Paul Trybul

With the NFL season kicking off tomorrow, I'd just like to say I love football season.

That's pretty funny stuff right there. You have a gift Terry.

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.

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.

PaulT Sr in for breakfast, out for fishing.

Really, you question wet wading in August. I'll still do some wet wading in October. I have my fantasy football draft the same day as this outing. I would like to meet you guys for mediocre b&g and I could get a group started before I have to split. My draft is in Genoa. In years past I have south branch fished my way from Rockford to Genoa stopping at old proven spots.

Why are you questioning my skills as a hole marshall? It's a very easy job; spot balls in the rough, hold up a quiet sign when a golfer approaches the ball, make sure noone is improving the lie. They look for volunteers every year. Get in my belly you jokesters

I always wondered what I'd look like in a kilt. I really enjoyed fishing with the group yesterday. It's been a while since we had a group willing take on 5+ miles of rugged Apple river. There are not too many place in L more scenic to fish for the beloved smallmouth bass. Fishing wise, we caught over 100 as a group but it was mostly a dink fest. The biggest fish went 14.5" tops.I'll try to post more later. I'm just killing time now working as a hole marshall at the Rockford Pro am. S

I've never heard that one before. Don't feel bad about the situation. That guy had the problem and you didn't do anything wrong. If he has some gentleman rules among his family and buddies he needs to keep that between him and his buddies.

Just a reminder that we have a wade fishing outing this Saturday on the Apple. So far I've had 4 other ISA members RSVP. I would like to propose meeting at the Denny's in Rockford between 6 & 6:15am for breakfast. It would be the one at highway 20 & rt 251. We can do some car pooling. Call Paul T at 815 703 2651 if you are interested.

Dave, thank you for organizing this outing. 5 minutes into the outing I was standing next to Ron and I hooked into a decent smallmouth that went airborn and spit the hook. A minute late my son trips on a rock and put a nasty bruise and swell on his shin bone. I iced it down but the Trybul wolfpack had limited mobility after that. Since the easy access stuff at the Apple wasn't really happening we decided to do some bridge hopping/exploring a little north of the border. I tell you Wisconsin has the water access laws set up much better than our wonderful state of IL. If you go bridge hopping/exploring on an IL stream, you are more likely to see something like this: In Wisconsin they are much more accomodating to the anglers. This is a sample of what we saw: Considering our limited mobility, I was surprised how well we did. If I just showed you this picture of the 1st Fever fish we caught, and told you we caught 25 smallmouth with little exploring off of bridges it would be true but misleading. The truth is there is a very strong year class of 4-5" dinks and that made up the majority of our numbers. Here is the picture of the outing attendants minus me and my son. There is an outing coming up in mid July if you missed this one.

As we move into the dog days of summer, I'm amazed at how shallow aggressive smallmouth can be and how fast of current they will be willing to sit in.

If you take the time to read the information that comes with the packing of your fishing equipment, you can find some interesting things. I recently got my replacements for some of the lucky crafts I lost this spring. Reading the back of the package you won't find fishing tips, just their passion for the fishing experience. Fishing & Dreams "Sharing moments of sheer joy with more anglers" This is the perpetual wish we want to come true for our users. Personally, I've experienced moments of sheer joy while using Lucky Craft products. Lucky Craft Entertainment As an entertainer serving the fishing community, we strive to deliver the best performance as to create hope, kindle comradeship, generate eternal interest, and help achieve glory.

I'll be there. I'll bring an ISA C&R sign that we should be able to post on the kiosk.

At this time the Kish is the lowest and clearest that I have seen in the springtime for several years. I think the ground will soak up most of a good rain. I look forward to taking my canoe out for the st time this year.

Mushroom hunting & stream smallmouth fishing have some similarities. You have to pay your dues ans spend a lot of time scouting before you find the best spots. I look for woods that have a lot of dead trees. More specifically dead elm trees with the bark just starting to peel off. 90% of my finds are in the general area of a dead tree.

What a record warm spring. Lilacs are blooming morels are popping and it isn't even April yet. I found my 1st morel of the year last Saturday. A full month earlier that my 1st finds ever. Today I found over 30 for harvest. I'm not saying the woods are loaded with them already, I'm just saying the early spots are starting in the northernmost part of our state. I also found another edible growing on my garage. A nice sized oyster mushroom. There is fungus among us.

