TimU

I plan on coming out for this. Does someone have a spot in a boat for me?

Hello All! Thank you everyone for the well wishes and I apologize for missing this event. After 27 hours of frustration I was released from the hospital and told I was not suffering from a heart attach(which I pretty much knew when I went in). Unfortunately that is all I know, I am still having abdominal pain and will be following up as an outpatient this week to try and determine a cause. For some reason the hospital was unable to do any sort of test or even address the issue while they had me locked up for the day, but I am sure they will have no trouble billing my insurance company for my stay in the cardiac unit. Thank you to all the volunteers that helped make this event a success in my absence.

I believe Tim C., John L. and myself plan on being at the VFW by 6am to get a little fishing in before hand. If we get much more than that, we can always send a group down river to Glenwood FP. Please join us and we will figure out the logistics as we go.

I have located the planting shovels owned by Friends of the Fox and have made arrangements to pick them up Friday evening.

Eugene will be there with his boat.

I have been texting back and forth with Eugene, he is not sure if he can make it with his work schedule. Does someone else have access to a pond hopper? I would try and make arrangement to borrow Eugene's, but my boss is taking me on a charter out of Kenosha on Friday and I'm not sure what time I will be home Friday night.

Bump! Lets get a roll call going for Saturday morning. We will plant rain or shine.

Thanks Ed! John L. was going to reach out to him today as well. I contacted Country Road Greenhouses, the Batavia VFW and Friends of the Fox confirming this Saturday.

BUMP! The river is coming down nicely and the forecast looks good for the week so we are going to move ahead with planting this Saturday 7/20 @ 8am. The forecast for Saturday looks wonderful with a temp around 80 degrees and some cloud cover. We will meet behind the Batavia VFW hall around 8:00am and work to get the plants in the ground as quick as possible. We will have lunch afterwards and some groups will most likely break off to get some fishing in. Members of DRIFT and the Friends of the Fox will be joining us as well. Please post here if you plan on attending. You can call me at 630-254-4144 or email: timmay723@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.

With all the rain we have had, and rain in the forecast 5 out of the next 7 days we are going to postpone the water willow planting. We will try for 2 weeks out, Saturday July 20th. But please watch for updates as I reach out to all parties involved to set a new date.

Glad to hear back from some people....here are a few benefits of volunteering for this event. Fishing - I plan to be on the river sometime between 5:30-6:00am that morning to get some early fishing in before we plant. Post a message here or PM if you want to meet up at one of the many access points in this area before we start. Also, there is usually a group that fishes after the planting, either on the Fox or other near by water. FREE LUNCH! Bob Rung - Bob works for the IDNR as a stream biologist and has studied and sampled many of rivers/streams in Illinois and has a wealth of knowledge he is usually willing to share. Bob is also an avid fisherman who spends a lot of his free time fishing different waters in Illinois and Wisconsin and loves to talk all things fishing. FREE LUNCH! The ISA does many things throughout the year in regards to conservation and education, but this event gets you directly involved in the process. Water willows provide habitat for many species small and large that live in the river, help protect shoreline from erosion and even provide food for some animals as deer will graze on the leaves and blossoms, while beavers and muskrats consume the rhizomes. Here is a bit of information I pulled from the Friends of the Fox website I found interesting. "A native plant of the Fox River, water willow colonies along the river were nearly eradicated by shoreline development. A few original colonies still exist along the less developed southern reaches of the river. Seeds and clippings from these colonies were used by Country Roads Greenhouses nursery in Rochelle to propagate the plants we use in our plantings ensuring that the water willows we plant come from original Fox River stock." Did I mention FREE LUNCH?

Bump...Looking for some volunteers for this one.

John L. and I joined Bob Rung from the IDNR last week to take a look at last years planting on the Fox River. Although we did find a nice row of plants, it seems like this years heavy rain may have washed out many of the plants we planted last year. We have decided we will once again plant the head of the island behind VFW Post 1197 in Batavia. We will meet at the following location @ 8am, Saturday July 6th. VFW Post 1197 645 River St. Batavia, IL 60510 This is an open event so please bring along anyone who you think will be interested, the more people in attendance the quicker we plant the 1000 plants and move on to lunch and some fishing. I recommend bringing waders and a pair of gloves, the ISA will provide the shovels, water and a light lunch. Please post here if you plan on attending and PM or email with any questions, I will respond as soon as possible. Thanks, Tim

We had a total of 8 for this outing, with Jude cancelling Saturday morning after I called his house(instead of his cell, sorry Mrs. Jude!) @ 7:15am. It was tough day with a high sky and the fish sitting on beds. I believe we all still caught some fish, even if it was only some large gills, with Frank taking several fish 14"+. It was beautiful day out and we enjoyed the beginning of the Hawks game and some good food in the restaurant afterwards. Thanks to everyone who come out!

