Terry Dodge Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 August 25, 7:00am. A few ISA members meet at a quaint cafe in the small village of Cherry Valley, IL. for some mediocre biscuits & gravy and some smallmouth talk. Seated @ the Breakfast Table, 7:05am. Deb C. - Bill K. - Tim G. - Jude - Kip O. - Paul T. - Paul T Sr. - Paul T's son (probably named Paul T III. [?]) and myself. Smallmouth Talk, 7:06am. All kinds of stuff was being tossed around the table on how best to fish for the smallmouth bass in the NW Region. After a very long discussion it was finally decided that we would hit the Kishwaukee River in search of BIG bronzebacks and the best way to achieve this would be to go at it with spin gear. Big smallmouth can't be caught on a fly rod. Not Drafted: I could only choose about 5 other skilled smallmouth folk to go on this outing, so a few seated at the breakfast table would have to be cut. Jude was the first to go just because he's Jude and then the Paul T. boys would follow, only because the stretch I planned to hit was kind of near a skeet shooting range and I didn't want a bunch of people screaming "PAUL!" in the area. Dream Team: Terry D. - Deb C. - Bill K. - Tim G. - Kip O. Outing Spot #1 Things started off kind of slow until Kip landed the first smallie of the day that taped at 14 inches. I believe he was using some kind of double tailed twister looking thing in a greenish color. Kip and myself were leading the pack so I'm not sure what was going on with Deb, Bill and Tim in the back. Word was they were getting into some fish. Kip and I waded our way down stream to some islands where I landed a 16 inch smallmouth on a white Chug Bug. On the wade down I was casting a black buzz bait and was catching numerous 2 inch smallmouths that would thankfully shack themselves free before I could take them to hand. These fish don't count. By the time Deb, Bill and Tim made it to the islands, Kip and I had landed a couple more fish a piece that were in the 12 inch range. From the islands, Tim, Kip and Bill continued down stream while Deb and I hung around the islands area and then started to slowly make our way back up stream. Deb was landing dink after dink after dink after dink after dink, using some kind of wormy looking thing. After all her hard work she finally hooked into 12 inch smallmouth that put up a nice fight. I believe Deb landed 22 smallmouth all over 6 inches with the two biggest @ 11 and 12 inches. Bill K. made his way back up stream to where Deb and I were. On his way back up he managed to hook into and land the biggest fish of the day that went 16.5 inches. Way to go Bill! Bill's big one was caught using a brownish beaver tail looking thing that he believe he picked up at the Rockford fishing show a couple of years ago. Deb and Bill decide to call it a day and the three of us start the hike back to our cars. On the way back we put our numbers together and came up with a total smallmouth count of 60. After Bill and Deb left, I hung out by the cars for a bit waiting for Tim and Kip. I wasn't done yet and I was hoping they would still want to hit it also. Outing Spot #2 After getting ourselves some chicken strips at a near-by truck stop, Tim, Kip and Myself head out for more action. To be honest with you, the rest of the day is kind of a blur. We got into a few more fish but not like what we saw at spot #1. I landed a nice 15 incher on a Blaze popper that was on a dead drift as I was chatting with Kip. Kip landed a nice 12 incher, after a cold spell, to end his day. I believe he popped that puppy on one of those noisy buzz baits. Tim got a couple more and we called it a day. After putting the numbers together I come up with a total count of 72 smallmouth caught. The future smallmouth population looks to be very strong for the Kishwaukee River. I want to thank everyone who came out. I had a great time! 10 hours of smallmouth fish. Can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday. If anyone else from the outing has pictures or info that I may have left out please post them here. Kip with a 14"er Me and 16 The gang Deb with a 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Great report Terry. Thanks for sharing. It's a nice looking stream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Trybul Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Terry, thank you for organizing and leading this outing. I'm not sure if my numbers count since I broke off on my own. I dropped off the other Paul`s since they had other plans and I fished my way to Genoa to the location of my fantasy football draft. There was a lot going on with my morning adventure, good, bad and ugly. The good was I caught some nice smallmouth and my friends really let me load up on some talent in the draft while I kicked some butt in bags (cornhole). Numbers were not big with a dozen smallmouth and 1 largemouth but size was nice. My best fish went 18" , 17" 15", 15", 14". I'll post some mediocre cell phone picture later. I caught a few on topwater early before the sun and winds picked up and lures were lost. Then I had the chompers hula grubs working on the big girls. The chompers and fishing before the ff draft is all part of my draft strategy. You don`t shower the day off and you fish before while using stinky chompers. It's even a bonus if you can bear hug a slimey pike sometime that morning. Then come draft