Jonn Graham

What bassbugs were you specifically using?

Slow bite for Fred and I. We fished a hard nine hours and covered about 3-4 miles of river. I landed nine and Fred had five. Our best luck came on bottom flies. I had luck with my Mangy Craw fished right on the bottom. Biggest smallie for me was 14 inches.

Yah, I thought of the hackle wraps after I had the fly finished. Next one will be complete with the hackle wraps.

This is a topwater slider pattern I came up with:

Hook angle is key. The first one I constructed had the hook too deep in the foam. In addition, I took sandpaper and sanded the front nose down a little. Now, it dives perfectly every time and pushes alot of water. In addition, it makes a slight noise when pulled under the water. Yet to try it on smallies, but have caught largemouth and large sunfish on it already.

what I plan to do is bring the canoe and if it is really low, I will wade with the boat in tow behind me. That way, after I get done walking upstream a ways, I can jump in the boat and paddle back to the truck. If it looks like there is ample water for paddling, then I will go ahead and paddle downstream and fish 3-4 miles with another vehicle at the take out.

sounds a little "fishy" to me. I would have thought a fish of that magnitude would have been all over the internet long before now.

According to the usgs site, the rivers look awfully low over there. Just like around here

I have used it for years during the cold water season in the slow, deep, wintering areas. The rig allows the bait (usually a soft plastic) to stay in the strike zone a long time.

don't know how much water. Bringing canoe just in case. The truck stop and McDonald's are right next to each other. If you want to meet at the truck stop, go ahead. I will be at the Golden Arches.

Don't miss this one! We will meet this Saturday the 19th in Oakwood (just off I-74 east of Champaign). We will meet at the McDonald's. If you wish to eat, be there at 7:00. If you do not wish to eat, but want to fish, be there by 8:00...........sharp!!! Canoeing and wading are both good options. If you are coming, please reply to this post below.

cya there.

Dumping grass clippings and limbs into the river really pisses me off. I don't see that around my neck of the woods, but it sure is the "style" on the Dupage. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Simple solution. No one in Illinois should be able to build a home within a 1/4 mile of any river. Seems simple to me. Homes would not be flooded and the river's bank could be left undisturbed.

Yes, the rod is sold as an outfit. I coupled the rod and line with a the new Redington Rise Reel. Should be a sweet combo.

I am excited. After casting Sage's smallmouth fly rod a country mile, I just had to have one. Just ordered one a few hours ago. I hope I am home and my wife is not when the delivery is made. If not, I am going to have to do some serious smooth talking. Anyone got a spare room at their house?

Congrats Rich. Awesome stuff. I still have some of that chenille you gave me. I guess it is time to crack it out. Do you have a tutorial on the proper way to tie the worm? You probably gave it to me or published it years ago, but I need it again...........thanks.

Here is a simple fly that has been catching some fish this year. I call it the baby shad.

It is weighted with the brass cone as well as about 10 wraps of .025 lead wire.

good stuff. Thanks everyone for the help

So, I have an intermediate line that I have not tried yet. Does the whole line sink on an intermediate line or just the clear colored section at the end? thanks for the help.

So an integrated sink tip would be the same as an intermediate sinking line?

Ok.........here is probably a dumb question. What does Craig mean by integrated? thanks.

I have used them in the past and basically caught many different species on them. Smallies and white bass really seem to like them.

I, like Rich, like to upsize for fall. Any bait that catches fish during the summer I use, but I upsize it. 4 inch tube (instead of the 3 inch), large walking baits (Sammy 100), big, meaty, 5 inch twister tail grubs, bigger hula grubs, and of course my swim jigs.

Now, when it comes to flies, this will only be my second fall as a fly fisherman. I will probably start tieing some larger patterns starting tonite. Murdich minnows tied on the big, long #2 Tiemco 8089 should work nicely. Also, I have been tying my Mangy Craw on a 60 degree, 1/0 jig hook. Using this hook makes a bigger fly. Matter of fact, caught a nice smallie last night on this fly. I will probably throw big blockhead poppers and large Fur Strip Clousers.

God, I love fall. Hope it gets here soon.

Many of my largest river smallies have come during the fall. It seems, as Norm alluded to, the ratio between big fish and small fish tilts towards the large size. I don't know if there truly is a fall binge period, but I will say the month of October is my favorite month to be on the river. Awesome temps. and beautiful foliage make fishing a real treat.

Also try:

www.theflyfishers.com

Fred:

I don't know right now if I will canoe. But I would be more than happy to shuttle your vehicle for you so you can canoe. When it comes to flys, I have been having success of late with the Murdich Minnow.