Paul Trybul

I'll be there at least for breakfast. I'm not sure how much time I'll have but I know I can't fish in the afternoon.

I must not be getting out enough because mine don't look anything like that after 2 years.

You still have Power Leeches, Paul?

 

Wanna sell any?

 

Or did they start producing them again....

 

Jude,

You crack me up, I just about fell out of my chair.

Yes, I still have a stash of berkley orginal ribbon style powerleeches. They are real and they are spectacular......to quote a Seinfeld episode.

No, they are not for sale. I'm dreading that fatefull day when I run out. I wish I had a lifetime supply that I could hand out to all my fishing buddies and they could experience the magic. Many years ago a former ISA officer Pete Plauk showed me the magical power of the ribbon style powerleech. When I found out they were discontinuing them I found an outlet store that was selling some closeout factory defect ones. I purchased 500 at that time and I am down to about 100 with 1/2 of them being defected ones. Any tips on how to melt them flat and straight again? I've tried pressing them between 2 sheets of plexiglass in the hot sun but that only helps a little.

I actually don't use them all the time because they are not the be all end all of lures. They don't cast very far, they don't last very long, and they don't cover water very quickly. They have become my #1 pitching lure when the water has a little stain and you want to fish low and slow tight to some good structure. They partner up with a 1/8oz spider sliderhead perfectly. It's been a few years now but I do have 2 reliable ISA members Pete & Kevin who each caught 20.5" kishwaukee river smallmouths on these leeches.

Anyway now everyone knows the story behind the leeches. I wonder what Berkley did with the original molds?

The conditions should be perfect this weekend for many of the area rivers and I'm sure some smallmouth will cooperate with a variety of different lures.

I spent about 8 hours on the river this weekend too. I ran into Jude but I didn't see you out Terry. I floated probably 9 miles and it all looked pretty good. Water is up probably 6 inches I would say but the clairity is good. Not too clear where ther are spooky but clear enough that they can chase lures. We put somewhere around 40 smallmouth in the canoe along with a pike biteoff right along the the boat. Also had a domestic goose follow us for 5 miles sometimes riding in the canoe sometimes just swimming along side. Animals just seem to be attracted to my daughter. Also saw a wild turkey and a red fox attack and just miss a squirrel. Most of the fish were 10-15" but I did get 2 brute 17.5"er Saturday AM. The hot lure was the berkley powerleech but senkos and poppers worked too. I could not catch any fish on crawfish imitators which was strange. I gave the yum craw bug and the hula grub some time but they didn't produce at all.

I've got this canoe I fish out of. With the stabalizers you can actually stand up and fish out of it. It's perfect for a small carry-in lake like Olsen.

I haven't been out there in a while and I usually go in the spring before all the weeds grow up. I've got some slop techniques so I can make it work now. Do you guys know if you can put a canoe in 4 lakes? I know you can pretty much cast to anywhere in the lakes from shore, I just want to escape the mosquitoes.

I hate to interrupt your private conversation but I was going to try that Olsen Lake last Sunday but I got turned away. It turns out they had some kind of triathalon going on and the access was completely cut off. We ended up going to Spenser park in Belvideer. The river was way high so we tried the deep clear pond and got skunked. Saw a few big bass and some trout jumping but we couldn't get them to hit.

We sure got a ton of rain in Northern IL over the past 24 hours. Its too bad becuase all of the smaller rivers in the area were starting to run at normal levels and clear. I just looked at the USGS for the Apple and it rose 22 feet in less than a day. I can't image what that looks like. The Kish is rising like I wish my 401K would. Anybody know any good farm ponds to fish for the next week or 2?

That is a really cool thing that you are doing. Getting people together, having fun and making a difference. Hopefully the example you are setting will rub off on others and your float trips can be more about relaxing instead of cleaning up after others. I did get your invite on facebook but we had some other things going on.

There were 2 more that showed up late so we had 16 participants. My group had the tough hike to good water. We had some kids swimming in the 1st good spot and 2 other fisherman leapfroged us to fish waters ahead of us. It don't think we did as well as the other groups but we did C&R about 25 smallmouth and 5 creek chubs. I tried a bunch of different lures and techniques but nothing seemed to work better than anything else. I felt pretty worn out around 1pm and headed home. Thank you to everyone that participated to make this a successful outing.

I cleaned that up so send me a PM if you wish.

Unless we get an untimely downpour we will have our NW/QC Regional fishing outing this Sunday the 18th on the Apple river. There are still a few openings so RSVP me or Dave if you think you can make it.

I've been out there once this year around the end of April and it was the same deal for me. The river was up and there was zero visibility. I ended up leaving the fishing gear in the car and hiking the woods for morel mushrooms. I found a few so it wasn't a wasted trip.

I've know a little about the Baraboo. It's had some dams removed over the past 15 years. I think I read somewhere that it was Wisconsin's longest reclaimed freeflowing river. The lower region has diverse population due to migratory fish coming up from the Wisconsin river. The upper parts and its tribs hold some trout. The mid section is about the size of the kish and does hold smallmouth bass. This river has some potential but like most rivers you probably need to pay your dues and scout out which sections are better than others.

