Paul Trybul

11 hours ago, Frank said:

We did not catch a fish in our group. Our float did not start out well at all. Pour Mike and Jude both flipped the kayaks with in 100 yards of our put in. John and I finished the day with nothing to show for our efforts. I tried the Ned Rig , jerk baits and paddle tail swim jigs. First time shut out on the Kish! 

Losing your guide and expert in that section didn't help. I'm kind of surprised one section significantly out produced other sections. That was all good water by summer and most springs but this cold late spring has changed the dynamics of spring fishing 2018. I didn't want to scare you guys off our section but there is a 100+ yard uphill carry at the end and there is no way to sugar coat that. Jake was kind enough to help me carry my canoe back to my car which me and my 70+ year old father really appreciate. If it was just me and my father, I don't know if I would have picked that section.

Thank you for everyone that showed up for the NW Region's first outing. We had a good sized group show up to the Cherry Valley Café to talk fishing and get fueled up for our float trips.

We had Paul T Sr., Jake B, his friend Ethan, John C, Frank, Eric, Jude, Mike and I attended. We hit 3 different sections of the Kish and helped each other with shuttles. Unfortunately we were greeted with a pretty steady rain and cooler temps than what was originally forecasted.

My fishing  group consisted of me, my father, Jake and Ethan. We got into fish right away as I caught 2 while watching the gear when the rest of the crew worked out the shuttle. Ethan caught one on his 2nd cast in the kayak. From there it got a little bit tougher as we had to work for our fish. There were some occasional flurries and my father and I had 3 doubles. The average size of our fish was pretty good as most of the fish were between 13" - 16". Everyone in our group caught at least 10 and at least a 17". We estimated our group caught 50-60 smallmouth and 1 white bass. Most of our fish came on ned rig type setups or suspending jerkbaits. The fish seemed to bite best during a light rain. Here are some pics of some of the better catches.

Here was my dad with a decent smallmouth caught on a jerkbait. Is it really my dad or could it be Obi Wan Kenobi?

This was my best fish of the day, an 18" caught on a ned rig.

Jake caught a 17" with some shoulders on a ned rig type set up.

Ethan had the fish of the day. A 19+" smallmouth caught on a larger X-rap. Unfortunately my lenses were fogging up which didn't do this tank of a smallmouth justice. Jake took some pics on his phone, so perhaps they turned out better.

How did the rest of the floatilla do?

It looks like we will be invading the Kish with a decent sized armada. So far its is me, Paul T Sr, Norm, Frank, JCarrol & a buddy, Jake B & a buddy, Eric, and solid maybe from Joe R, and Jude has been all over this post but at no point was there commitment to attend. Either way it looks like good participation for what should turn out to be a nice spring day. The river is  flowing at a perfect level to float and as clear as you'll ever see it in the spring.

Yes the gages remained relatively unchanged after yesterday's precipitation. Snow is better than rain as it melts off slowly and is easily absorbed by the ground. All branches of the Kish can be in play if anyone has preferences. Mostly sunny and increasing temperatures going into the outing should make for good pre-spawn bass fishing. Many techniques could work like jerkbaits or swimjigs. along with the consistent plastics bite. I don't think it will be topwater time yet. Perhaps those still fishing later in the day might want to give it a try..

Water temps are still cold so I recommend bringing an extra set of dry cloths in case of a mishap..

Perhaps there is a permission issue. Can anyone that is not an ISA officer see the events in the calendar?

It is also in the calendar as well. Below is copy& pasted from our ISA calendar:

This will be the NW region's first outing of the year. We will meet at the Cherry Valley Café at 9AM and work out pairings and shuttle from there. The date is subject to change due to unpredictable spring water levels. Cherry Valley offers close access to the north, south and main branches of the Kishwaukee River. We can recommend trips ranging from 3 hours to all day depending on your schedule and fishing style. Call Paul Trybul if you have questions 815-540-7775.

Currently all branches of the Kishwaukee are in great shape. We survived the rain that came through last night but more is on the way tonight. The rest of the week looks pretty dry so unless the river does up 2-3 feet, we should be good.  Extended forecast looks like mid 50's. Light waders will be helpful to stay dry while paddling and getting out in spots to wade. The cool temps will make it comfortable to stay in waders for several hours. I would like to get a head count of who is coming by Thursday. .

I plan to have it a float trip. River levels can be tough to wade in the spring. Who's in?

Not on a kayak but it is a pretty good name for one.

I helped you carry it. Fully loaded it felt like a battleship.

31 minutes ago, Terry Dodge said:

Sounds like she's an America(n) Girl.

I thought you would have went with a Cinnamon girl that has a heart of gold.

You see I've been through the rivers on a kayak with no name

It feels good to be out on the water

In the river, you can remember your name

'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain

Green eggs and ham would be so much better. Breakfast sounds good as fishing is better later in the day this time of year.

On Q#1, I would try something different. Scott's idea of a senko works good especially on missed topwater bites. Something different could be the same type of lure but just a different size or color. I've seen that while fishing jerkbaits. You have their interest but haven't matched the hatch yet to trigger the strikes.

Q#2 I throw right back, If that doesn't work, I throw right back with something different. The fish has identified its location and is active. I almost always have 2 rods with 2 different presentations. You can typically pick up that fish unless it felt the hooks on one of the misses.

Q#3 Make observations on the location that fish came from. If you get a better understand of the where and why that fish hit, you can start to develop a fishing pattern for the day. I'll pound the spot until it stops producing.

Q #4. I will follow up with a different approach probably more finesse. Once I feel a good spot is properly worked over, I move on with a run and gun basis hitting as many high % spots as I have time for.

