Paul Trybul

Watch out for falling ice cycles Don. You didn't say others couldn't conribute. July 2008 when the IL DNR asked for the ISA to help with shocking surveys. I found it to be very educational. Karen can tell you the difference of an Ozark minnow from a central stoneroller. Comes in handy when you are trying to match the hatch.

Terry, I know exactly where you're talking about. It does look ugly compared to the past looking upstream from the tressel bridge. It does look like the construction company did thier due dilligance. Silt fences along with rock to stabalize the bank. New rock typically is not good for holding fish. As the rock ages and covers with algea it will attract crayfish which will attract smallmouth. There was similar work done on the north branch of the Kish west of Distillery Rd when those new subdivions went up. The area of the bank that they reinforced with rock does hold some fish. Maybe it held more fish before, its hard to say. Man made structure in rivers do hold smallmouth bass. All of this construction will affect our rivers. We can only hope they use good practices and minimize the impacts.

You are correct Ed. I took that picture of Gregg with what I think was a 20 or very close to it.

Terry, Thank you for stepping up at the Rockford show so an Officer like me can go to Blowout. Blowouts are a blast and I still have a great time even though I'm working 1/2 the time. You are in the right spot if you're looking for like minded anglers. Many of us spend plenty of time thinking about what stretch of river I'm going to fish, what fly am I going to use to land that big smallmouth, where is that big smallmouth hiding at and on and on. Some may even call some of us obsessed. The ISA is like anything else in life, the more you put into it the more you will get out. If you take the time to meet and fish with members you will learn more about smallmouth bass fishing period. If you have dreams and visions of cleaning up our waterways and improving the habitat, this is a good forum to execute them. We have some money set aside for projects and a large member base to leverage volunteer manpower. Some members just lurk the forums and read the newsletters happy knowing their $30 goes to a good cause. It's all up to you and we're happy to have you either way.

When I show people that picture they don't believe that is a wild deer and not from some deer park like in the Wisconsin Dells,

I really find the picture journal stories of boundary water trips very entertaining. Reading the stories is a nice way to cure a little cabin fever. If you guys want to read more stories like these there are 2 great websites just loaded with stories of outdoor adventures in BWCA and Quetico. Try www.bwca.com or www.quietjourney.com . Someday I hope to go there too. Through all the reading I've done, I already have a vision for the route of my adventure.

Don, You're right on with your guess. Looks like a Sylvania background too.

Last picture would be a past ISA officer by the name of Pete Plauk. If you spend a day fishing with Pete you'll most likely learn something about river smallmouth fishing. Lewandowski was an ISA coordinator for a brief time. That looks like my canoe he's fishing out of.

Plus it looks like the first time in a long time we won't be getting 5 inches of snow that night.

Maybe I forgot to specify but that would be 7:00 PM next wednesday. Unless you work a night shift you shouldn't have to take any vacation to make our meeting.

The Northwest Region will meet on Wednesday, January 13th at 7:00 at the Rockford Gander Mountain on Perryville Rd. I was unable to find an quality affordable speaker so we are having a social pizza party. A little comraderie among like minded anglers sharing stories and techniques. The Winnebago County Forest Preserve District has recently shown some interest in habitat improvement of the Kishwaukee within its parks, so come to the meeting armed with ideas for potential projects. They’ve asked for our input, so let’s give it to them. We will also schedule our 2010 outings. If you are 90% sure you can attend please RSVP me so I can order the right amount of food. Paul Trybul 815-703-2651

For me last year it was Florida. It's hard to beat fishing in shorts and a T-shirt in late December. This year after a tough year in sales I'll be lucky to make it to a cooling lake like Powerton.

I still have a small stash of the original ones in black. The supply is dwindling though and they only last a few fish. It did produce my 2 biggest local smallies of the year now that I think about it.

Those CB plastic leeches. Are those the replicas of the original berkley ribbon style powerleeches that have been discontinued for several years now?

I'm doing pretty good. I haven't got out much lately. This time of year I like to take my boat out on the Rock. I can't since the truck I have access to has a break in the break line. Those water temps seem way too low for early to mid October. Temps in the 40's usually means you need minnows to get a consistant bite. Smaller rivers like the Kish and Pine creek are probably mid to low 40's I did fish below the oregon dam in early August. We did good for channel cats and caught some smallies and a walleye around the dam. The fishing seemed to get worse the farther downstream we went. The usual good spots around Castle Rock were super slow. That cool rock out outcrop with the eagle nest produced 1 smallie and 1 white bass and we worked it hard. Kyte produced only 1 dink. There are still fish there just not in the numbers that we were used to.