One good thing about the Apple is it does have the ability to drop back to normal levels quicker than most IL rivers. If you do have to reschedule, keep in mind that I have a NW regional wading trip scheduled for July 18th on the Apple. I've only had 2 RSVP's for my trip so far so if you want to have a combined region trip, that could work.

I tried it this spring in my boat. The water was surprisingly stained. We didn't catch anything in the lake. We ended up exploring Waddams creek that flows into the lake and caught a rainbow trout. It was the weekend after the opener of the catchable trout program so there were still a few left. We explored a little ways up stream and there are some really nice looking riffle pool structure with some lunker structure cutbanks. I don't know if there are any smallmouth in there but it was pretty looking small water.

Try this place

http://www.vermillionriverrafting.com/

I called them last week and they can rent a canoe or provide a shuttle if you have your own. The area with the whitewater rapids is closed due to some construction work being done. This river can be very popular for inner tubers so a trip during the week could provide better quiet fishing opportunities.

Oddly enough, the men said they had also caught a few walleye, which they released.

So many tasty walleye and perch in Lake Erie and they have to go slaughter the smallies.

How did you guys do? It must have been pretty cold.

Kevin,

The one thing that could be a factor is the Kish fish (April) could be a pre-spawner with eggs. I have caught some fatties on the Kish but again they are few and far between.

I wonder if the type of crayfish differ in nutritional value. The Wisconsin & Menominee River fish I've caught/seen pictures of seem to have a better girth on average than fish I've caught in IL rivers. The crayfish they have up there are the rusty exotic crayfish I believe. Maybe those are higher in calories that the natives. Those fish may also have access to trout at the mouth of some of the smaller tributary streams.

I also think that genetic strains play a big roll in smallmouth size. Some rivers and lakes have a history of producing larger smallmouth than others. Maybe up north they have to get fat to survive the longer harder winter starvation period. Years and years of genetic selection have only the fatter fish surviving the winters to pass on their genes. In Illinois and Indiana the winter kills probably don't play as big of a roll in survival. It might be an advantage here to be skinner to cut through all that current during our massive floods. It seems like we have had harder winters the past few years compared to the 90's. Maybe winter kill is a factor.

All I know is my fishing logs have me cathing less fish/hour trending over the past few seasons here in IL.

Anybody have any idea why the Kish doesn't produce bigger average size bass? Most reports etc talk of fish that barely get into dubl digits. With northerns in the river I would think there'd be fewer but bigger bass. Personally I'd rather catch 1 or 2 in a day that approach the 2nd dubl digit tier than a bunch of 8-12s.3 years ago I discovered a stretch of water were you could often catch little guys by the dozen. I've only gone there 3x, the last being 2 yrs ago.If I go again it'll only be out of desperation to catch something.If I'm going to fish for 9" fish they'd better be bluegills.

Ron I've been fishing the Kish for close to 30 years now. Its an interesting river, but it doesn't give up a lot of big smallmouth. I catch a lot of fish between 8-16" but there is a huge drop-off in numbers of any fish larger. Occaisionaly it does produce some WOW fish between 18-20.5" but they are pretty few and far between. I think it comes down to forage and genetics. The Kish is not fertile like the Dupage river for example. There are very, very few weeds on the Kish. The forage base also seems to be dominated by small minnows and fry. I rarely ever catch a creek chub or see any minnows over 3" in length. The crayfish even seem to be of a smaller variety ranging from 2-3". The crayfish are nothing like the lobsters you see in the Wisconsin river and as a result the smallmouth from the Kish aren't shaped like the smallmouth from the Wisconsin river.

Here is a 17" I caught in September when they are supposed to be putting on the feed bag. It is very streamlined compared to Dupage river fish or a lake run fish.

Here is a Wisconsin River fish.....forage base...forage base... and some genetics produce big smallmouth

Rockford area had a bass tournament on the Rock river last weekend. They had an exemption too. There is quite a bit of this going on. Why can't there be tournments on lakes in the spring and rivers in the summer and fall?

or perhaps to a musical (I've heard rave reviews of Million Dollar Quartet!).

 

I saw the million dollar quartet and they were very good. Alot of energy with some very talented musicians.

BTW I can't make it due to a sports banquet with my daughter.

I think the populations are on the decline in my area. I can't come close to the catch numbers I had in 2004-2006 which seemed to be a peak in my area. It's pretty much a decline across the board for the Rock River all of its tribs I fish and the Apple river. There are still decent numbers of smallmouth in these places, just not like it was several years ago.

You can't really go wrong with the morel. I do also hunt a few fall mushrooms like shaggy manes, hen of the woods and chicken of the woods. Those 4 are pretty easy to identify and don't have poisonous look a likes. There are plenty of internet and book picture references to help with an ID. If in doubt don't eat is a good rule to live by.

I'm looking at a bag with about 2 dozen in there. They are much smaller than last year since it has been so dry. Most are in the 2-4" range. The middle of dense forested areas have been the only producers for me. The key seem to be green moss on the ground. If there is no green moss then there doesn't seem to be enough mosture to produce. It doesn't hurt if you can find a few dead elms to look around.