time no one wants to sit next to you and peak at your cheat sheets. Now for the bad and ugly. I had a stretch where I lost 2 of my hot topwater lures in 5 minutes. I had a good fish jump on my walk the dog style topwater. The smallmouth was staying down bulldogging me where my line rubbed some rocks and broke. Then a bad cast into a crosswind put my chug bug into a overhanging branch I couldn't reach. It got worse and more expensive for me from there. Lately I have been using my 3rd grip rod holder and I have been fishing with 2 rods. 1 has a topwater and the other has some kind of weedless plastic. I was kicking around some brush and I think my extra rod got caught up and twisted somehow. Then came the moment I wish I could go back in time and change. I went for a big cast and caught my extra rod on my backcast. In one quick swoop I snapped my St Croix in 1/2 and put a crack in the blank of my G Loomis. I was able to still fish with the G Loomis but it will still need to be fixed. Both manufacturers have great guarantees on their rods but I'm looking at about $50 each plus the cost of shipping. To add insult to injury I had a little fall coming up from the bridge back to my car. I thought I was in the clear as my right foot hit the pavement. The left foot got caught up in some vines and I just about face planted on the pavement with broken rods going in 2 different directions. Its a good thing my neck broke my fall and I was uninjured other than my pride if someone was watching. It's good to hear hear your group caught good numbers of fish along with some good ones. That's a pretty stretch you chose too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted August 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Now for the bad and ugly.......... DANG! Sorry to hear of your mishaps but glad to hear that you did get into fish and it all wasn't for nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Paul Sorry, but I had to laugh at how you went from being a Superstar in the 1st part of your trip with those big smallies to a good imitation of Curly in the 2nd half.The fishing gods do have a way of humbling us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Awesome report Terry. I was super bummed I couldn't make it, but glad to see a pretty good outcome. Will there be any more this fall do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgoodmanii Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Thanks again Terry. I had a great time Saturday. I ended up with 20-25 smallmouth. Nothing of any size with the two biggest at 14, a couple 12's, and the rest dinks. Mostly on soft plastics and a few with an inline spinner, and a few on top water. Great company and a nice stretch of the Kish made for a great outing. Definitely looking forward to the next one. Paul- OUCH! I thought I had it rough the other day when I lost 2 chug bugs in fifteen minutes to some branches. Glad to hear you made it out of there in one piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Trybul Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 On 8/26/2012 at 2:54 PM, JimR said: Will there be any more this fall do you think? I have one coming up in late September on the Rock river. Originally I was thinking of a floating/boating outing since the water temps start to get chilly at the end of September. The Rock river is super low and could easily we changed to a wading or kayaking outing. Here are the 18" & 17" smallmouth I caught. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jim S. Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Nice outing guys, wish I would have made it, but picking up garbage was so much gooder! Hope to do The Rock, last weekend of the year my kid turns 21 and my wife 40! Pub Crawl on calender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted August 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Paul Sorry, but I had to laugh at how you went from being a Superstar in the 1st part of your trip with those big smallies to a good imitation of Curly in the 2nd half.The fishing gods do have a way of humbling us. Really? That's all you have to say? The fly rod crack was for your eyes. All in good fun. There are a few members here in the NW Region that are showing interest and have recently purchased a fly rod. Nobody fished the fly rod on this outing but maybe next year we'll do a fly rod outing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Terry Ou est le flyrod crack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Terry Ou est le flyrod crack? Last sentence under under the heading "Smallmouth Talk, 7:06am." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgoodmanii Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 I wanted to bring my fly rod but Terry said they are useless on Kish smallies. Just kidding. Next year we should do a fly outing here in the NW. That will give me a little more time to practice and not make a fool out of myself. Well that might happen anyway:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jim S. Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 I wanted to bring my fly rod but Terry said they are useless on Kish smallies. Just kidding. Next year we should do a fly outing here in the NW. That will give me a little more time to practice and not make a fool out of myself. Well that might happen anyway:) So what did you end up buying for your outfit? Making a fool out of yourself keeps you honest, trust me, I know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Last sentence under under the heading "Smallmouth Talk, 7:06am." Having lost most of whatever few big fisn I've had on lately makes it hard for me to disagree personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim J Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Great reports and lots of fun. Paul, sorry about that. I've been there and it's a sorry sight. Nice that you have high end rods with good warranties. I don't think separate (fly outings) are necessary. We sort of tried that and I think it leads to a feeling of separation rather than togetherness. We're all ISA guys fishing for the same fish In the same stream so I say all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Lee Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 X2 Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 I don't think separate (fly outings) are necessary. We sort of tried that and I think it leads to a feeling of separation rather than togetherness. We're all ISA guys fishing for the same fish In the same stream so I say all together. But you don't have Trippin' Paul T. in your region. Do you know what it's like to fish with a guy like that? Let me remind you..... I had a stretch where I lost 2 of my hot topwater lures in 5 minutes. I had a good fish jump on my walk the dog style topwater. The smallmouth was staying down bulldogging me where my line rubbed some rocks and broke. Then a bad cast into a crosswind put my chug bug into a overhanging branch I couldn't reach. It got worse and more expensive for me from there. Lately I have been using my 3rd grip rod holder and I have been fishing with 2 rods. 1 has a topwater and the other has some kind of weedless plastic. I was kicking around some brush and I think my extra rod got caught up and twisted somehow. Then came the moment I wish I could go back in time and change. I went for a big cast and caught my extra rod on my backcast. In one quick swoop I snapped my St Croix in 1/2 and put a crack in the blank of my G Loomis. I was able to still fish with the G Loomis but it will still need to be fixed. Both manufacturers have great guarantees on their rods but I'm looking at about $50 each plus the cost of shipping. To add insult to injury I had a little fall coming up from the bridge back to my car. I thought I was in the clear as my right foot hit the pavement. The left foot got caught up in some vines and I just about face planted on the pavement with broken rods going in 2 different directions. Its a good thing my neck broke my fall and I was uninjured other than my pride if someone was watching. Its a good thing my neck broke my fall Kind of looks like you got beat up before landing the big fish. Where's the smiling face Paul? Just giving you a hard time, Paul. Glad you were able to walk away uninjured. You're right Jim. We'd be missing out on too much fun if we were to split and have separate spin/fly outings. That was never my intensions anyways. I was thinking of an outing (spin & fly) with some focus on those beginning in fly fishing. Maybe have a skilled fly guy from the ISA at the outing to give little tips and pointers to the beginners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillKreznor Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Terry: Thanks for putting this outing together. Nice to meet some new folks and get reaquainted with some others I've had the pleasure to fish with from previuos outings. I enjoyed trying new water (to me) and look forward to a return visit. Bill K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 it may be educational and enteraining to set up an outing with one spin guy and one fly rodder teaming up to work a section of river. rich mc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 it may be educational and enteraining to set up an outing with one spin guy and one fly rodder teaming up to work a section of river. rich mc Any flyguy teaming up with Joz had better watch his back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgoodmanii Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 By fly outing I was referring to guys actually using there fly rods. I think it would be great to have some experinced ISA fly fishermen there to help/mentor the less experienced guys/gals. The three outings I have attended this year only had spin fishing. By choice of course. I'm new to ffishing and would like to see some fellow ISA guys in action. That's all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted August 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 Thanks, Tim. I'll work on getting something set up for next year. Keep in mind that we have an ISA Fly Fishing show coming up on Nov. 10. This would be a good event for beginners to attend. I believe last year they had casting lanes to sample dif. wt rods, not sure if there was any help/mentoring going on but if you contact John Loebach here on the site I'm sure he can give you more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted August 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Trybul Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 That's pretty funny stuff right there. You have a gift Terry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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