mannym

Welcome Mike. Hope to hear about your adventures on the fox.  I am down near Starved Rock and the Vermillion. 

15 hours ago, Rob G said:

 

 You mean like these two?  I love bicycle touring in that area and stumbled upon these bad boys a few years ago.   As for the trifecta,  I did see a Moccasin but he was too quick for me to get a shot. 

 

Now you know why I decided to explore the Shawnee during late winter, early spring. 

I was looking on google earth and saw that Bay Creeks turns into a small lake. It looks man made.  Expect the same there in terms of species? LB, SpotB, crappie? I also saw that many many people swim there in the summer. I assume it has deep holes. 

49 minutes ago, siusaluki said:

I spent 9 years working for the fisheries department at SIUC after I finished my master's degree in aquaculture there (as well as my undergraduate degree in zoology), so I have fished nearly all of the streams down there and have spent a lot of time on the shawnee streams so I can elaborate.

Personally, I would not say that the habitat is similar in all of the Shawnee streams. 

The first thing you should know about these streams is the geological region they lie in has very little limestone, it is mostly sandstone and clay.  Sandstone does not hold ground water well, so the base flows of the streams can vary widely over the course of a year.  I regularly saw the flow rate on lusk creek and other streams fall below 0.5 CFS throughout the summer.  This leads to high water temperatures from the headwaters to the mouth at the Ohio.  Many of these streams are characterized by short steep riffles or ledges and long deep pools.  Nearly all streams in the area are like this, and although there are some very small springs in some areas, the volume from them is not sufficient to keep water temperatures down from June-September.  Smallmouth do not compete well with spotted bass and largemouth in streams with high water temperatures, especially in areas with habitat that is less than ideal for smallmouth.  Some great LMB and spotted bass fishing if you can find the right areas.  I have caught LMB over 22" in Lusk and other area streams, and spotted bass to 17".

 

Big creek is the exception because it has several springs that keep base water flows throughout the year, and the geologic region that it drain's (Hick's Dome and Karber's ridge) has lots of limestone under the ground.  Limestone dissolves, forming karst areas and this forms springs due to hydraulic pressure.  Water temperatures in the creek stay below 85 degrees due to spring inflow and abundant shade and the fact the overall water volume is low and the majority comes from springs. The stream itself does not form long pools, rather short pool areas with good riffles and runs which keep the water shaded.  Smallmouth, spotted bass, and largemouth are found there, but the lower water temperatures and favor the smallmouth.

The limestone also dissolves calcium in to the water which is something that smallmouth bass love.  If you look at the latin name of smallmouth bass, it describes this very well.  Micropterous Dolomieu (think dolomite, which is a calcium magnesium carbonate).  Smallmouth bass and limestone go hand in hand.  In the southern midwest, without limestone in the watershed there may not be any smallmouth.  

That right there is worth 100x the yearly ISA membership. 

Thanks for the contributions guys! 

12 hours ago, Rob G said:

If I remember correctly, only Big Creek contains any smallmouth down there.  The other streams have both the LG mouth and Spotted bass.  We almost got a study commissioned on that several years ago by the Biology department at SIU as to why that was the case when those streams are so close in proximity and have similar habitat.

That would have been a very interesting read. 

2 hours ago, Bart Durham said:

Lusk Creek near Eddyville is a pretty cool fly fishing area. Can wade but kayak would be helpful.

How is the fishing? Smallies and largies? 

Welcome. I frequent the section from Ottawa up to Dayton dam. This year, I will be testing the waters near Aurora through Yorkville. Hope to run into you sometime. 

Thanks Scott. You should see my 2 yr membership payment coming through. 

This trip is will be a solo primitive camping excursion. Stream fishing or lake fishing with my Penobscot, photography and just relaxing are the main goals. I normally go north with my canoe to escape the rat race. This year, the desire to hide in the woods came sooner than most years. Finding temps in February over 25 degrees at night ( my limit for hammock camping) had me looking south. Just not so much that I leave the state. I am open to bringing the canoe with me and would actually prefer it. But I also want to get at least 3-4 miles away from roads. It might be tough finding such a place down there with only one vehicle. 

