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Bart Durham

ISA Officer
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Everything posted by Bart Durham

  1. Ike Rhodes, former manager at Orvis Yorktown Store that recently closed, is starting his new fishing business called Illinois Fly Fishing Company. Check out his new website: http://www.illinoisflyfishingcompany.com/
  2. A contingent of ISA members joined a group of approximately 30 volunteers on May 20, 2023 to take part in the Dupage River Sweep in Bolingbrook in conjunction with the Bolingbrook Park District.. The weather was perfect and we cleared about 30 lawn bags worth of invasive plant species that had invaded the DuPage River Trail in Bolingbrook. Other volunteers picked up trash and river debris. I'll post some pictures when I can minimize them for posting. Afterwards, Kevin Daugherty, Jim Wright and I were able to pick out a large blue barrel that had floated downstream on the East Branch near Weber road. Thanks to all that participated.
  3. Apologies for the late notice but the DuPage River Sweep will be taking place this year in just a couple of weeks on Saturday, May 20th, 2023 from 9 am - 12 noon. We'll be working with Daniel Flinn, Natural Resources/Horticulture Manager at the Bolingbrook Park District in cleaning up the East Branch of DuPage River Valley. There will be opportunities here for river clean up work and restoration work involving removal of invasive species along the river valley We will meet at the Hidden Lakes Trout Farm Parking lot located at 419 Trout Farm Road in Bolingbrook at 9 am. Bring some good gloves and boots and plan to get dirty and dress appropriate for the weather. Trash bags and trash picks will be provided by the Park District. This is a great opportunity to give back to a river system that means so much to the members of our great organization. We look forward to seeing you there. Here is some more information on the river clean up event: https://www.theconservationfoundation.org/river-sweep/
  4. We'll need everyone's support to get behind this bill. Please sign the call to action in Terry's link above. We believe the Governor will support and sign the bill if we can get it before him.
  5. In response to the Supreme Court Case, a River Access Bill Committee was established by IEC to draft the proposed River Access Bill. I am on the committee and we have been working diligently behind the scenes on the River Access bill and it is in final form and we believe will survive judicial scrutiny. IEC Director Jennifer Walling will be our conversation speaker at the Blowout tomorrow night and will talk in part about the River Access Bill that will be introduced to the House Committee next week for vote in Springfield. If it passes the House it goes to Senate for passage and then to Governor. DNR has shown some resistance to support for the bill, saying it will increase their administrative burden, and there is big meeting today with DNR and Bill Committee counsel to address their concerns and garnerDNR support. We have to have DNR on board for bill passage. A media announcement will be forthcoming on submission of the bill to be followed by a big campaign push for the Bill.
  6. ISA is excited to present a zoom fly tying session next week with Rich McElligott on Monday evening, February 6 at 7pm. What exciting fly will Rich bring to the table vice this year? Tune in next Monday to find out, here is the zoom link for the event: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87987366330?pwd=MmtsdVFnNnpMbVc2amFwMGJvV0g4UT09
  7. Here is the zoom link for Terry's ISA Toolbox seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87987366330?pwd=MmtsdVFnNnpMbVc2amFwMGJvV0g4UT09
  8. I've been told I'm guilty of this. I'm technologically challenged but what do you do on your phone to prevent this if you want to take fish photos but not give up location? Place phone in airplane mode before fishing?
  9. We really enjoyed Tom's presentation last night on the history of the Foxy Craw and showing us how to tie this magical fly. We will be positing a recording of the session on here shortly for those of you who missed it.
  10. Murdich minnow rock and are one of my favorite smallmouth flies, but they are expensive. Urbs, could you teach us how to tie these?
  11. ISA is excited to have our distinguished member Tom Loo present our first Fly Tie Session of the 2023 winter season. Here is the Zoom link for the event. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84343671689?pwd=MDFXVVc0SjJzNUNoWjQzWjdjZGdTUT09
  12. Some excellent winter fishing tips Eric. It looks like this mild winter should present some great winter fishing opportunities for us so these winter fishing tips could not have come at a better time.
  13. We're so sorry for your loss Ed.
  14. Meg, yes they have excellent salad and other food items as well. Looking forward to seeing everyone on Friday. Please bring your flies too Meg, we may have a recruiting pitch for you. If we can't do the fly exchange this time we can set one up in near future!
  15. Pretty cool art work he added to his autograph for your book Mark.. Also, love the smallmouth photo in his facebook photo and the joy in his face.
  16. To all ISA members: Please make sure sign the Call to Action link below to go to our legislators: https://ilenviro.salsalabs.org/2022waterwayaccess/index.html
  17. Great news to report, the River Access Bill has been filed and the legislative process for passage of the Bill will begin, see attached from Eliot Clay of the IEC (Illinois Environmental Council): Hey all! Our bill has just been filed as HB 5844. A big thanks to Rep. Yang Rohr and her staff for getting this organized. You can find IEC's action alert here: https://ilenviro.salsalabs.org/2022waterwayaccess/index.html Please feel free to share this with partners or copy for your own organization's alert. On timing: my guess is that this will have a chance of moving during the next week of Veto session, beginning November 29th. And lastly, thank you all for your work and support on this! Let's get it done! ELIOT CLAY | STATE PROGRAMS DIRECTOR eclay@ilenviro.org [(217) 622-3229] HQ: 520 E Capitol, Springfield Office: 70 E Lake St, Ste 1500, Chicago ILEnviro.org Support IEC's work by becoming a member today!
