Brad G

Mike... do you use an Albright knot for the connections?

I don't have a whole lot of experience with them, but made a few and have been using them for the past year or so. They seem to turn over better for me. I'll have to look up the recipe I used, but I think I started out with 30# and went down to 8#.

Topic should be "furled" leaders....

Do any of you guys make/use your own furled leaders, and what are your thoughts on them (compared to normal ones)?

Hope it's not too late, but I just saw this and signed.

Very cool.

Was just wondering who's planning on going. I'm planning on being there, at least for the fishing, and am looking forward to meeting some ISA members. Brad

Thanks guys. I know I've only been on here for a short time, but I just love the wealth of information on this site!

Are there any problems with tying a perfection loop in the end of your fly line to attach to a pre-looped leader? I had one of the woven loop connecters on one of my lines [that's a few years old] and when putting a new leader on noticed that the casing of the fly line was cracked right behine the end of the connector, so I cut the line off at that point and just put a perfection loop in it. Didn't know whether there would be any problems with the strength of this connection or if it would cause any casting problems. It actually seems to pass through the guides pretty slick...

I'm not much of a unitasker when it comes to rods, but I love my st. croix premier medium light 6'6" triggerstik. It's a fast action, but is light enough in the tip to give it some shock absorbtion when running cranks. I've had it for quite awhile, but I think they run about $110 now.

That's cool! Andy I'm gonna be down there this weekend through about Wednesday of next week. I'm going to shoot you a PM.

Rich, I don't know if I'd call myself a "fly-rodder", or not... definately rookie status anyway! I fly fished quite a bit for lmb and bluegills in the past, but haven't picked up a fly rod in several years. I always loved throwing pike flies (big giant dahlberg divers, and steamers) for lmb in the spring and early summer, then little poppers and sinking no-name rubber leg bugs for 'gills. All the fly-fishing I've done has been in lakes and ponds. Actually, going up and fishing in the Mack the other day kinda had me wishing I would have brought a fly rod. I've got a St. Croix 8/9 weight rod loaded with #10FWF pike line that I always used for lmb, and an old South Bend Double Built fiberglass rod (it was my grandfather's) loaded with #7 that I used for gills. I figured I'd try the south bend for smallies. I'd describe it's action as HSS (heavy, soft, and slow!), but I always thought fishing with gramps rod was pretty special, and I know he'd get a kick out of it if he was still around.

That's interesting, because it does look like good smallmouth habitat when you get farther upstream, past where you could put a boat in it. I talked with a local after seeing your video and he told me there wasn't any smallmouth in it, however he told me that there was smallmouth in Big Creek, up near the Iron Furnace (NE of Rosiclaire). He said he had caught them there up to 15". I've waded the strectch at the Iron Furnace with my wife on a rock hunt (she's kind of a fossil nut), and it looks just like the little streams we canoe down in MO. Next time I'm down I plan on running up there with the fly rod and I'll take some pics.

Somebody tell me about Lusk Creek... I saw in the "Rivers of the ISA" video that Lusk Creek was included. I've spent quite a bit of time in extreme southern Illinois over the past 20 years or so. In fact, I own some property down there [just north of Golconda, in Pope County] and have done a lot of fishing in the lower Lusk, but never caught any smallies there. So what's the scoop?

Fred... yeah, we went up and fished, but lets just say I'm looking forward to the outing on the 14th so maybe I can figure out what I was doing wrong! We got blanked. I had three dinkers on that all came unbuttoned before they made it back to my hand. These were seriously like 4 or 5 inch fish. We fished near the canoe put-in, and then went down stream and fished near the bridge (off Coil road, I think). I tried several different soft plastics fished on an 1/8th oz Charlie Brewer pro slider head (3" grubs, 4" worms, etc). Also tried a Pop-R after seeing some fish hitting topwater at something under an overhanging tree. Nothing seemed to work. Had a great time though. I have been meaning to go fish that river for almost 15 years now, and had just never made it up. It was also a nice change of pace to fish a smaller stream.

Thanks guys. I've never been up there so I figured we'd just go up and check out the Mackinaw River State Fish and Wildlife Area. The DNR website lists the address as Nelson Road, in [or outside of] Mackinaw. Are there any other public access areas? I saw the notice about the outing on the 14th and am hoping I'll be able to make it up there. Sounds like fun.

Hello! My names Brad and I'm a new member who just wanted to introduce myself. Don't know how many members there are in the central part of the state, but my wife and I live about 20 minutes south of Springfield. From what I've read so far this really looks like a great group and I'm really looking forward to meeting some members. My question... My wife and I were planning on heading up to the Mackinaw River on Friday to do some wade-fishing. I've never been there before and was wanting to know if there is plenty of water to fish in the park, and also if anyone knew what the water conditions were like up there now? We've been getting quite a little rain here the past few days, but we're also about an hour and a half south.