Mark K

Amen. Isn't there a "Man-Law" governing this? Since when could we ever rely on the honesty of ANY "man", much less...the most notorious of story tellers..."fisher-man" :-)

Click on "Alt View". there are pictures you'll get the idea. If you sign up on Orvis' mailing list, they occasionally circulate a $25 off and purchase of $50 or more. So buy the pack and a leader or a fly to push you over 50 bucks and get the pack for $25 . I've had mine for 2 years now. Really like it.

I've had enough wading packs for people to think to think I have some weird fetish for them. Trouble is I hate having a bag in front of me or pockes like in a vest, mainly because it interfers with the rod. So vests and chestpacks are out. I wade in too deep water for a fanny pack to be practical. Also most of those are designed for fly boxes which are typically too small to carry some lures. Backpacks are cool but hard to access. So the best thing out there I've found is a sling or bandolier. Access what you need then fling it over to your back. The good folks at Orvis make this one. It is BOMB-DIGGITY! http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choice....;subcat_id=6670 I don't use the small compartment, it is removeable. The larger one holds a Plano double sided tackle box or if you are a fly guy Cliff's Bugger barn. The main bag would hold a ridiculous amount of soft plastic or whatever, a rain coat maybe... pup tent. enough crap tp demonstrate that you have no idea of what you are doing and have tons of cash to spend on it! HA! No seriously, it's very comforatable and holds lots of stuff, fly or conventional. Best off..when have what you need you swing it around your back, out of the way. Nice piece of gear. *****

I used to put in at White Tie and Oxbow, there is a bridge there. Take out at Lorenzo. Beautiful trip. I was both collecting fossils and fishing. I used to fish it a lot in the 90's. It's very picturesque. I remember those trips with great fondness. Most smallies were in the 10-14" class. A 16" would be a pretty good fish. Numbers were high enough to keep you interested. Those trips lasted a whole day, but we were hunting rocks too. Access totally sucks. I mention an access point, however. Be forewarned. Upon returning to it once (the last time I went), our truck just happened to get a flat tires, then another on the way home). The locals do not appreciate the tourism. There are erosion problems and fossil geeks have been known to tear up the banks, going so far as to bring shovels in. The fossils found on the Mazon have their own little category and if you go to the major museums those fossils are often refered to as Mazon Creek fossils. It was pretty cool going to the Denver Museum and seeing one of my favorite smallie haunts mentioned. Anyway, many of the fossil geeks I've met have been pretty damn fanatic and some downright nuts (sound familiar?). So I'm not suprise taht the welcome was wore out. Then there was the time I was verbally assaulted be a gentlman who was older than God, well maybe not God, but I think he definatly he saw some of the fossils in their pre dead state, and lets just say, his anger management classes weren't working. I have been told, by someone from the DNR that it is illegal to be on the Mazon at all. That said, the Mazon is listed in Mike Svob's Paddling Illinois, with maps and access points. I would think he would have done his homework. Quite frankly, I'm not sure who to believe. But legality aside Regarding that paddling club.... Enough fisherman leave lasting evidence of their prescence to give us all a bad rap. Face it...a lot of fishermen really suck. Anybody who's done a river clean up knows that.

To be honest, I really haven't witness all that much poaching in the last 10 or 15 years. If does occur regularly, the fishing si still damn good for beeing so close to a metropolitan area. Yeah i've seen some illegal fish taken, but I've also seen some legal ones taken that made feel worse. And in a way I'm glad I don't have some cop bugging me everytime I feel like wetting a line. Just itching to give me a ticket to justify his existance. In my opinion, the effort could be better spent elsewhere.

Any preferences towards epoxies? I'm sticking with 5 minute since I don't have a drying motor, only a rotary vise. A lot of them tell you to avoid prolonged exposure to water. I assume "prolonged" referes to days. Do any yellow less than others? I want to coat all my clouser heads to make them more durable, but I was also thinking about playing around with some mylar tubing type bodies.

JAY-ZEUS! You've got more stuff than the fly shop you work at!

does the money generated from selling fishing licenses go back to the DNR at all? Or does it go to some giant pool and "x" amount is budgeted back to the DNR?

