John Gillio

Nice! Thanks gentlemen.

Thanks again guys. I am blessed to be in a scenic part of the state. It can be overrun by people at times. It is predicted that 4-5 million people will have passed through Starved Rock and Matthiessen State parks by years end. I can't blame them for wanting to take advantage of a good thing. Seeing the posts of other members shows that we can find some natural beauty in our own back yards. There is even a beauty in urban settings as Erick has shown in many of his posts. I can only hope that as a country we can continue toward improving our environment through conservation efforts and not move backwards to the days when rivers like the Fox and Illinois were just dumping grounds for industry. A healthy environment is crucial to our survival and the survival of all of our planets inhabitants. As Sam says, "Natural beauty brings warmth and peace into one's soul".

Cool!

Impressive! Very nice ties.

Thanks guys. Tom, whites have been poor on the river this fall. I'm glad you are finding them on the Fox. Enjoy it. A friend of mine has been doing really well for walleye on the Fox too. That river is really coming along as a fishery. It was nice to see all of the shad in Eric's recent post. That can only be good for the fishery.

Very sad to hear.

Dick, that's a very nice spring of the year smallie. With all the record flooding and heavy rains we've had the past few years, I hate to think of that hog waste getting into the creek.

https://youtu.be/_zWgfzGq5g0 Shenandoah - Arlo Guthrie

Sadly, in my opinion, a large scale hog farm in northern Marshall County is moving ahead with building despite protests from local landowners and conservation groups. Building will supposedly be complete in 18 months. From what I have read, Big Sandy Creek has more native fish species by far than any other stream in Illinois. This creek is home to a strong population of smallmouth bass and I have personally landed a 20"+ smallie from this stream. It is one of the most pristine and scenic creeks that I have fished. It saddens me greatly that a hog farm of this capacity is being allowed to build at the headwaters of one of our states gems. Photos of the creek to follow.

Thanks Erik. I read a similar article. It is due to the fact that they are plankton eaters. They do not consume other fatty fish that toxins build up in.

https://youtu.be/NUZuOl6BaLI https://youtu.be/OsDnrFBpsBk A River Runs Through It.

Don Williams, "That Song About The River". Don Williams - That Song about the River.wmv - YouTube Tom hit on my favorite with Jon Swift-Run River.

Joe, it is a fast action rod but the tip is softer than most. It has a lot of guts in the butt end. Dayton dam is definitely protecting the upper reaches of river from this mess. I have even seen Asian silver carp way up the small creeks I have been fishing. My buddy the other day was all excited about the size of the fish he was casting to in the creek until I pointed out that it was an Asian silver carp. The Vermilion has Asian Carp all the way up to the Streator dam. They have not been stopped by the low head dam at the cement mill, the wildcats, or any other barrier other than the big dam at Streator. Sadly it is by far the most dominant species in many parts of parts of the river. They seem to swarm upstream each time the water rises.

That rod has held up to a considerable number of back hooked Asian carp of about 4-5 ft. in length. It is also my favorite hybrid striper rod. It is a medium light 7' Pacific Bay IM7 rod blank that was made for Cabela's when they sold rod building components. I think it has been discontinued. My favorite smallmouth rod is made from the same blank. The photo below is of an Asian bighead that was mouth hooked and landed with the same medium light rod equipped with a Shimano reel spooled with 10 pound mono. I fought that fish for just over an hour. It just wouldn't give up.

As I said, little silver fish scales on almost every cast . I started off casdting a gay blade for white bass. The blade kept bouncing off of silvers so I switched to the ole classic which has a treble up front instead of the double hook. It snags the dorsal fin much better on a strait retrieve . Sometimes a monster gets snagged and you just hold on until they rip off. This was taken a while back when the water was down some: Check out the rod. Almost spooled the 30 pound braid before it ripped loose.

Not this bunch Mark. I have cooked them in the past and will again. They are pretty good eating and I don't feel bad about doing them in. Yes Eugene, that is exactly where I meant. Hopefully they don't find a way upstream.

Fished the Vermilion the other day. The water was very high, swift, and silver on almost every cast. Only landed a few fish but tiny silver scales were on the hook almost every time. The Silver Asian carp are thick in the river again. I ran into the same carp situation in the lower Fox too.

Some experimentation is in order here. Do fish prefer one brand of beer bottle cap over others. I will look into the situation with wheat beers. They tend to draw me in quite easily.

I thought this was an interesting short read. http://conservationmagazine.org/2016/09/one-reason-fish-smarter-think/

Heard about those storms on the news. Glad nobody was injured.

Very cool Jude. I haven't seen an otter in years.