WILLIAM C.

Gary,you are the first ISA member that I ever met.We fished Powerton Lake in the winter if you remember.Also bumped into John Graham down there.It wasn't a great fishing day but the company and conversation was.I have the day penciled in,hopefully nothing will come up to change it. Bill

Got out saturday for a few hours and I agree with Norm and Ray that conditions will be a little tough.But that being said you can still catch a few fish.Wading will be very limited but the fish will be pretty close to shore.Not as tight as you might think but just past the submerged shoreline where it meets the gravel.Minutes before catching the fish in this picture I got spooled by a huge fish,it took a hundred yards of line in about 10 seconds.I have 8lb. test on my reel and soon as I realized I was running out of line I put some pressure on and the line snapped.Water temps are up to 60 degrees.Good luck on Sunday.

On my way to Aurora I noticed the building where Strickly Fishing use to be be is now something else.But on the way back I found the new location.It's now located south of Rt.52 (jefferson st.) on Earl.I'm guessing this is considered Shorewood.

When I retired in 2000 I decided to find out more about fishing in Illinois.The first place I fished was the Fox River and landed a 17 inch smallie.I never new there were nice smallies in Illinois. I was reading the Outdoor Notebook and spotted the add for the ISA and signed up.First two members I ever fished with are Ken G. and Gary Lange.

Thanks for the responses,now could you give me some suggestions on where to start looking in the southwest suburbs.As not to allienate any ISA supporting fly shops you can advise me with a PM. or promote them right here.

I was interested in giving my brother a gift certificate for a class on building his own fly rod. My thought was that it would make a great present and give him something to do when he comes to visit in the springtime. How long does it take to assemble or make a custom rod?

Cleared my schedule,see you at breakfast.

Norm, that's exactly what happened to me the last time I walked around Willow Island.I had one rod rigged with a woolyhawgtail and the other with a buzz bait. Plastics-mushy,buzzbait or spinner they hammered and all from similar spots.Given the choice I stayed with the aggressive baits.

Can someone explain why or how the weeds effect the flow readings and it's relation to depth. Over the past few years I have had a problem trying to figure out how wadeable the river is.In the spring when I was out in a given spot the flow was about 400 CFS and it appears to be the same depth today and the flow is only 170 CFS.

Dan,I fully agree with getting the youth involved.I had my five year old grandson sign up at the Tinley Park show.When we go fishing the first thing we do is pick up some garbage before we start fishing.Never to early to learn. And Norm, we all know you set the standard.Now if only the water levels would come down.

The only things that have changed is where I fish. I don't fish the Fox anymore I now stick primarily to the Kankakee and Dupage.I use to drive around scouting areas but now I do it by computer and messaging. My Dakota gets about 19 mpg. so a single round trip to the K3 is about $18 and the Dupage about $13. Two trips to each per week adds up to $62-not bad.

Welcome to my world Phil.I'm not saying it's better or the right way but it's my way by choice.I'm not sure how I got this way but that has been my approach since I started river fishing.

I thought today was great wading conditons put you can throw all that out the window if not carefull.Using me for an example-I lost my footing on an incline with strong current sweeping my feet out from under.Needless to say my clothes are in the wash,waders hanging on the line, and phone camera and other items drying on the table. But there is good news to go with the bad,that being in the form of one 19'smallie and three 16's. Woolyhawgtail fished slowly. Couldn't stand walking around with a gallon of water in my waders so I quit early.

Thanks for the edit,I thought about that later. Actually I think he drives a yellow HUMMER.

Norm, the way I do it is with binoculars.I drive around the State Park and look for a big black car.Then I sneek up to the river with my binoculars and spy on this clean shaven handsome man and observe his techniques.He always seems to know where and how. Then I return and fish his spots.If this doesn't work then I send him a PM and ask him how he does it. ...Note: post edited to protect member from being stalked HA

Don, I will be there.I might still be wearing my waders but I am definetly going to try to make this one.Looking forward to Strickly Fishing-I have a gift certificate left over from Christmas. Bill.......