Mark your calendars, here are the fishing outings planned for the year for the NW Region. Look for more details as we get closer to the outing dates. On Sunday April 22nd the Northwest region will host its first fishing outing on the Kishwaukee River. This will be a float outing. Bring your canoe, kayak, or pontoon and have a good time chasing bronzebacks on the Kish. If you don't have something to float, other members could have room in their canoe or there is an outfitter. You can rent or shuttle through www.canoethekish.com . Call Terry Dodge for more details 815-397-2595. On July 14th the NW Region will host a wade fishing outing on the Apple River at Apple River Canyon State Park. Due to the size of the water this will be a RSVP trip. Typically we break up into groups of 4 or less and explore different areas. This driftless area of Illinois offers unique terrain and beauty. Contact Paul Trybul 815-703-2651 to RSVP. On August 25th the NW Region will sponsor a wade fishing outing on the Kishwaukee River. We will meet for breakfast or at one of the parks in the Rockford area. Then we will break up into groups and explore many of the forest preserves in the area. Contact Terry Dodge for more details 815-397-2595. On September 22nd the NW Region will host and outing on the Rock River. This could be a wade outing or possibly a boating outing since we do have several members with boats. Look for details as get closer to the event date. The Rock River does offer a good fall smallmouth & multi-species bite when the water cools and the pleasure boaters leave. The water clears up nicely while the smallmouth evacuate the smaller tribs and put on the feedbag for fall. Call Paul Trybul 815-703-2651 for more details.

The only possitive effect this mild winter might have on the 2012 spawn is smallmouth may spawn a little earlier. If they spawn earlier, young of the year bass go into the winter starvation period a little larger giving them a better survival rate. Nothing spawning related will happen until the water temps reach 60 and who knows when that will be. There are so may other factors that will play a roll in a successful spawn. This mild winter should have a positive effect on smallmouth young from the 2011 spawn. Hopefully that was good one with minimal winter kill.

When: Saturday, Feb. 25 @ 12pm. (noon) Where: Rockford, IL. Gander Mountain. What: Charles (Chuck) Corley from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Come to this Northwest Region meeting and listen to Mr. Charles (Chuck) Corley, of the IEPA, as he discusses what we should watch for and things we should be concerned with when it comes to our waterways. Chuck will also be taking questions so jot down any questions or concerns that come to mind and bring them to this meeting. Let's have a good turn-out for this one. Be prepared to protect in 2012 Meeting starts at 12pm. with Chuck taking the floor about 12:30pm. Gander Mnt. Rockford, IL. 3068 McFarland Rd Rockford, IL 61114 (815) 637-9600 The roads should be all clear for this meeting on Saturday. I know I'll be there. Who else is going to join our meeting?

I like it too. Basically we're talking carolina rigging with a more snag proof weight. As far as "fishing bottom in fast current", I would rank the Carolina rig #3 for smallmouth. I'd rank it #1 of we were talking catfish or walleye in fast current. For smallmouth I would go with the previously mention weighted keeper hook #2 and I still think the charlie brewer slider is the #1 fit for the topic. The slider has a more nose down tail up effect on plastics which is great for craw immitators. The weighted keeper offers a more horizontal presentation for minnow immitating plastics. I have some trouble with the weighted keeper if I'm using a soft or beat up plastic. The prong holding the front will fall out and then the presentation snags easily like a weighted wacky rig. The downside to the carolina rig in heavy current is some plastic baits will corkscrew causing a unatural presentation plus line twist if you don't use a swivel. I can see the advantage of the carolina rig when casting downstream. The charlie brewer slider head would be best fished in heavy current casting straight upstream to 3/4 casting upstream. You will want to keep your rod tip up high to keep the line out of the current as much as you can. If you have the correct weight your lure will gently tumble downstream maintaining bottom contact. Gently reel in the slack so you can feel every bump on the bottom or the tell tale thump of a big smallmouth inhaling your offering. It really pays to have a quality rod and a no-stretch superline for this type of fishing. Without it, it can be tough to tell the difference between bumping a rock and getting a hit. Be sure to check your line often because constant contact with the bottom wears down the knot and line quickly. This fast current smallmouth fishing can really pay big dividends during those hot dog days of summer into early fall.