Hi, Im Kevin

[kevin coan]

Hi my name is Kevin Coan, new member to ISA, but not new to smallmouth fishing. I grew up in Cherry Valley IL and I have been fishing the Kishwaukee river and its tributaries  for over 15 years.  Smallmouth fishing has turned into a mild obsession. lol biggest to date in IL is 20.75" and my goal  is to beat that in 2022. I know the Kishwaukee river like the back of my hand from Garden Prairie to Sycamore and everything in between. In 2022 I have expanded my scope south west and west in general, in search of big smallies. I prefer to wade fish, as it gets me to the hard to reach spots that produce, I also fish from canoe on those long runs and high waters. I look forward  to meeting you on the rivers of IL. 

[Terry Dodge]

Cool! Welcome! Hope to see you out and about and at a few ISA outings. 

[Kev-mo]

Hi Kevin. I'm Kevin too. We're all a bit addicted/obsessed here (some more than others lol).

[Ben K.]

You’ve come to the right place, we’ve got a bunch of deranged smallmouth addicts here. Kish is some fantastic water too. It’s the river that got me hooked. How do you do with pike? 

[kevin coan]

Ben, I feel I do pretty well with pike, when the season is hot I end up catching at least 1 a week, but I don't really target them.  I never really catch any big ones to brag about, 36" is probably the biggest from the Kish I have caught.

[Paul Trybul]

Hey Kevin, welcome aboard. You and I seem to travel the same circles and have had similar experiences. I grew up in Sycamore, live in Rockford now and have been fishing the Kish for 40+ years.  Good luck topping 20.75" on a Kishwaukee River smallmouth. I've never done it as 20.25" has been my biggest Kish smallmouth in 40+ years.  I can tell you its possible as over the years I've seen pictures of 2 Kish smallies topping 21" or better. I've seen the pictures and discussions with the anglers are credible. Kind of funny that I don't target pike either but have quite a few accidental catches and 36" has been my biggest. You probable know the north branch better than me and I probable know the south branch better growing up in Sycamore and going to college at NIU in DeKalb. I'm sure we'll run into each other out there on the river if we haven't done so already,

[Ben K.]

Those big slimy bastards keep things interesting, especially on the fly rod. Hope to see you on the water this year. 

[Jesse pniewski]

20" smallmouth on the kish? Do you guys have a certified scale for objective evidence of said 20"? Do you guys use hotdogs?

[Paul Trybul]

On 10/28/2022 at 8:31 PM, Jesse pniewski said:

20" smallmouth on the kish? Do you guys have a certified scale for objective evidence of said 20"? Do you guys use hotdogs?

I use an ISA tape measure that is annually officially calibrated to the NIST standards by the office of weights and measures. For the hot dog dog rig I have been experimenting with a more durable rig. We all know the cheap ones are only good for one fish as they break apart. Unless of coarse you pop for the good Vienna beef ones.  You take the cheap Bar-S ones and slice them the long skinny way. Then you take black electrical tape and form a ring around the center of the dog. Rig that wacky style and you've got something going Jesse. 70% of the time it works every time.