eugene f collins

see you there!

happy days are here again. after several hours of rebooting & re-reading all instructions. Im back on-line, cue the music cha cha cha cha cha cha.. lets hope this drive is better than the other one that they replaced. im now trying to catch up on e-mails webforums & the I.S.A. news. I have not fished for a couple days, im gonna try fnf tomorrow. If that doesnt work i`ll go with "fnm" float and minnow. (i refuse to watch the bears) I have enough cheeseyyy friends that will call me and tell me all about it. Go hawks! Ill write more later, hopefully i will be able to post a pic tomorrow night after I warm up. last week I stopped at a park in St. Charles & saw a bald eagle flying around. That was very nice to see, hopefully it was a new eagle, new to the area not one from the rock river valley. but ill bet it is. Probably with the rock river fish kill, the fox valley area will see more eagles.

that was very cool!

congrats rich

My apologies to gregg & others. I had went to the shabbona seminars, after fishing the rock for a couple hours.(more on that in a different post) Shabbona show for me, was very educational. I fish there quite often (when the rivers dont cooperate). theres more cribs placed every year. if you attended the shabbona seminar&watched the slide show they showed you where. How cool is that. Plus underwater pictures of the cribs, pictures of the barns,house, bridge, even the combine before they filled the lake with water. Im gonna find the combine this ice season (maybe with a hundred holes) also the speakers kept you intrested in what they had to share. They talked trolling, casting, drifting, very knowledgeable. how to apply what they were saying to the lake. Glad i went should have taken better notes.

Ill help if you would like

Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to helping this organization grow. And promoting the conservation efforts this club is known for. hopefully Im able to get some of my river rat friends to get involved as well. If theres anything I can help with please contact me.

Very intresting seeing the lures he brought. Those were what they used to catch smallies. I would definetly listen to Dan tell some more about being an early tournament fisherman. Original life member of B.A.S.S. Thats somebody I think would be fun to fish with.

how skinny?

RonG spiz & I are planning to fish before the meeting. Would you be intrested?

Mike, again I apologize! I did not know I was gonna actually post pics. Thank you for the time that you have put into Conservation thru the years. I hope to continue learning from this organization & people like you. To protect what is special and important to us, so that we can share it with others and enjoy it for years to come.

plan on being there. With my camera...ready to post more pics...

i hope they can prevent this from happening again.Im very sorry mike if I steal this post from you. ( If this works ) please I appologize I thought I would give another try to the picture posting. I think I did it. havent seen these two fishing on the rock lately

it has been rough fishing on the rock. we fished above byron last week couple nice smallies (survivors). last time I launched out of castle rock we fished for 8 hours. 2 fish were caught in the river.2 that was it. in the past that long of a day, your fingers would be sore from lipping fish. 1 fish below the eagles nest, where you used catch a dozen .Im gonna quit fishing the creeks & rivers that flow into the rock, leave the survivors alone. Im starting to fish shabbona more & more. its gonna take 20 years for the rock to come back. have you heard anything about extra stocking? Last year this time we were into the fish. big walleye big smallies. you couldnt get me off the water.

hey paul how you been? I have been out a couple times with the blue bath tub on the rock. once above the oregon dam water temp coldest 48.3 warmest 50.7. Had 1 bite, big bite under some laydowns. 2seconds of pull &twink 6pound test was no match. 4 cold hours no fish. 6-13-09, went north of byron. water temps = coldest 47.4 warmest 51.0 after sun warmed up laydowns. worked laydowns for around 5 1/2 hours. 3 smallies biggest15 inch 1-18inch drum. all caught on plastic worm worked slow. went down to one of my other holes down river 4hours =no fish. Rest of year i will only fish above oregon dam, no fish below. if anyone has proof otherwise, please let me know. I sure miss the days when you caught fish on the rock. You wouldnt know what you were catching per cast smallie, wally, pike, cat, drum, largemouth, gar.

make it sound so easy ,why dont you I tried the other night for three hours till I was so mad I turned it off & started drinking. anyway just tried it again.doh. I give up for today. BUT I was able to skype with my son at PITT today, so I win!!! I e-mailed my pics to rich mc today. I need to catch a FISH!

hey rich I am curious if you can teach me how to upload those pics have tried for the last 2 days call me if we can meet on wednesday or thursday.8472094629. just tried again *%$#

had a good time helping the kids with a new way of casting.seeing their eyes light up when they got it (priceless) watched how rich ties the worm. rich also gave me a freshly made worm.thank you rich.was also able to practice with a fly rod before the crowds started showing up.thank you members of drift for sharing your time & knowledge with me .im planning on wiping the dust off my fly rod giving it a go again. trying to upload some pics.(still need to learn how)ill figure it out. when i figure it out i have a dozen pics of Rich tying the worm. THANKS MIKE

I plan on being there saturday. will this be similar to Sgt. tommys?

Recently followed the pine creek up as far as i could, railroad tracks end of park property. Really nice large pool at end.I think that pool is deep enough to hold large trout, smallies,muskies, lmbass,pike,carp,rockbass,crappie,bluegill&the other liitle darters& such. nice CLEAR water RIGHT NOW!! You should go. Bring the kids, some worms,minnows,tents cots,sleeping bags,binoculars. Look for the white squirells. lots of trails some are rough. you should go the weather is perfect for camping, water clarity is great. any way some of the bluff walls are under cut and they hold some nicefish. nice variety,each bite can be a different fish. Work at it you might catch a 15inch SMALLIE. If nothing else the family will be outdoors having a family memory over a campfire. Plan it for a no moon night break out the telescope, show the kids the galaxy.. SIDE NOTE.. please be nice to these fish some of theyre young will slowly repopulate the ROCK RIVER. would love to take a canoe from white pines down to the ROCK RIVER. any one intrested??

hello everyone. bought myself a laptop.old computer to old. so here i go learning a new toy. havent had much time for fishing.ive been helping family with ailling grandma. but i did stop out on the fox for a couple hours caught a couple little ones. happy to have a moment to catch a fish say hello to nature.catch my breath, life is an intresting event... I had a blast at Sgt tommys event. Ill drop more lines as time allows & if I ever get a wireless connection. Right now im using the free wifi's fox valley offers which is cool. when i get this all figured out. Ill be able to post from almost anywhere Im like a kid in a candy store. ive got another hour or so before an interview so i think its time to fish.eventually I will learn how to post pics. talk soon. HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!

Hope that you join & learn what its about.. SMALLIES.. HOW to catch them,How to protect them& help them flourish help our waters survive our attempts to destroy them.

hi terry I dont think its odd. we have caught them in the fall for several years out there. up stream there is some nice holes. Some deep holes.You have just reminded me where I should be fishing since the river kill.thanks if you get a chance try it you will enjoy! nice variety when you find them.

i will plan on being there early. having some issues with work. praying for saturday off.(very unussual for me,)l