I haven't been fishing very much since the cold snap hit. I know things have changed a lot over the past 2 weeks. I was wondering if anyone has been on any rivers lately and took a temperature reading. If you could name the river along with the temp that would be great. I'm going to be restocking my wading vest here soon. Out with craw imitators and in with the swim jigs, suspending jerbaits, float & flies, and gulp minnows. Water temp is going to play a big roll on the feeding habits now.

I read tons of fishing magazines and books during the winter when I don't fish. I do remember reading a In-Fisherman report when they tracked a smallmouth migrating 50 miles during a season. I've also read a book called Fish Sylvania which describes fishing in deep clear northwoods lakes. They claim that smallmouth can be homebodies spawning in the same locations and living their entire life in a small area. Especially if that area has access to everything they need over the coarse of a season. From what I've read and seen this makes sense. I've seen river smallies migrate up small tributaries to spawn in the spring in good numbers. These same tribs will be almost completely void of smallmouth by late summer. The water will be low and clear enough to see that they are gone. It's not that I just couldn't catch them. I've also been up to Sylvania for about 7 years at the same time of year every year. Good smallmouth locations are very consistant from year to year. So to answer your question, I would generally say rivers no, lakes yes. I suppose if a river section has close access to everything a smallmouth would need throughout a season that they could be homebodies in a small area of river. It would have to have access to deep water, areas with sand/gravel mix for spawning, current breaks during high water, and a good year round food supply.

Thank you Ron and Bill for making it out on a drizzly morning. The fishing was a little slow but it was nice to see everyone catch some smallmouth. I think we ended up catching around 18 smallmouth bass between the 4 of us by noon. My father and I felt like calling it a day after lunch. Did you guys go back out?

If the water is too high we would fish the shoreline along the controlled diversion part of the dam called "the race". I would bring waders but I may recommend you leave them in the car. "The race" is a man-made rip rap shoreline that runs for about 1.5 miles. It is not wadeable.

We have had a bit of rain in the area and more importantly to the north since I last posted. This river has rose a good foot over the past few days. below is a link to the USGS gage: My link 4.5ft makes the wade below the dam challenging if not impossible to get to one of the good multispecies areas. Above the dam through the diversion "race" always has a consistant flow no matter what the main river is doing. This has the most consistant smallmouth fishing anyway. A high flow just limits how much water we can fish.

I try to be diverse in my fishing style depending on the situation. Situation being time of year, body of water, and water conditions. My objectives usually center around #1 and #4. I dont' worry too much about targeting just trophies unless I'm fishing up north in waters that are well known to produce trophies. I'd like to explore some new water but I know of more good spots than I have time to fish. Some rivers have long rocky shorlines or flats with structure that looks all about the same and fish are scattered. Those areas call for search lures that cover lots of water fast. Other rivers have long runs of shallow unproductive water with a few prime holes spaced between dead areas. This calls for run and gun speed wading until you get to the prime spots. Fish those until you go a few casts without a bite and move on. There may be other times in late fall where I may sit in one or 2 spots fishing live bait very slowly for 4 hours. Sometimes the honey hole will be very small and close doesn't count. A spot on the spot so to speak. If you hit it right you don't have to move and can catch fish steadily for hours. I think it pays to be flexible. Know your body of water, understand the conditions and maximize your opportunities with the right approach.

Just a reminder that we have a wade/shore fishing outing this Saturday at 8:00AM. It will be in Rockton, IL on the Rock River. The river in this area has a diversion dam and splits into 2 channels. One offers over a mile of walkable rocky shorline to fish. The other requires a medium to advanced level wade depending on the flow and how much water you like to cover. As long as the USGS gage is 3.9 ft or lower both areas should be fishable. Smallmouth bass will probably be the most caught species but I would be surprised if there weren't a few walleye, sauger, pike, white bass, or catfish caught on this trip. The meeting location is difficult to desribe. Feel free to send me a PM or call me at 815-703-2651 and I can e-mail or describe the detailed map I have printed out. So far only 3 other people have expressed interest so we still have plenty of room for more.

I like to really pound the bottom with the 1/4oz pro slider for whatever that is worth. 1/8oz is fine for shallower water or mild current or a day they want a slow drop.

I've found 3 brands of hulas I like and use for different reasons. Chompers, Yammamoto/Kinami, or Yum gonzo grubs all work good for me. Favorite color is green pumkin or something close to it. Any natural color seems to work. The only color that doesn't seem to work as good are the colors with sparkly flecks. Who ever saw a sparkly/shinny crawfish or frog? I think that is what a hula grub is immitating anyway. A frog jumping off the bank and scooting along the bottom or a crawfish tumbling in the current after being scared out from under a rock.

Mark, Those hours ;ook like they are over 3 seasons. Still a lot of fishing hours logged. If I'm reading this right, your stats showed some similar stats as we did in IL with our fishing log project. September has the highest catch rate for total numbers and the fewest amount of hours between 16"+ smallmouth.