Eric

You did the right thing. Hatchlings emerge away from water and run a gauntlet of hazards to get to it. You shortened its journey and ensured it made it safely to the water.

Would have been awesome if Joe Dry Fly tied into a bowfin or big K3 gar. He might have to slime his high-end gear...

When you're outfishing everyone around you it's called good karma!

He he. Great story. Would have been sweet to tie on the beer can lure and proceed to chat with him.. "What are you using?" "Bud can..."

I will avoid and spend time with the family doing other things.

Welcome and good fishin'.

Dang, tough news Steve. Sorry to hear it.

Damn, $500 for all that?! What an awesome deal! Can't imagine it will last very long. If you need $500 that bad, I can just loan you the cash and you can keep your gear and pay me back whenever. It's a shame to let that much stuff go for so little $. Think you'll be kicking yourself for getting rid of it. Those youngsters have a lot of fishing to do growing up. Or are you moving way south?

Years ago you'd rarely hear of a stream smallmouth fisherman using heavier monos or superlines. Those were reserved for Canada, etc. Now it has become the norm. Thinking harpoons might be next! :-)

Nice. I dig the appreciation for other native fish and just angling in general.

Great catch Frank! Had to be a blast to see that one come up in the clear water.

Are we talking line on casting reels for river smallmouth fishing, or just favorite lines in general? 'Cause there's a big difference.

I roll with 10lb Sufix Siege on my Shimano Chronarch caster. Smoove.

As you pattern where fish hold you can either drift by and cast it or give it a wide berth and re-approach it from downstream, hold and pick it apart. I can't imagine having a 15lb anchor in the kayak. I'll bet conditions are a bit more lake-like where that river Chug Bug action is taking place.

Apologies if this strays a bit off-topic ... I kayak the Fox quite a bit and normally drift with the current and cast at targets. When I'm picking apart an area I come upstream towards it and tuck the nose in behind structure or along the shoreline when possible to cut the current and hold for a few casts. A few swipes of the paddle here and there can usually keep me in position. I use a 5lb mushroom anchor to hold in mild current. I don't recommend trying to hold in strong current. A kayak can be jerked and tipped or swamped if things go wrong, costing you gear or worse. Any more I rarely anchor. I enjoy the freedom of being completely mobile on the surface and the stealth it provides. I don't ever get out of the kayak to fish. Only to stretch now and then, but even that's rare since I'm too focused on fishing. My preferred CFS for kayak fishing the Fox is 1,200 CFS or less. Dupe is around 120 CFS or less.

I don't think the CPOs get those days off. There will still be patrol / enforcement -- although the amount never seems to satisfy everyone. Maybe it's better that the free fishing days are inside the C&R period. In any case, don't think I'd lose any sleep over it.

I recommend contacting the Illinois Target Poachers tip line and inquiring about the legalities. http://dnr.state.il.us/law3/poach.htm This may or may not be poaching, but your best bet is to speak to the IDNR law enforcement folks to get an answer.

I went four times last summer with my kids. We liked the cleanliness of the place, and saw plenty of fish cruising around, including some monster channel cats. The rental staff was friendly. We rented a boat every time. It's a big lake and if there is any amount of wind, their trolling motors move you at a snail's pace. It would be nice to get around quicker, since you're paying by the hour. You have to wear their PFDs. You cannot bring your own watercraft or PFD. In terms of live bait, I think you can only bring wax worms, red worms, and night crawlers. I don't think they allow any "aquatic" bait, i.e., no leeches or minnows. They have a spotter boat cruising around and an employee with binoculars keeps a close eye on everyone, looking for people breaking the rules. Maybe they were "slow" the days we went but they watched us like a hawk -- which was a bit of a turnoff considering I was fishing with my two kids. What the heck were we gonna do??? If you're savvy at deep water, light line patience fishing, this is your kind of place. Most of us are not used to fishing so deep. It can be challenging! We boated fish each visit, ranging from small bluegills to largemouth to some of those monster cats. My kids talk about it often and are always ready to go back. Not sure about wading. Might want to double-check that one... The grounds are very nice and so is the pavilion. It would be a nice place to just kick back in the shade and BS about fishing. Even if you didn't fish you'd still enjoy the place.

I like it. Those laces will turn a nice dingy brown and really look sweet! Add in some long athletic socks and you're golden. Would look really spiffy with a pair of cutoff jean shorts.

Glad to see something continue in this space and serve the paddlers in the Aurora and surrounding area. Their RAC program sounds interesting. Anyone know news on the canoe bypass in Aurora? Last I heard it needed updating but $ was an issue. I've only seen it get used once in three years of fishing around that area. Well, technically twice if you count the Red Bull Winch filming. But that was winch wakeboarding through there. 05:30... Some of you will recognize other locations on there.

Dabbling high water in the 30s is doable but don't count on smallies. Walleye and white bass ... maybe. This is a good time to take stock of your equipment, order lures (or tie flies) and take care of the honey-dos so you have more free time when the water temp warms up and the smallies are active. I like the float n fly during cold conditions in slow eddies. Just tough to find "slow" or any mojo when the water is up and as cold as it is.

I fished from a 10.5' sit-in for a full day down the Wisconsin River. It was a very windy day with 20+ MPH sustained headwinds. The little kayak was awesome. The first thing I liked about the Perception Swiftwater was how light it was. At 44 lbs, I could easily lift it with one arm and swing it up onto my shoulder. The insides have padding which allowed me to rest the boat on my shoulder and carry the rest of my gear in my left hand. I got everything down to the river in ONE trip. That was really nice. The second thing that was nice was the boat, although small, did have a hatch with storage in the stern. I packed up all my valuables and stowed them in the stern bulkhead for the beginning of the trip until I got comfortable with how the boat handled. I only kept my rod and reel and a few lures in the cockpit. Third, the seat was padded and comfy. I'm used to a hard plastic seat on my Old Town Loon sit-in kayak, so the padded seat was a Godsend. It was designed to keep your legs slightly bent, which was nice. I never used the foot pegs; I just rested my feet on the bottom of the cockpit. When I first got into the kayak, I stayed near the launch and rocked it from left to right hard and played around with it to get a feel for how it handled. (The launch is in a little feeder creek that was flowing swiftly.) There were two laydowns that I had to immediately navigate. The kayak passed with flying colors. Once I got past the laydowns, I tried some sharp turns and turnarounds, both upstream and downstream. It was evident that I wasn't going to have any issues with control or stability. Aside from being more manageable in the wind, the maneuverability of the little kayak really paid off when I got into some pike on buzzbaits and had to quickly turn in the current to play them around logs, etc.

Pro level!

Glad to see us utilizing the meeting room at Gander Mountain in Geneva. I hope more of our members from the western suburbs will come out to enjoy some smallmouth talk. We're all eager to begin our seasons on the water and this meeting should serve as motivation. The added bonus is you can pickup some new baits or equipment at Gander Mountain, and the Fox River is only a few miles to the east. Sunset is at 7:23 PM.