water sent this on...

Enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q_T5KJpI28

Great fun! First fishing Yak trip on the Fox (only Yak'd in small ponds before). Note to self: buy new Kayak.... Leaned a lot, lost the group, broke a rod, learned how to submarine a Kayak. Thanks to all for putting up with all my questions..