KenS

I'm planning to be there.

Ben and I went out Friday morning shorty before front came through. The smallies were active for a short flurry of big fish. Ben started it off with a 19.75". I then went on a 21 minute role where I caught an 18", 18.5", 18.5' 19" and lost two more of similar size. Man those fish can jump! I caught another 19.5" within an hour. After this one, they really shut off. 

r st

I tried the 20% last week and it still worked.

Bart,thanks for organizing the outing and grilling for the group and Kevin for the shuttle.

Jim, Chris and I had a good time kayak fishing our section of river. With the river being so low and clear we could see stuff that normally can't be seen. Good timing too with the river level shooting up the next day.

Most of the fish I caught were small but I did catch 3 nice ones. 16.75", 17", 16". 

Hi Bart, I would like to join the kayak group. See you at 8:00.

Alan,

Put me down for August 5-11 also.

Thanks,

Ken

Scott,

If the spot is still open I will take it.

Here is my double. It was a nice surprise.

Every year we come we learn more. The experiences add up and the information learned from the other fisherman is extremely valuable. I cant believe the very fast water that some of these fish hang out in. No wonder they are so powerful.

This year the river was higher than normal, the bite was mostly neutral and the sun was never ending.

My daughter out fished me a couple days with some really nice fish. Her largest were 19" and 19.25".  We caught quite a few 18s to just under 19".  We also caught a couple nice eater walleye for dinner.

I also can't wait for next year! I enjoyed hanging out with the group very much!

Lauren and I are still planning on going,

I have an old foot injury which doesn't bother me much. It is does when walking on rocks. I purchased a Hammers Collapsible Wading Staff Fishing Stick a couple years ago. I like it a lot, it allows me to take weight off my foot when needed. It is most helpful when covering longer distances wading creeks.

Add me to the party.

Put Lauren and I down for August 11-15.

Thanks,

Ken

two more

More pics.

Catching fish during our time has been more difficult than any of our previous trips. Even with that we still have caught many nice smallies and walleye, I have had a great time spending time with my daughter and the other guys here. . At the end of today we witnessed the most incredible rainbow I have ever seen! I will a picture could really capture the view. We happen to be at a perfect spot on the river.

Thanks for the links. I didn't know about them. I am going to look into the group further.

I could join you to do some cleanup in Pilcher park .

Sean, what areas did you see that needed clean up?

The carp are all Common carp no Asian carp.

I actually did pretty well on the creek after work on Friday. The best one was just over 17". I started throwing a ned minnowz and switched to a rubber frog and stayed with it the rest of the time. Most smallies I caught were around 10" with a few rock bass .

Water clarity was very good above the dam. The clarity of the water backed up by the dam was greatly reduced. The decreased clarity continued for miles past the dam.

There are carp all over the creek below the dam but almost none above it.

Another change in the creek above and below the dam is the gradient. The creek drops quite a bit more from the dam to Joliet also with more abundant rock compared to areas from Frankfort through New Lenox.

Fished Hickory this weekend and got my Hickory PB smallie.

The wind was a challenge with kayak control. A gust of wind took my hat which I was able to rescue. Other than the wind, it was a good day on the water. I tried a jerk bait with only getting a follow to the kayak and another fish that only bumped and swirled at the surface. All my catches were on a swim bait and a ned.  Paul, thanks for showing me around. It was a good day to be out catching smallies.

Hi Paul, count me in. See you at 9.

I can do Saturday 10-3.

Spin for me.

Sounds like fun, count me in.