Eric

Nice. I think having a flasher is so much fun. One of these days! My family and I go to Green Lake, WI in the summers and I thought it was neat that the place we stay is now offering an "Augers and Lagers" ice fishing getaway! http://www.heidelhouse.com/packages/Details/0a0bdb8c-051b-47d8-8a86-a3e600fc3e89 Marketing genius.

I like to ice fish -- especially when Eugene is nearby with his flasher and power auger!!!

Loop

Very nice. The boy tying is priceless.

The powers that be will have a field day with this one, and the agencies that knew about it and did nothing will have a fire lit under their asses to get on board. They'll dig deep here, and old Herman will be pressed to name names. Why? Once the media bites down and your reputation is on the line, things get moving, and quickly. This is just one example of the many instances of abuse along our waterways. I'll bet just about everyone on this site knows of somewhere on a river or creek that has a dump backing right up to the water. Kudos to the Plainfield resident for not giving up until this was brought to light. Now he'll have to endure the noise and sights of the excavation and investigation. It would be interesting to see a follow-up to this story.

Boom! CBS Channel 2 did an investigative report about this very spot. The report aired tonight around 10:15 PM. Here is the article with video: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/11/20/2-investigators-illegal-dump-thrived-for-years-along-dupage-river/

"doing a guided tour" or "attending a guided tour" ?

Nice job guys. Thanks for your time and effort on this chilly morning!

Got some "trashy" pics for you Mike... http://illinoissmallmouthalliance.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=12279&p=85604

November 15, 2014 My youngest son Brent and I got out to one of our favorite forest preserves along the Fox River for a shoreline cleanup. The air temp was near freezing but the bright sun felt really nice. We could not believe how clear the Fox River looked! We both had polarized sunglasses on and it was really neat to see all the rocks and logs that are normally hidden beneath the murky water. The spot we targeted is frequently used by bank fishermen. We found a lot of bait containers, malt liquor bottles, and line. Even one of those primitive "Coke bottle" reels. This was a "feel good" outing for us, just bringing back some of the aesthetics to the area and hopefully all the monofilament we gathered saved a few critters from harm's way.

Camera If you're consistently getting poor quality shots, consider buying a better camera. A good lens, flash and image processor make a big difference. Research online and narrow down a few choices within your budget, then try them out at the store. Ask the sales person to show you a few test shots on a monitor and zoom in to checkout image quality and detail. Your new camera should have a self-timer and capability for a wireless remote. Settings Shoot on medium to high quality. The more pixels you're recording, the better your post-processing will be. If you have a great shot and you want to submit it to our Bronzeback Magazine to be used in print, it has to be high-res (the more pixels, the merrier). An SD card of 2GB or more will provide plenty of space for high-res images. Tripod A small tripod can be very handy especially when you setup your camera ahead of time in a high-percentage spot. That way you're all set once you catch a fish and have already thought out the angles. Pre-check Before leaving home, check to ensure you have an SD card in your camera, that the battery is charged, and that the lens is clean. Only use pro-grade lens cleaning equipment and follow the manufacturer's instructions. Don't skimp and use your sleeve, etc. at home or in the field. Shooting Camera position makes a big difference. Try to position the camera so you're shooting straight-on at yourself and the fish. Too low and you often lose focus and get grass or twigs in the foreground, plus up-the-nose or crotch shots. (Don't feel the need to post those.) The sun should be behind your camera so the sun + the flash are illuminating you and the fish. Do not shoot towards the sun. The bright sky will totally overpower the shot and you'll be a dark silhouette. Remember these steps: straight-on, sun towards you, use flash, hold steady. Practice at home so you get comfortable with your settings and distances and can operate quickly. Post-processing Do a Google search on free image editing software. There are plenty of them out there. Always keep a high-res copy of your photos, then within your image editing software, you can crop, scale, adjust the vibrance and color saturation, and save as a JPEG. Image type For sharing on the web, you want a JPEG with little to no image compression. 720 to 800 pixels wide @ 72 ppi (pixels per inch) is large enough. Image hosting Do a Google search on image hosting. There are many sites that let you host your own photo galleries and link to the pics. When you link to a pic, it displays full size within your post without the reader having click on anything. It also does not use up any of our disc space. Attaching photos You can also attach photos to a post, which is what most people do. You're actually uploading them to our host, and a thumbnail preview is displayed within your post. The reader clicks on the thumbnail to view the full size pic. That's fine to do, but we do have a limited amount of disc space, so every once in a while we have to go in and delete images from old posts. Help At the very bottom of the forums, there is a "Help" link. Click on it and it takes you to a list of common forum topics where you can read more info. If you're unsure about how to post a photo, etc., check out the help files. Search Chances are you're not the first one to wonder about something. Try doing a search (search box in the upper right of all forum pages) on your topic and you'll most likely find a lot of info about it.

Nice job everyone. Sounds / looks like a great success! Sure looks like a nice place!

FYI http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81896980/ Short term = jobs and tax dollars, long term = poison air, water and earth.

I've got a few areas on the Fox that I use as access points for kayaking and they are also popular with bank anglers. I can get my kids out for some hours of cleanup and take some photos. It should be quick and easy with all the foliage down. It won't take a lot of effort but will certainly make the place look nicer. Mostly blue bait containers, line, lure packages, bottles and cans, etc. We'll target a few hours each day this weekend.

Hi Dan. Did you end up going? Wondering how it was / how you did?

Level and flow look great for paddling. You have a bit more gradient and faster water in a few areas. Later in the day (2PM on) should offer better odds of hooking up as the fish will be a bit more active after the sun has been on the water. There will be eel grass, etc. washing downstream. Bring your patience. It should be pretty and a nice float. This is helpful too: http://www.openlands.org/dupage-river-water-trails Sunset is shortly before 6 PM so plan accordingly.

I've watched this video a half a dozen times. It's still as cool each time. Showed my wife too. She thought it was great. Sent it to my buddy Kevin, who is a CEO. His response ... "I am super busy this morning with no time to watch it. I saw the first five seconds and I watched the whole video ... twice!"

To say that video was thoroughly enjoyable is an understatement. Beautifully done.

Was probably when Terry got captured by the Pygmy Indians. Have fun tonight guys.

Comes to mind... "Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money." ~ Cree Indian Proverb

We do our best to represent.

Joe, I wade all winter and last year got a pair of 5mm neoprene chest waders from Columbia. My upgrade from 3mm to 5mm neoprene was worth it in terms of warmth. They come up high in the chest and I can get deep if I need to without fear of getting anything wet. (Think they are mainly meant for duck hunting.) The thicker waders do take more power and concentration to move around in, especially because you get buoyant in deep water and mild current can move you. I don't like the lug soles due to their slipperiness around boulders, but having the wader & boots as one unit makes for easy-on / easy-off and not worrying about laces freezing, etc. So that's the tradeoff. I still layer underneath them and go with long wool socks and sometimes even double socks of fleece and wool. I can't say this is a 100% perfect solution in terms of how much I like them or how much I feel safe in them, but the addition of a wading staff would probably make wintertime wading a lot easier. I've fished in as low as 17 degrees for smallmouth but generally try to only float-n-fly when it's around freezing or warmer so my guides stay open. Guess if I'm gonna stay cold for that long I'll just ice fish! Haven't tried steelhead, etc. yet due to the drive time.

I have to admit, I chuckled at "redneck point." Totally agree with your post Mike.

The people that live along the river are often times the ones that abuse it the worst.