Weather report is looking good as of right now....High 70's with some clouds, lets hope it stays that way!

Glad to help Ron! It would be great to catch up...it's been awhile.

Extended forecast is calling for Low 70's and partly cloudy.....but we all know that will change everyday for the next week. Hopefully the weather is good, but we will have this outing "Rain or Shine" so be prepared to bring rain gear if the forecast changes. Last time we had an outing here it was raining, but everyone still caught some fish regardless of whether you were a fly guy or using spinning gear. Looking forward to seeing everyone who can make it out....Even Jude's usually grumpy self!

Saturday 5/18 The Chicago Region May outing will be held at the private lake behind the Onion Pub & Brewery in Lake Barrington. With May being prime spawning season for our beloved smallmouth, this outing will keep us off the rivers to let the smallies do their "thing". The lake behind the restaurant is deep and filled with largemouth bass and gets very little fishing pressure. The owner has asked the we practice "Catch and Release" and come in for lunch and drinks when we are finished. We will meet in the parking lot at 7am and fish until around 11am when the restaurant opens, then go inside for some food and drink This will be shore fishing only. and will be a "Rain or Shine" event. Onion Pub & Brewery 22221 North Pepper Rd. Lake Barrington, IL 60010 Visit www.onionbrewery.com to see the menu. Look forward to seeing everyone there!

On Saturday July 6th we will once again be doing our annual water willow planting on the Fox River. This year we will be planting an area in Batavia, we will meet at 8am at the Glenwood Forest Preserve (1644 S. River St., Batavia). We will plant several areas and should finish up in time to grill up some lunch and hopefully get a bit of fishing in. This is a great chance to give back to the river and provide better habitat for our beloved smallmouth! Stay tuned to the website or contact Tim U @ Timmay723@gmail.com for updates in case of high water or inclement weather.

I just emailed Jim J. regarding sign posting. April is not a good month for me so I will be looking to set a date in early May to do the posting. I have a lot of signs and posts stored in my work warehouse and can make arrangements to meet up with someone if they know a few spots that need one. Mike G., PM me your email address and I can send you a copy of the sign in .PDF format. Thanks, Tim

We had 22 volunteers including members of the ISA, Oakbrook Trout Unlimited, Drift and Bob Rung from the IDNR for our annual water willow planting on the Fox River. The plants were delivered by Larry Creekmur who is an ISA member and owner of Country Road Greenhouses(Rochelle, IL) at about 7:30am and the planting began in 85+degree heat at 8:15am. This year we planted the front and two sides of an island behind VFW Post 1197 in Batavia. With the extremely low water we focused on placing the plants in rocky damp soil above the water line which allow the plants to take a good hold and keep them out of the main current when the water levels return to normal. We broke up into to teams of 2 and planted just shy of 1000 plants by 10am. The VFW was nice enough to open their facility to us to cool off in the air conditioning and sip some cold beverages. Following the planting, John L. and Cory grilled up a hot dog lunch for all to enjoy and we are all packed up and done by noon. A big “Thank You!” to all the volunteers, Bob Rung and Larry Creekmur for making this another successful outing.

I just wanted to remind everyone of the planting this Saturday and let people know that this is an open event. You don't have to be an ISA member to attend and help out. If you know someone or have a fishing partner that is not a member please feel to bring them along. "Many hands makes for light work!" They are forecasting a bit lower temperatures (High of 91) for Saturday, the more people we have, the quicker we finish up before it gets too hot. A hot dog lunch will be provided and we will try and get some fishing in afterwards as well.

Alright, I have ordered the 1000 plants and they are set for delivery the morning of July 7th. We have a slight change in the meeting location. John L. was able to reach out the the local VFW in Batavia and they will allow us to meet and plant from their building on the Fox. It is just down the street from Glenwood Forest Preserve and the address is as follows: VFW Post 1197 645 River St. Batavia, IL 60510 If you plan on attending please note the change in location and let anyone else you know that might be coming of the change. We are still looking for a lunch sponser, so if anyone has any leads/ideas please let me know. Otherwise we will probably just grill some food up after we finish planting. I hope to see as many people as possible!