I think slider fishing and ned rigging is a pretty similar approach. I won some ned rigs at the blowout so I plan to use the more. From what I've observed is the slider rig is more snag resistant however the plastic tends to tumble more versus standing up. A proper ned rig with the zman floating plastic really stands up from the bottom.

My son and I can make it. We have a hard stop at 10am as we are volunteering at the recycling center at 10:15am. Hopefully the service is prompt. Nobody ask for extra lingenberries.

I had the opportunity to fish with Dave at Powerton Lake when I first became an ISA member. He was very generous with his knowledge of the lake as I was a first timer there. He will be missed.

Looks like a pretty good turn out for this event. I'll give those attending a little insight into my observations on the Kish recently. I've been dabbling a little bit here and there over the past 2 weeks trying different times, locations, and presentations. Conditions are excellent right now as we have had minimal rain over the past month. I scouted the north branch yesterday and it is finally looking good with low clear water. The fishing was excellent as well. This make all branches of the Kish (North, South & Main branches) in play for this weekend. The south branch was the first to lower and clear. It may be so low that wading could be the best option. Floating could result in many areas where you will need to get out and drag through riffles. The lower south branch near Rockford, North branch, and main branch should be all prime for floating and wading. All of your favorite presentations should work as well. My biggest fish have been coming on topwater. I've been playing around with the smaller sized whopper plopper and have experienced excellent results. It is so easy to fish. Its like a buzzbait you can fish slow and pause. So much easier on my wrists and elbows than walking the dog. In a recent taste test, Kishwakee river smallmouth preferred the whopper plopper almost 2:1 over traditional poppers and soft plastics. Green pumpkin colored soft plastics have worked well also in places where topwaters are challenged (deep holes, tight to structure, heavy current). Minnow profiles have been out producing craw patterns. Here are a few picture of the better specimen caught this week:

An 18.5" caught first thing in the morning

A chunky 17" caught on the whopper plopper mid day

Interesting observation on the north branch as a train with a crane was removing logs off the center piling support the train bridge in Cherry Valley. This activity forced me to fish a different spot which worked out very well.

I look forward to meeting up with fellow ISA members over the weekend. Good luck to all and enjoy the beautiful weather and conditions the Kishwaukee river and this weekend will offer.

I plan to participate in some way. That most likely won't involve sleeping in a tent as I have a warm bed 15 minutes away from this location. I figure with the time it would take to load up my camping gear, set it up and then take it back down, I could just drive home and sleep there. I know I'm probably opening myself up to man card revoking. However, I would like to fish with you guys, help with shuttles, make supply runs, tell stories around the campfire, etc.

And yes Kevin I agree, the season will be far from then end in the middle if September. There should still be a few of those special fall days left to enjoy. I catch more big smallmouth on the Kish in late September into October, than I do the rest of the year combined.

It sounds like you fished that stretch that is very toothy for the first 1/2 and then opens up into some nice bass water. There is no doubt the increased flows this year have allowed for easy migrations. Pike fishing has been good as well as I have caught 11 pike over my last 4 outings on Rock tribs, Kish included. Best pike was mid 30's out of some pretty skinny water. This is coming from a guy that doesn't really target pike either. Conversely I have not been doing as well up on the main branch here in Rockford. They will come back to me sometime in the fall.

Encouraging report Joe. We could have helped you with a shuttle instead of doing that bike riding thing.The fishing on Saturday for us was steady but not on fire. Was the on fire bite on the Des Plaines, Kish , or both? Personally I have never caught, hooked into or even seen a musky in the Kish. I do believe it is possible as I have hooked into them in the Rock.

Ben, nice timing on some of those capturing the jump photos.

Eric, I'm glad you liked the stretch I picked out for you. I drove by your truck at 3:30 on my way home and saw you were still out. Was I accurate about the 1st mile and last mile being the most productive on your stretch?

Ben & I hit a nice section of the South Branch. Condition were perfect for floating as it was up a few inches and there was good water visibility. I could summarize by simply saying we had a quality outdoor experience. Considering the remoteness of the river, comraderie, wildlife sightings, weather, river conditions, and the smallmouth's willingness to hit topwaters with bad intent. Although we go about it with totaly different tools (fly vs spinning), Ben & I share a common passion for catching smallmouth on topwater on remote rivers. I think we worked well together as a team as we took turns leading and didnt tangle line once all day. Numbers were pretty even until I got on hot streak at the end. I would say we caught 25-30 fish total, most were smallmouths, then 2 pike and 2 rock bass. We got about a handful that were in the 16-16.5" range. We also has probably 4 doubles during the day. We probably had double the number of bites on topwater blowups. Walking the dog was drawing some savage strikes but many misses. Ben's topwater fly drew less strikes but his hookup percentage was better. I also caught a few dragging bottom with a hulagrub but topwater was the best thing going for us and we stayed committed to it. The worst part of the trip was taking out our kayaks as the takeout had a steep wet hill to carry. Here are a few pics from my camera. I'm sure Ben will contribute as he had the best photography equipment.

Ben's has a nice comfortable rig for fishing out of. That is until you need to carry it up a steep hill.

Ben's first fish of the day was a northern.

This was one of the better fish of the day. Caught off a mid-stream boulder on a popper fly

I'll go fishing with your guys. Lets float a section of the south branch since the water levels/clairity is better.

I'm in the group that says "death before mono". If you are going to use or set up kids to fish with mono, I would suggest using rigs with thin wire exposed hooks. This will improve hook setting. Trying to bury a hookset with a thick bass hook on a long cast texposed in the plastic is an exercise in futility.