One of my largest smallies I ever caught was on a GULP sinking minnow but the fact of the matter at the time I think most anything would have worked.I had spotted a feeding fish chasing minnows and I just happened to be trying this bait for the first time.That fish was all over it the second it hit the water.Other than that I can't say that the bait has performed any better than any other plastic. This spring I'm going to run a comparison test fishing for crappies.Using a drop shot rig with two hooks-one with live minnow and one with GULP minnows. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I had mentioned the Thorium cleanup to a friend and he wanted more information than I could provide. I figured someone here could provide a little help.

I just registered.Looking forward to hitting some of those Indiana streams. Brenden-I will see you later in the year. Norm --I'll be seing you shortly,save a few for me.

What was to be a big day for my second youngest grandson,a little over five years of age-didn't go as planned. His dad was to bring him to the Tinley Park Fishing Show and he was going to sign up as a member just like grandpa.Upon getting up Saturday morning he was to find out that dad was sick and also his pet frog Hermie had died.All of this on his mom's birthday. He was feeling very sad so mom decided to drive him from Elmhurst to the show so he could sign up as an ISA member and get his starter kit.Now he was feeling a little better. Sunday morning ,as his mother tells me on the phone,he was still feeling sad about his frog. Mom suggested that they find a small box,have a little ceremony and bury Hermie. He said "Mom,we can't do that--I want to use him for bait" He is on his way to being a great fisherman and I want to welcome him aboard

Mike and Don, Saturday 8am will be fine.I can stay as long as necessary. If you want me to help Sunday afternoon let me know-I will be there roaming around anyway. Bill

Mike Clifford, Let me know if you need help setting up and what time to be there.I can come and go at any time since I live a couple of blocks away. Bill Chase

Mike,that is a great story.I liked it so much that I copied it for my files. I think we all know or heard of somebody fitting the description of "Frank".

Someone has to be first,so here goes.This was an important moment for me.Sometimes we don't realize how important it is to spend a day with someone.The fact that we were fishing is just a bonus. I'm one of those guys that is not comfortable heading up a fishing trip especially when it's up to me to put someone on fish.When things don't go well I feel I'm not doing the things expected of me.When I'm by myself it doesn't matter whether I catch anything because I love being outdoors with nature.Having only fished the local rivers in Illinois since I retired six years ago it has taken a while to learn the tricks of river fishing.Now that I have learned a little about reading the water and how fish relate I now am a little more comfortable inviting someone out for a day of smallmouth fishing. My nephew,twenty years removed from this area and now residing in the Denver area was coming to Chicago.This is someone who has become a proficient fly fisherman in his area and wants to fish for smallmouths with his godfather-me.He has been reading my posts and wants to spend a day on the water with me.I know his expectations will be high but this is one of those guys that will have a great time no matter what the outcome. I want to pre-fish an area for his arrival on Thursday. Where to go? The Kankakee is to high for safe wading,so I take a trip over to the DuPage and it's looking pretty good.The waters to the North are looking a little weedy,to much floating grass.I try downstream and decide that this should do just fine.It's not an area that I expect to catch big fish but I know we will catch fish. Gary,my nephew arrives and it is bloody hot.Ninety degrees and going up.We decide to wet wade,something I rarely do.I set him up with a light weight spinning outfit and a few plastics.My first recommendation is a Woolyhawg tail and jig.We cast at the same time and are into fish immediately.A double,great start. I know he is able to read water and I don't have to hold his hand.Ten minutes later he hooks into a nice 15 inch smallie.A little photo shot and a quick release.This was to go on all day. As the sun was setting I told him I wanted to try one more spot downstream and he agreed.This was to be a great 45 minutes of fishing.Quantity and quality.My nephew told me he never had to change baits all day.Although I was trying to be discreet catching and releasing many smallies he later told me he never saw so many released fish.This day was not about fishing but bonding with a nephew I truly enjoy.Although the temperature hit 95 degrees on this day,no one complained. When I went out to Colorado this past month I met with Gary again.We reminisced about that trip.He told me that was the best day of fishing he has ever had.He never new there where places in Illinois with quality smallmouth fishing and scenery.Now he understands why I sold my boat.

One of the few summer weekends that I'm in town and free to help. Also looking forward to breakfast at River View at 6:30am