Bart Durham

Received mine in the mail yesterday. Cant wait to give them a try.

We had great weather and great time today at our fishing outing at Three Oaks Recreation Area in Crystal Lake. The city has done a magnificent job with the lake and the accommodations were great. The water is crystal clear and we saw several large bass cruising the bottoms. We had four members show up and overall had a multi species day. Frank Biggs caught a personal best 19" smallmouth that weighed 5 lbs and was the fish of the day:

A great smallmouth anywhere.

Frank's son, Jay caught a 29" catfish that made his day:

I caught a small pike on the fly rod that made my day.

Thanks Kip, for helping navigate our boat. Afterwards we enjoyed some grilled brats and shared our day's fishing stories. I'm sorry that more members didn't show up but those that did enjoyed the beautiful weather and the wonderful amenities at Three Oaks.

Tomorrow is the day! Weather should be great. All you have to bring is your fishing gear. Hope to see you at Three Oaks Recreation Center in Crystal Lake between 9-5!

Thanks for sharing Ryan, I might actually be able to tie this one.

Two more days! Event to be from 9-5. I'll be at pavilion by 8:30. Look for pavilion or Nicole of Three Oaks when you get there. The weather should be great, sunny and low 70s. Hopefully the fish will active with the recent warming trend. Hope to see you there!

With the warmer temps expected this week we could be hitting it at a good time!

Looks like the weather is going to cooperate. Should be a great time. Since we'll have a grill to use, I'm planning to bring along a cooler full of beverages (water and pop), charcoal, as well as some hot dogs and buns if anyone would care to bring some food and drink accessories. Fishing seems to always a create a big appetite. Also please keep in mind the boat rental fee changes from my original post.

I'll be there.

There is a correction on the fees for the outing. While the City has agreed to waive the Pavilion rental fee they will be charging ISA members the resident boat rental fee, which is a savings from the non resident rates. The minimum 2 hour resident boat rental rates are as follows:

12' Combo (boat & motor) $22.00

14' Trio (boat, motor & fish finder) $27.00

14' Combo (boat & motor) $24.00

14' Trio (boat, motor & fish finder) $29.00

Terry of Three Oaks mentioned he will charge ISA members a reduced hourly charge for boat rental charges beyond the 2 hour minimum. There is also a $5 per vehicle parking fee. Considering the costs of going to a major league baseball game its still a pretty good deal. PFDs will be required to be worn while in the boats at all times. Canoes, single and tandem kayaks will be available for rent if water temperatures permit. Also, while shore fishing is allowed wading is not permitted. A rental agreement will have to be signed by all fisherman and staff will be available to go over the boat rental and operations.

Hopefully the weatherman will be kind to us on May 10th. If not, we do have the pavilion so either way plan to come on out to Three Oaks Recreation Area in Crystal Lake on Saturday, May 10th between 9 am and 5 pm and enjoy the great fishing this lake has to offer.

My first attempt at the SBS smallmouth fly developed by pilecast.net. Hard fly to tie but looks really fishy to me. Got some work to do, but hopefully, I'll get better over time. We need to get this guy to join the ISA or speak at the next Blowout.

I'll try to tie one of Ron's favorite, the olive meatwhistle.

Received mine as well. What a great assembly of smallmouth sub surface flies. Thanks to everyone that participated.

Come one, come all to Three Oaks Recreation Area in Crystal Lake, Illinois on Saturday, May 10, 2014 for a great day of fishing on one of the premier fishing lakes in the area. Three Oaks is a reclaimed quarry (formerly known as Vulcan) with pristine water and excellent fishing. We have reserved the Picnic Grove Pavilion at the lake from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm to serve as a base camp and location to eat, rest and seek shelter from the elements. The facility provides rowboats, canoes, kayaks and paddle boats for use while fishing. Shore fishing and wading are allowed. Only facility boats can be used and patrons are not allowed to bring their own fishing vessels.

The City has agreed to waive the fishing and boat rental fee for ISA members on this day. The only cost is a $5 per vehicle parking fee. The lake is stocked with smallmouth and largemouth bass, musky, yellow bass, rock bass, catfish, northern pike, walleye and pan fish. I understand the fishing is outstanding so it should provide a great opportunity to catch a lot of fish and socialize with other ISA members. The Crystal Lake location provides an easy trip for our Rockford area, Chicago and north side members to come join in the fun.

Food and drinks (non alcoholic) may be brought into the facility and cooking grills are available for use at the Pavilion. A Culvers Restaurant is also located on the facility. It should be a lot of fun and a chance for our members to land a big fish. See you there!

These confinement operations have to adhere to some strict state and federal EPA guidelines. I'll see if I can find any helpful information for you.

Very impressive. After talking with you Tom I see there are a lot of advantages to using the tubes. May be the wave of the future in fly fishing.

Colt, looks like a great smallmouth fly. Have to try tying it sometime. Can't wait to get mine as well as the others!

Very nice, lets break it in!

My foxy crawdads and Mark's autumn splendors are complete and ready for delivery.

Apart from watching April Vokley spey cast, my favorite film was "Mending the line" a film about a WWII vet who found solace in fly fishing following his return to the US from the war field atrocities in Normandy, and returned to Normandy at 90 years of age to fly fish in the streams he had fought in.

Lutzy and I worked on ours last night will have to you before deadline.

Attended for first time and really enjoyed the short films relating to fly fishing and conservation. Movie theatre was great with Lounge style seating and having dinner and drink brought to seat while watching movies.

I really enjoyed Austin's presentation yesterday as well the great smallmouth talk and excellent food and drink from Famous Daves. Had a great time. Thanks Ed and Austin.

Ryan and Mike, if you ever need a oarsman (if thats a word) or help in transport let me know. Lets see a picture when you guys get yours.

Given there is a chance for snow on Saturday and ice is still covering a portion of river we will continue this trip for end of month of early April. I'll post a definitive new date shortly. Scott's suggestion for breakfast instead is a great idea for anyone interested. Any suggestions for breakfast location?

With the below freezing temps sticking around a little longer looks like we may have to kick this event back 30 days or so. Spring is less than 25 days away!