Paul Swiech

So add a red eye to that fish and what do you get? Whatever you get I caught one.

Terry, No problem. I'll be praying for you and your family.

I could deal with a Sunday morning. I haven't been swimming in a while... When and where

I used a couple drops of dish soap on a cotton ball. It backed right out. Man did that feel creepy.

Gone

I was at Kishwaukee River Forest Preserve yesterday and there were not less than three Winnebago County Sheriff's vehicles there with I don't know how many officers giving out tickets for non-registered watercraft. There were checking out anything that was not a bonafide inner tube, claiming that while tubes don't need to be registered, everything else does. I realize that applies to canoes and kayaks (good ole Illinois) but these guys wanted paperwork on anything with a floor or bottom. Blow up rafts and "easy chairs", torpedoes, swimming pools (?), who knows what else. What about belly boats? Would one of those get ticketed? How about a pontoon like Terry's? I know some tubes you can buy have bottoms. Do those count? Anyway, just a heads up for anyone planning a float through Winnie County.

Sorry for the delay. As promised...

Man, I'm still sore from paddling against the wind. I had a great time. I'm happy to say that the stream barbs the ISA installed passed inspection under some VERY CLOSE scrutiny. I have a nice picture of Tim with one of his fish, but I've been too busy to post it. Maybe after the weekend.

Hey, here's an idea. Have some regional ff clinics. Show how to do it and how to get started. I know I could use to know how to cast properly and I have no idea what I do after my fly lands. In spite of that, I bought a Pflueger starter outfit at Dick's last fall for maybe 80 bucks. Had an 8' three-piece 5-6 wt rod, a one-speed aluminum reel with drag, backing, line, leader material, a couple of flies and some instructions.Not much of an investment. Could open it up to the public as a way to foster interest. If it's successful, take it on the road. Do clinics at scout camps, summer camps, anywhere.

Next week works for me. I can finish working on my yak and do some repairs on my wife's Poke Boat.

That sounds idyllic! To mis-quote Ray Davies, 'floating on a Sunday afternoon'

Jude, should we be calling you Sunday AM to see if it's a go or no go? I can't always get Internet access at the campground, and it's a cell phone dead zone, so I might not see a notice on the forum.

But isn't a crappy day fishing better than a good day working?

Yeah BAY-BEE!

I'm there with a yak

Here's some links from Craig's List http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/boa/2362371582.html http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/boa/2359335056.html

Here's a link to the NORS site that Scott mentioned. Take the time to read the whole page, it's very well research and includes references to the specific laws and court cases from before the American Revolution all the way up to the mid-1980's. Bottom line, in spite of what one's deed may or may not say or what State or local law(s) are on the books; no private party can own any stretch of running water, deemed Navigable by Title or not. This includes the stream-bed and portions of the banks. Also, no one can can deny the public's use of adjacent private property if the public right-of-way (waterway) is blocked. Federal Law trumps the State/ Local Law in this matter. HOWEVER, the time and place to point this out is not while you're out on/ in the water. It's not worth a butt-full of bird-shot to argue with the person claiming ownership. The NORS article gives very helpful suggestions on how to address the situation.

It will be interesting to see what they rule. A year or two ago I looked up the laws concerning waterway ownership and found some great stuff, but it was discouraging at the same time. In a nutshell, all navigable streams,(defined as anything that trappers could float a canoe or raft on, including the banks up to the normal flood level,) were publicly owned under federal law. Individual States were tasked to manage the streams and hold them in the public trust. They could not be owned. That was the good news. The discouraging part is that is that nobody told the local landowners and law enforcement that. Now you get situations where a farmer may chase you off of "his" river as you are wading, or a company with a business on both banks may rule the river "closed" in "their" section. We've seen the former on the Kishwaukee and the latter on the Vermillion. Local police and rangers often don't know the law and so they side with the landowner. It's totally possible to bring a challenge before the courts, but what has happened in every instance is that the individual suing for access hasn't had the funds to proceed with the case, so no ruling has ever been made. Perhaps this will force the issue.