Out of the 10 thousand e-mails I get a day at work, about 10% are stupid FWs warning me that if I didn't forward to 10 of my friends (I don't have 10 friends) I am a totally un patriotic, non-god fearin' dirt bag and would break out in leprosy or something equally nasty. This floated in and it truly echoed my sentiments regarding winter. I love the city of Chicago. Just the big city culture. But winter totally 100% sucks. I hate it even more than fall. Actually I hate fall because it's a prelude to winter. Give me 90 AND Humid! Bring it on! Bathwater warm water to wade in. Regarding those terrible distractions while trying to get ones exercise. The worst place is the Chicago lakefront. When it's 20 degrees or less only fittest are out and clad in skin tight spandex to boot. Almost rode my bike into the lake a coupla times!

HA!!

I hear yah. That is some serious coin. thats the kind of bucks that you spend on waders (and other high priced things ) when you are Governor of New York!

I had a pair of White River waders. they are adequete. I'm sure the Cabelas are fine too. I have Gore Tex Simms Lightweights now. They are okay. My next pair will probably be Orvis, only because on the sizing chart they are the only ones made that will fit (sort of) a skinny dude with size 12.5 feet. Most of the ones that I tried on would fit literally three more of me. Boot foot are better for getting in and out of quick. Stocking foot have a better footing. Felt w/studs work great in the Kank. Korkers make killer boots. One of the biggest differences you will find between the BPS econo-grade is the cut. Simms and the like are cut much nicer. Maybe the higher grade Cabelas are too. I haven't found the "degrees of breathability" for lck of a better term, to matter. In hot weather you will be sweating your arse off regardless of what kind you are wearing. Gore tex is breathable, but still hot, so you may have a quart of sweat inside those waders as apposed 2 quarts. I am totally uncomforatale in waders in Summer so I wet wade. Though you probably don't want to go in any urban streams doing that and with all the devolpment going on around my beloved Kankakee, I'll probably get away with it for only a limited time. I layer my clothes under waders in cool weather and am fine. Poly prop and polar fleece. They are very comforatable. Regarding leaks. Neither my Simms nor my BPS ever had a leak. The main thing I totally dislike about my Simms Lightweights is the fact that they don't have a built in belt and no built in gravel guards. I would never-ever-ever buy a pair of waders without them. Simms are made in the USA. The higher end ones are REALLY nice. If you can afford them, consider you are supporting one of the few companies taht actually makes stuff here.

They claim it's biodegradeable, which I suppose gives it some merit. Probably a good direction to go for the environment.

Oh yeah...on ONE "magical" labor day evening we freaking killed white bass on white twisters. Castle Rock Lake up at Petenwell Dam. A fish on every cast. All nice ones. Got up the next morning and did it again. Major fish fry. It was great. There are some really nice fish in Castle Rock, but the boat traffic is a nightmare.

QUOTE (jim b @ Mar 5 2008, 09:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi Mark, I didn't know you fished the Lemon". I have property I hunt in Mauston. On one trip I was fixing a deer stand and thought I'd try the Lemon. I had a huge smallie break me off. Lots of carp otherwise. I was just wondering if the fishing was good enough for a vacation. Thanks for the advice. Jim I would say...to travel up there just to fish the Lemonweir, no. My sister has property outside of New Lisbon. My family and I go up there for free. I have a canoe stored up there. I fish with my son, run on the Elroy Sparta trail, ride my bike up in the hilly Amish country (beautiful) in Monroe Cnty just west of New Lisbon, work around the property, go boating on Castle Rock, hike up the bluffs, barbecue and consume too much Pinot Noir around campfires that are way too big. Just general cilling out and relaxing. My biggest smallie out of there was 19". I saw a monster largemouth caught and kept by a local once. Easily the biggest river largemouth I've ever seen. Also once met a local there, a very nice guy that showed me a stack of polaroids of humungus walleyes and smallmouth and a few really nice Northerns all on stringers, all kept. I've also caught some really nice gills in there fishing with the kid. As I said, I haven't done all that well last few outtings. Smallies have gotten tough for me. That said, I only spend 2 or 3 hours at the most, early in the am then go spend time doing other stuff and or with the family. I also haven't changed presentations all that much. I also did better when the river was low. I've never fished Kennedy park, but hear it's good. I've fished New Lisbon Lake and caught some northerns in there. There are also trout streams not too far, but I have not fished them yet. In my opinion, if you are up there it's a good little river to hit...if you are there...and it's free...and you have something else to do in case it sucks.

still is. my inbox was full. sorry.

Man, am I glad I decided to skip it. Would have wasted 3 hours between getting off work and the meeting, just hanging out west.

How did this go? I could not make it. I'm sure he had some interesting things to say.