I am starting to get stir crazy and need to go on a little trip. Can anyone share any experiences with fly fishing streams in the Shawnee? I started looking around and thought Bell Smith Springs looked good. The springs must keep the water levels consistent enough to support a decent fish population.

I am planning on going mid to late Feb or possibly early March. '

Thanks folks

The window may have closed on us. Looks like the rivers will open up and provide some fly fishing opportunities in January. 

I have always liked upstream from me for big bronze. The SF area has always been a favorite stretch for me. The area behind Kish cabins comes in at a close second. 

Crappie candy flies are next. 

3 hours ago, Scott Ferguson said:

Please don’t think this is a comment about the quality of your fly tying ability, but I swear I swept a couple of those out from behind my refrigerator the other day. 

None taken. I think  Ice dub looks like hair from down under. Lol

I probably have and just assumed the gravel pit was making the noise. What i have seen are trees along the shoreline with all of the bark missing. I figured it was the ice Pushing onto shore after a river rise. 

Hmmm, i may start flying the drone over the river when it starts to thaw. 

As I crossed Lowell bridge, I noticed water rolling over the ice this morning.  I think heading south might be needed if I want to catch a smallie in January. 

Same deal for me. I charged one of my fl8's, said good but wouldn't start. Bought a new battery (9 ah sealed) and bam, off to the races. 

Received my cabelas order and hit the bench right after dinner. 

I haven't dubbed much but happy with how it turned out. I.should ask a smallie for a second opinion. 

Hook- #6 60degree jig hook

Small brass bead 

6 wraps of .025 lead wire

Rabbit tail

Purple flash

Black ice dub

On 1/5/2018 at 5:05 PM, John Gillio said:

Rob, though I have a thing about throwing wets and streamers for southern Wisconsin trout, I have had some considerable luck with micro jigs under an indicator. The chubs like them too . My pref for streamers has nothing to do with numbers. Yellow seems to be a good bet for me. Was yellow working for you guys. I have somewhat limited experience with wild trout but for numbers the micro jig has produced fish.

Nice ties Manny! Are you planning on using these on some of the river pools near you if open water shows it's face?

Most definitely.I have 6-7 spots near me with deeper slack water. I also want to check that little stream across the big river. 

A balanced Meat Whistle. 

1 minute ago, Mike G said:

Have you ever heard the rule that for each 1 degree off of true horizontal that the hook shank is deflected, you reduce your chance of catching a fish by 10 per cent. I haven't either. By the time your float and fly is engaged in current and wave action, moments when your fly lies perfecttly horizontal will be rare indeed. Go fish.

Now that is funny yet so true. I often ask myself if the art of fly tying is more for the guy at the bench than the fish. 

Thanks Tom.

Water helped, but not completely. Seems I am still a shade off. (Most people who know me, can confirm this, hehe)

I may try a few other patterns mentioned in this thread this evening. 

Hope everyone is staying warm. 

This evening, I gave it another go. So far, none are perfectly horizontal. But I have been trying to avoid adding any more weight. Perhaps replacing the rabbit zonker body with dubbing will work for this size cone head. I may tie a few with Marabou to see how that goes. 

While waiting for Cabelas to ship my new materials, I gave it a shot using whatever I had at hand. 

I used: #8 jig hooks with either rabbit zonker or chenille for a body. Both had zonker tails. 

I didn't quite get them to land flat. But I see how easy it is to make the adjustment. 

I am going to try some minnow colors next. 

The Balanced Leech is well within my skillset It is on my list. I used my cabela's gift card to order more dubbing. I realized I only have four colors, none of which were black. To my order, I added:

 Mustad 3407 #4 hooks,

Umpqua U555 60 degree #6 jig hooks, 

 more beadheads, dumbell eyes, and a dubbing twister I long desired. 

And just like that, a $75 gift card was gone. 

Although my goal is to catch on the fly, I expect to have a spin cast outfit handy for a float and fly rig.

Rich,  Yes, Indicator is a great idea. It is a similar presentation as the float and fly. 

I plan to hit the bench later today. I believe I have all the materials mentioned. Craft fur, jig hooks, pull chain eyes, etc. 

With any luck, I will have a few fly pictures to post this evening. 

Thanks Folks.