Jump to content

Eric

Registrants
  • Posts

    2,436
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Eric

  1. 19.jpg

     

    Setup in the hall

     

     

    21.jpg

     

    ISA President & Executive Officer Jim Jozwiak

     

     

    20.jpg

     

    Tasty 20th anniversary cakes (3) - a great idea by Scott Ferguson

     

     

    22.jpg

     

    A GoPro HERO3+ silent auction item

     

     

    23.jpg

     

    Al Agnew smallmouth print, 'flying fish,' Jackson Kayak Coosa

     

     

    24.jpg

     

    The ISA display booth that's normally used at larger tradeshows

     

     

    25.jpg

     

    ISA President & Executive Officer Jim Jozwiak

     

     

    26.jpg

     

    New products donated by Plano

     

     

    27.jpg

     

    Prize table lead by the Jackson Kayak Coosa

     

     

    28.jpg

     

    Box of swim jigs donated by Jonn Graham

     

     

    29.jpg

     

    Float-n-fly kit donated by Jonn Graham

     

     

    30.jpg

     

    Al Agnew framed smallmouth print

     

     

    32.jpg

     

    A close-up of our new vertical banner

  2. 1.jpg

     

    Silent auction trip tables

     

     

    2.jpg

     

    Flies donated to the raffle

     

     

    3.jpg

     

    'Flies of the ISA' raffle prize

     

     

    4.jpg

     

    New Chicagoland Region Coordinator, Bart Durham

     

     

    5.jpg

     

    Mike Clifford's Conservation Station

     

     

    6.jpg

     

    Attendee name badges and check-in table

     

     

    7.jpg

     

    Jim Jozwiak, President & Executive Officer and Rich McElligott, Executive Officer

     

     

    8.jpg

     

    Setup at the hall

     

     

    9.jpg

     

    Fly Fishing Director & Executive Officer John Loebach and Northwest Region Coordinator Terry Dodge

     

     

    10.jpg

     

    Donated Jackson Kayak Coosa silent auction item

     

     

    11.jpg

     

    Member Jeff Tallis and his '10 for the 20th' custom rod raffle donation

     

     

    12.jpg

     

    A packed hall during Denny Sands' Shabbona Lake presentation

     

     

    13.jpg

     

    Guest speaker Denny Sands speaks about Shabbona Lake and its hotspots

     

     

    14.jpg

     

    Featured speaker Dan Basore and his historical tackle collection

     

     

    15.jpg

     

    Chicago Region Coordinator Eugene Collins and member Bruce Olson

     

     

    16.jpg

     

    Old blue-eyes himself, Jim Sinatra and Northwest Region Coordinator Paul Trybul working the raffle

     

     

    17.jpg

     

    Member Pat Hirschtick and her fishing calendar prize

     

     

    18.jpg

     

    Member Jeff Tallis and the winners of the '10 for the 20th' custom rod raffle

  3. Too broke to say "no."

     

    It's disheartening that our state government is allowing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on Illinois land. This "money grab" disguised as an effort to lessen America's reliance on foreign oil, IMHO, is a cancer to the air, earth and water -- wherever it is done. I had hoped that Illinois would not get caught up in this mess.

     

    You can view our state's oil and gas drilling logs here:

     

    http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/OilandGas/Pages/Hydraulicfracturing.aspx

  4. 20.07 inches, +/- a quarter of an inch.

     

    I estimate the width of the visible portion of the fish's eyeball to be 17mm, slightly larger than the fingernail on his middle finger. (Mine is 15mm.)

     

    It takes 30 eyeballs to go from the tip of the mouth to the tip of the tail. That's 510mm, or 20.07 inches.

     

    If you increase the eyeball width estimate by just 1mm and recalculate, the total length estimate becomes 21.25". But I think a 21" is in a whole different class visually.

     

    Gordon, with all the photos you have of smallies in similar poses, surely you've got one that's very close and that you have a measurement on.

    measure.jpg

  5. I learned of the ISA through Mark K., who I had become friends with on CLF. Mark told tales of past breakfast meetings and other, where he'd BS with ISA members for hours after the meeting had officially ended. I'll never forget him saying, "these guys sleep with their marked gazatteers! Real die-hard river fishermen!" I have to admit, I was intimidated.

     

    Most of my fishing experience was with largemouth, but late in my college years I started joining my brother-in-law on his excursions to the Kishwaukee River. He showed me the ropes. Wet wading in summer, tossing a handful of lures with ultralight spinning gear, and busting smallies. I was hooked!

     

    My pops and I used to drive from Darien to Geneva and he'd sit on a bench and watch me wade below the dam. That was my first experience fishing the Fox. Didn't know where else to go, and the much bigger Fox (compared to the Kish) seemed very intimidating! I didn't know anything about gauge height or CFS. Had no clue what "normal" conditions were at any given time.

     

    I watched Joz assemble the first ISA web site in 2002. That's when I volunteered to help and join the club. It was right after I lost my dad. My first son was only 2 years old and I worked from home. Got a lot done in between his naps! Ah, simpler times!

     

    A few things stand out in my mind when thinking back:

     

    > Our evening meetings at Pal Joey's in West Chicago were great! Pizza and beer, and some smallie talk. What more could you want?

    > Joz's bridge-fishing presentation was stellar

    > Meeting Jonn Graham for the first time -- I was a bit star-struck!

    > Joz taking me to the Dupe and catching my first Dupe smallie on a buzzbait

    > Meeting Joz and Scott at Starbucks in Wheaton and planning the Blowout (my first one)

    > Randy Dunlap being auctioneer at that Blowout

    > Steve Quinn of In-Fisherman as guest speaker at the Blowout

    > Winning the 50/50 raffle at the Blowout after having bought the first ticket and only spending $1

    > Awesome cast & compare outings

    > Amazing water willow plantings with our dedicated members (my hands were shot!)

    > Trash cleanups, both solo and as part of the ISA

    > Catching my first 20" smallie on the Fox

    > Meeting Creekyknees (Norm) and him sending my son some train stuff

     

    Kind of a long story, but involved a trash cleanup the ISA hosted in Batavia. I was wading and picking up trash with Gary Lang. We found a backpack in the water. Had school books in it and some gym clothes. Also had a wallet containing cash and an NIU student ID. We both got a creepy feeling like, "When are we going to find the body?"

     

    I wrote down the woman's name off the ID and when I got home, called the NIU operator and tried to contact her. Turns out, she was listed and lived in an apartment. I phoned the apartment and asked for her. I said I had found her backpack in the Fox River. The voice on the other end of the phone sounded very worried. It was the woman's twin sister! She explained that her sis' car had gotten stolen a few months back, and that the thieves must have just tossed the backpack as they were joy-riding. But she was safe and sound, and ultimately picked up her backpack at the local police office. A few days later she called me back and thanked me for finding it.

     

    Oh yeah, that same trash cleanup we found a XXX magazine and tucked it under the seat of Mark K's truck (he also volunteered at the cleanup). He didn't realize it was there until he was driving some co-workers to lunch and took a turn, and it slid out from under the seat! :lol:

×
×
  • Create New...