QUOTE (jim b @ Mar 4 2008, 11:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The black river was mentioned...does anyone know about the Lemonweir River in Mauston Wisconsin? Is the black river in wisconsin a good one? Jim I am assuming you saw one of my posts about the Lemonweir. It's a good river to hit if you are already there. Personally, i would not drive all the way there just to fish it. I vacation right near there, outside of New Lisbon. I fish it early in the am, before everyone gets up. '04 and 05 I did really well there. Usually caught a half dozen to dozen nice smallies, mostly on topwaters and Flukes, then later on I started flyfishing more. '06 and 07 were slow on the smallies, I'm not sure why. As soon as this !@#$ing ice age of a winter is over I'll be headed up there. I've scouted out the Black River, but never fished it. It looks really promising. I've fished Sylvania in late July. You can still catch fish, but it is indeed tougher. I did pretty well on Helen (the lake, that is) on Largemouth and smallies. Typically the weather is nicer that time of year. It's great camping. A BWCA trip would be less expensive than Rainey. Quetico is better than BWCA but more expensive. Sylvania is much easier than both. "Boundry Waters Lite" I like to call it.

You guys think you're good? My biggest '07 bass was an 18"(ish) largemouth. Got him on a 1/2" piece of nightcrawler, that had been gnawed on by about 50 gills and bullheads. Looked like it came out of a fish's stomach. Beat that! This year I'm going to try get one on a hot dog. If the bite gets tough, maybe I'll finesse it and use a cocktail wienie. I would hurt myself with a 6" fly. Maybe someone else too. I'm stuck on the good old fashioned Deer hair Clouser. #2-4. Put it in the right spot seems like it works as well as anything. Casts like a bullet and doesn't get hung up easily either. His sculpin is good too. Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with going out and just having a good time fishing anyway you see fit. I think a 12" smallie fights like hell on a flyrod. Especially in summer. When you get to point when you can count your yearly smallie outtings on ONE hand...well a day pounding 12 inchers looks pretty appealing.

Okay, I've now got so much crap that when I need something. I can't find it. Where/how do you store your stuff? Do you use one of those oasis type benches? Did you make it? Can you post a picture? Have you ever made a big unused material purge and just pitched a bunch of crap, just to consolidate and make things neater? I'm really starting to follow the "Less is More" philosophy. Is there any rhyme or reason to your organization?

This dude actually makes Ryan look good.

My Maui Jims no longer fit me... I would go out and get another pair, but I just have too many expensive hobbies. I discovered two brands at REI. Chilli's and Peppers. Of course they aren't nearly as nice as M.J.'s or Oakley's but they are remarkably clear and look pretty sharp. I had a pair last year, but I loaned them to my nephew and never got them back. I used them a few times fishing and they have excellent polarization charcateristics. I bought one pair yesterday that has a pretty light tint and I saw another witha little darker that I like too. They range from around 20-35 bucks, so have a coupla pairs is not out of the question. The ones I got look like this: http://www.rei.com/product/709929 Warning, if you never been to REI. They have a lot and lots of cool outdoors stuff. You might spend more than 20 bucks on shades.

I take it you don't get much in the way of ice fishing in? Nice flies!

Great! Also noticed some other interesting speakers. sounds like a good group. Catchy acronym for a name too. Club Meetings DRiFT meets every Tuesday at 7pm from Sept - May at The College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. During a typical meeting one of our members will demonstrate how to tie a fly pattern or cover a specific technique. Several times a year we have guest presenters who share their knowledge and expertise. Click here for last 1 years guests. Weekly Schedule 2006-2007 Season Date - Time - Room Presenter Presentation Tue Feb 19, 08 07:00 PM room M165A/G Bob Rung Conservation Water Willow Water Willow plantings as errosion barrier and history of the Fox River Tue Feb 26, 08 07:00 PM room M165A/G Craig Reindeau Tue Mar 04, 08 07:00 PM room M165A/G Chris Helm Deer Hair flys Tue Mar 11, 08 07:00 PM room M165A/G Gordon Koppin Bamboo Fly Rods Tue Mar 18, 08 07:00 PM room M165A/G Ron Bishop Flies for the Barothy's trip Tue Mar 25, 08 07:00 PM room M165A/G Mike Miller Dubbing Techniques Dubbing twister, Hair stacker,ETC. Tue Apr 01, 08 07:00 PM room M 165AG Carl Butler