BillKreznor Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 Had a great experience with fellow ISA Member DeKalb Dave R. and IL DNR and EPA crew this past Tuesday on the South Branch. Netted behind the electric seine at our first stop, and behind the boat at the second. No smallies, but a surprising diversity of forage fish and several fat pike ranging in length from about 10 to 31". Water was a bit muddy at both sections sampled, making it tough to net some of the stunned fish. A sampling of our crew in action at Stop 1: 2nd stretch sampled with boat shocker. Original plan was to use electric seine, but water was too deep. So we launched the boat and fired up the motor. Quickly found that most places were a bit too shallow, so we ended up pushing the boat along. This is my second time working with these dedicated folks. And not shy about sharing their wealth of knowledge, either. Bill K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 Nice report! I found the same with the wealth of knowledge. They are glad to talk about everything and anything with you. Great people. I have a report from today's sampling (7/14) at Kishwaukee F.P. in Winnebago Co. that I will write up and post later tonight or tomorrow morning before going to the Kilbuck sampling. Bill - Just wondering......Were you at the sampling with the ANGRY land owner who was tossing the IDNR's equipment around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Clifford Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 Thanks for the great report and awesome photos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Trybul Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 These reports are very cool. Thank you for participating and keeping us updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 I'll just tag the Kishwaukee River Forest Preserve sampling on to here. Kishwaukee River F.P. Stream Sampling, 7/14/11 Took a thermos of coffee with me this morning and meet the IDNR team @ Kishwaukee F.P. I guess I should state that I'm just watching. I pulled some lower back muscles at work Monday night so I don't want to get in there and wade over large rocks and mess myself up some more plus with the whole Workman's comp thing it probably wouldn't be a good idea. It kills me just watching. Any hoot........... The team put in at the canoe launch and worked it's way upstream just past the Blackhawk bridge. Many fish were taken during this first run and they did do a 2nd run but I had to leave before they returned. They had a few hog-head carp in the nets which according to Karen is a good sign of good clean water. There were many good size cats taken and of course many fish of the carp family. There were about 8 smallies taken with the biggest being taped at 16". There were also about 4 rockies taken and they taped between 4" to 8". All of the smallies, rockies and many of the catfish had to be all sacrificed for contaminate test. The DNR cuts one fillet from the fish wraps it in tinfoil and ships it off for testing. They were a bit stunned when they offered me the other half of the smallmouth fillet and I refused. I just couldn't do it. Before they began to fillet the fish I took a close look at the smallies and rockies. One smallmouth did have a small peach spot near it's tail and so did one rockie. Other than that everything looked fine. Here are some pics of the sampling......... Well that's the report from today, I'll also be at the Kilbuck Sampling tomorrow morning. I might get there a little bit late as I have to go to rehab first but should be able to catch most of the show. Also it was nice to see some of the Higher-Ups from WCFPD on hand at this sampling. I mentioned to them about the upcoming clean up on Sunday July 24th and asked to be sure that we could leave the trash collected in or at the dumpster at the park and they gave 3 thumbs up and thanked us ahead of time for the clean up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillKreznor Posted July 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 Nice report! I found the same with the wealth of knowledge. They are glad to talk about everything and anything with you. Great people. I have a report from today's sampling (7/14) at Kishwaukee F.P. in Winnebago Co. that I will write up and post later tonight or tomorrow morning before going to the Kilbuck sampling. Bill - Just wondering......Were you at the sampling with the ANGRY land owner who was tossing the IDNR's equipment around? Yeah, Terry. Dave, Levi, and I were setting the downstream seine when the owner got into it with Karen. I wasn't aware of what was going on until the Conservation police showed up to investigate and question the "participants". Karen kept her cool and professional attitude throughout, which probably prevented an ugly situation from getting worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 i heard the story about the landowner. he was called a week ago and gave the idnr permission to survey. guess he forgot. rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Trybul Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 I'll just tag the Kishwaukee River Forest Preserve sampling on to here. Kishwaukee River F.P. Stream Sampling, 7/14/11 All of the smallies, rockies and many of the catfish had to be all sacrificed for contaminate test. The DNR cuts one fillet from the fish wraps it in tinfoil and ships it off for testing. They were a bit stunned when they offered me the other half of the smallmouth fillet and I refused. I just couldn't do it. Before they began to fillet the fish I took a close look at the smallies and rockies. One smallmouth did have a small peach spot near it's tail and so did one rockie. Turning down the fillets on fish that were suspected of contamination. Good call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 Turning down the fillets on fish that were suspected of contamination. Good call. Not really suspected, I asked, They said it was routine. It's how they determine the health hazards of the fish that people eat that we read about in the IDNR Illinois Fishing Digest each year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 Kilbuck Creek Stream Sampling 7/15/11: The Kilbuck stream sampling pulled out the biggest variety of fish I've seen yet and the most. They had 3 nice size smallies, a few white bass, a few rock bass, a couple walleye, one big northern pike and many other smaller one's, catfish, carp, suckers, blue-gills and some pumpkin-seed. The water was extremely cloudy still with about 4" of visibility. They netted so many fish that they had to work fast so I didn't have much time to snap any good pics. Here are a few of what I got. I really enjoyed watching as these fine people as they did this work. I just wish I could have joined in and help. It's hard to stand on the sideline and watch. Next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 Nice report Terry. Good info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Ferguson Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 Great reports guys. I would appreciate it if these reports and pictures found there way to me so I could publish them in the newsletter. (next deadline is Sept 10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted July 16, 2011 Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 Scott - I might like to try and tackle that task as long as Bill K doesn't have a problem with me including his info. (?) Would probably have to use a few of Bill's South Branch photos as you (Mr. Scott F) never seem to like the pics I have sent you in the past. Something to do with me having a cheap-o-matic camera or something. But hey........If Bill K wants to take it on then I would be more than glad to share the info. I have to admit that sometimes my spellin' ain't all that rite. (!) It just ain't good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted July 16, 2011 Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 i hit the dekalb area of the kish for 10 mins tonight . one 14 inch smallie and it did have some peach spots near the gill plate. great fighter. rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 It's gotta have something to do with the extreme heat were getting. Hopefully that's cause of it and this so called out break is not anything of any great concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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