jude

Holy cow! Nice shot!

And a cammo border would look just fabulous!

My guess is that they are negative to the river overall, therefore negative to smallies. I really don't think that smallies depend on foraging carp to stir up meals, they are just taking advantage of a situation that they have learned to associate with an easy meal. If the carp were gone, they would continue to trail behind the native bottom feeders.

One of my favorite weekend morning rituals (when not actually fishing) is to grab a cup of coffee at the gas station in downtown Cherry Valley and head over to the Stae St bridge and the RR bridge and observe. I could stare down at the river for hours. My wife thinks I'm nuts, as probably do the joggers, bikers, etc that pass by while I'm zoned out staring at the water. Anyway, when I see a carp or two cruising around I'm surprised if I DON'T see a smallie or two trailing. They also trail the suckers. The smallies range in size from dinks to good sized fish in the teens. I've never seen a huge smallie doing it, but you rarely see a huge smallie from these bridges anyway. As far as what do do if you catch one, I think Eric has an excellent point. Dead fish on the banks are terrible PR for our sport. Ever have your dog roll in a ripe dead fish? That does NOT smell like Teen Spirit.

Spidey Combo? Combine that with the Homer Simpson crankbait and you're golden. Scott, it's tough to argue with the popper.

Size 7 floating J-Rap in silver and black. Cast....let the ripples settle...twitch...pause...twitch...pause...retrieve...BAM....I'm buyin' lunch.

SOLD!

New ISA Motto: Dink, dank, dunk.... As long as it's not a skunk!

A lot of guys mention the Kish dam in Belvidere, but I envision a lot of bucket heads there and at any dam. That usually means lots of garbage too. I'd rather avoid crowds and litter, so I avoid dams.

Could you please make some laminated business card size copies of the new standards for all members? Just to be sure we all comply. By the way: I've had many days when a dunk was a trophy.

Congrats! That's a nice piece of writing.

I was thinking about it at 89.00, so when Sierra had a 49.00 closeout, how could I pass it up? You read how those RS guys were raving about it!

Like new Tals Chest Pack for sale. Only used twice, perfect condition. $20.00 o.b.o.

I buy the cheap Strike King 1/8 oz, usually black. One trick that metal blades allows is changing the direction that the lure pulls. Off the shelf, these lures pull to the left as you retrieve them. That's great if you have a rip rap bank to your left and want it to bang on the rocks. That's not great if the rip rap is to your right. To get it to bounce off the rocks to your right, bend the metal blades in the opposite direction and it will now pull to the right. It won't be as pretty as the factory bent blade, but it works.

Wow...cool experience. It's amazing how the birds of prey have rebounded in the last 10-15 years. I'm surprized when I don't see an osprey on my Kish floats. And you can't drive five miles on any rural highway without seeing a redtail on a power pole.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Three cheers for Mr. Tarrant! I hope you reap some some seriously good fishing Karma in return.

Thanks for the link. It's the first time I've seen the video. Very cool. It sure was exciting news when it came out last year, and I haven't really been following the continued search. I hope it pans out, but when David Sibley calls it into question, it kind of makes me wonder. Maybe my mind doesn't grasp the scope of the area they're searching, but it seems with the money, technology and manpower thrown at the search in the last year, something would have turned up.

Thanks for the thoughtful (and civil) responses. Paul, I think your RSVP idea is excellent. As to eliminating spring outings, how about at least try to stick to float trips on bigger water during the spawn. This would eliminate a bunch of guys potentially wading through beds. Gregg, you make a good point about the Apple. Who knows, maybe a couple years of interupted nesting would be good for that overall population. Heck, I sure don't know. Now I'm really confused! That sounds like a question for our resident science guy (Tim). Edit to add: Oops, I shouldn't take so long to respond. You guys beat me to it.

The recent NW outing got me thinking about small waters and the effects of large parties of fishermen. Originally I was planning on attending the outing, but as the numbers grew I grew more concerned about the potential impact. Instead of fishing, I did some looking around the N. Branch. Observing fom several different bridges I saw smallies on beds just about anywhere I looked. I seem to remember some mention of a reservation system for outings on smaller waters and in retrospect, that seems like a good idea. As the membership here continues to grow, there's no limit to the number of guys an open invite could bring out. Not that we don't have the right, but I'd hate to see 20-25 guys show up for a small water outing. I know every member here is concerned about the welfare of the resource, and I'd hate to see us inadvertantly have a negative impact on it. Any thoughts?

I couldn't help but notice that this is your first post on the new site, which has been up for a couple of weeks now.

Wow...nice fish regardless of the weight! It's funny, but I never even consider weight when considering a smallies size. I think that might be a typical river thing while lake guys go by weight. ( If I ever caught one with that girth, though, I might wish I had a scale with me)