  18. Really enjoyed the video, beautiful depiction of the land of sky blue waters, what a fishing trip!
  19. Tomorrow shaping up to be a gorgeous day for fishing. We will meet at the Riverview Farmstead Park Pavilion at 8 am to set up shuttles for those who want to float and provide plans for those who want to wade. Wading is definitely an option, as there is a 2 mile long trail that leads from the park and parallels the river and provide many wading areas. The water is still warm enough to wet wade. For those who want to have breakfast before the event we are meeting at the Eggcited Pancake House at 2728 Hassert (111th st) in Naperville at 7 am. The restaurant is just located about a mile from Riverview Farmstead Park down 111th street. Here is the pin location for the event. I caught a few more nice Dupe smallmouth this week on topwater so topwater bite still on: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Riverview+Farmstead+Preserve,+Book+Rd,+Naperville,+IL+60564/@41.6729443,-88.186449,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x880ef60cdb43db13:0xbc147a41b43ca0bf!8m2!3d41.6729443!4d-88.186449
  20. Latest weather update shows warm weather though Saturday so it should be a great morning for a float or wade trip at this Saturday's outing at 8 am at Riverview Farmstead Preserve Park in Naperville. I'll bring some hot dogs and chips and cooler of iced water. Feel free to bring side and or drinks. I've had a few people tell me they will be attending. Hope you can make it as the more the merrier and it should be a beautiful day. Please let us know if you can make it. Attached is link with a pin location for the park whose entrance in located on south side of intersection of Book Road and 111th Street (aka Hassert Blvd) in Naperville. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Riverview+Farmstead+Preserve,+Book+Rd,+Naperville,+IL+60564/@41.6729443,-88.186449,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x880ef60cdb43db13:0xbc147a41b43ca0bf!8m2!3d41.6729443!4d-88.186449 I have two float options available for those who want to float that will take about 4 hours to complete depending on how slow you fish them.. I also have a multitude of wading spots near the Park Pavilion for those who prefer wading (wet wading or waders). Make sure to include some top water options in your gear.
  21. I've been scouting the area on DuPage river near next week's ISA outing at Riverview Farmstead Preserve and the topwater action has been really good. Most of big fish have been caught dead drifting popper near or along rock and wood structure. White Jude Bug and Bugle Bug have worked well. Also, seeing action in middle of river near grass beds. I'm certain any type of topwater lure would be successful. Plenty of fish to be caught in this area, and hot topwater fishing action should continue for a few weeks so hope you can make it next Saturday, Sept 10th to our ISA outing at Riverview Farmstead Preserve Park in Naperville at 8 am. Bring your kayaks or feel free to wade as wading conditions will be really good and this is easy area to wade..
  22. Conditions are setting up very nicely for our end of summer float trip scheduled for next Saturday, September 10th on the DuPage River near Naperville. We will meet at 8 am at the Riverview Farmstead Park Parking lot to set up our shuttles for the float trip. The entrance to the Riverview Farmstead Park is located on the south side of the intersection of 111th Street and Book Road. The park is located on the very southern end of Naperville and sits on the river. The park has plenty of parking and has restroom facilities and a picnic shelter. We will have two or three float trip options available to attendees depending on how many members attend the float, so we won’t on top of each other during the float. With the recent rains, the DuPage River is shaping up nicely and should be in great conditions for the float trip. The topwater bite should still be in play, but bring all your gear because you never know what the smallmouth will like. The float trip will last approximately 4-6 hours, depending on how slow you fish the river. Following the float trip we will meet back at the Riverview Farmstead Picnic Shelter for a lunch of grilled hot dog/brats and drinks and to discuss the day’s catch. It should be a great time and fun way to get that end of summer fishing trip completed. If you have any questions about the trip please call me or contact me on the ISA website.
  23. The river seemed to be rising but it was so low that it really didn't impact us. The rain and lighting on the other hand, forced us to seek refuge in the island shelter to let the storm pass. The early morning rainy overcast skies kept the temperature in reasonable range giving us some respite from the blazing sun and high humidity. We were able to plant several racks of water willow seedlings around the Batavia Fox River island. Thank you to the 9 ISA members and Alexandria of the Batavia Environmental Agency, for volunteering your time and efforts in helping out with the planting. After the planting we were able to meet up at Briana's in Batavia for a well earned meal that was delicious topping off a great morning..
  24. When I last spoke with representative from Conservation Foundation they were still trying to secure funding for the project. I'll try to get an update and report back,
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