Norm M

How unprofessional and financially irresponsible to not even consider help from a group that has proven they can be trusted .

Eric Was it the General Lee ? Unfortunately, you can't fix stupid .

Ron If Eric was where I think he was, you park in the lot by the trap range and walk across the street to the river. No call for walking up to Eric with the shotgun, if that was the spot. He could have just as easily secured his piece before making his request. I have had guys ask me to move my car from that spot, they seem to think that the DPCA is not a multi use area to be shared.

when all it takes is a few inches of movement and a bit of pressure on the trigger................................................................... even in my prime my reflexes weren't good enough, John Wayne, I ain't . Shoot on my home river I've had shot rain down about me several times and a couple times bullets whiz overhead while wading. I had a guy come out of a blind that had no decoys out and no car at the access area other than mine, waving a shotgun around, screaming about scaring the ducks. I still keep fishing it, you either shrug stuff like this off or find somewhere else. What the heck, I could get hit by a texting idjit while driving. there are risks everywhere. You make your best call and live your life accordingly .

no banjos but I heard my heart thumping in my throat .

I was wading the Mazon once and heard a couple of shot guns having the action worked. I looked up and while they weren't pointed directly at me, it was a matter of inches. They two guys never said a word, they didn't need to. I've was verbally harassed once at an access spot and had a nasty note left on the car at another. The rest of the times, no problems. I have been told of valve stems sliced but never experienced it. The IDNR has property on the river near Morris, never heard of any trouble there.

Assume you are fishing a streamer, if you put a split shot on above a hook even if it's touching the knot , most would consider it a split shot rig. If you clamped the split shot on the hook then I guess it would be a weighted fly. if you started with a hook with lead molded on the shank and tied a streamer on it, then it would be a jig. If you caught fish on it, I would consider it a success and let it go at that. The most important thing would be is how the placement of the lead affected how the lure worked , not what it's called.

If I remember correctly it was the creation of former K 3 guide Geno Alterrari [sp] I believe it was manufactured by a company employing the handicapped. His son used to own a tackle shop in Braidwood, not sure if it's still in business. They were sold locally in bait shops in the K3 area. Geno used to write a column for the Outdoor Notebook and he had info on ordering them in the articles. Might check with them or Dan Basore . I had a bunch, all long since sacrificed to the gods of fishing.

I have no idea why he was there but he was. He never knocked fishing for smallmouth, he only stated that a gentleman only fishes with feathers. Maybe he has champagne tastes and a beer budget. As to what was being communicated , it was my puzzlement at how one material used in a lure could be more gentlemanly than another material. If any one thinks it is a shot at fly fisherman they are mistaken, Did I not state I knew many gentlemen that fly fish. He was the one that denigrated them for using materials he considered an anathema to the sport. All I sought was enlightenment about his seemingly incomprehensible statement to me. Relax, I don't care how you fish, don't think that any particular method is superior to others, do it legally and enjoy.

Ok . so it may be a thing about tradition. he had a cane fly rod, no idea if it was a Thomas & Thomas. I can see the natural vs. synthetic from that view point. I still don't completely get the feathers vs. fur as I thought fur was part of the long standing tradition of creating flies. To me that would be like saying balsa is superior to cedar for hard baits. Both have their place and one may outshine the other in certain situations but using one does not make it inherently more gentlemanly than the other If I ever acquire a Thomas & Thomas, say at a garage sale, could I bring it to a cast and compare ?.

Steve, if you do, I'm sure the guys will do their best to offer any assistance you may need or desire. that's just how the guys are in this bunch.

I tried to do the right thing and offered some advice which he was free to take or ignore. No skin off me either way. I don't care how any one fishes as long as it's legal. I didn't offer up the air of my method is superior to all others, he did that. as I said I know many gentleman and a few not so gentlemanly that fly fish. they use a wide assortment of materials to craft their flies and don't feel compelled to pass judgement on the materials others may use. i have fished long enough and with a wide enough variety of fishermen to know there is no stereotypical fly, spin, cast. spincast of canepoling guy. That he thought my methods crude amused me. that he thought a certain type of material more gentlemanly than any others puzzled me. If only fishing drys is what he enjoys, dig, that's his movie. Laying a bad rap on others movie is just courting bad karma. i was just hoping some one more in tune with the whole fly fishing scene could enlighten me on the feathers good, animal fur bad thing is a more prevalent attitude than I ever would have suspected within the community that's all.

I was fishing and doing well enough with a rattlebait on a current seam. there was another guy further down not catching anything. He was using dry flies. I suggested that he pass by and fish the next seam with a streamer or something he could strip aggressively as the fish were responding to my lure. he told me he would rather fish like a gentleman and remain fishless than to use crude tactics and lures like I was. He told me that a gentleman only uses feathers to catch fish. I responded that I knew many fine gentlemen who fly fish and use other materials such as animal fur, flashabou and living rubber in their creations. He responded that such materials were an anathema to the sport and he would not deign designate those who would employ such as fly fishermen. I no longer had any to response as I couldn't fathom how one material could be more gentlemanly than another, so I left to find another spot. I still have not come to grips with how someone could rationalize such a thing in his mind.

how do you prefer to deal with the holiday crowds ? fish further up tributaries ? hike well past forked stick country on your favorite flow ? fish real early and real late and chill with the family in between ? d hop to the fourth quadrant of the 7th dimension ? tough it out in your usual haunts ? cut the grass, yard work, buff the car, etc ?

will offer up prayers for you

Twister work well as do paddle/beaver style tails with Jonn's jigs. Gar love them.

I've got some musky boot tails I use. The heavy jig is necessary to get the large boot tails thumping right and make the package roll correctly. After reading the recent article about skate baits adding big sluggos and magnum flukes to the mix with some larger matzuto heads I have left.

The larger the swimbait, the larger the jig you need to get the proper movement and vibration from the whole package. it may sound weird but I have been using 1/2 to 3/4 oz jigs with 6 inch boot tail swimbaits successfully for river smallmouth. as Jonn says, they do select for larger fish, especially the size I'm using. rigging the swimbaits flat, where the shape allows gives you more hook gap and better hookups. It's nothing I've dreamed up on my own, just using lures and tactics Doug Stange has been writing about for some time. They are just for walleye and pike in lakes.

I read Bruce Ingram's essay in the Waterlines column in the March/April 2014 AMERICAN ANGLER with great pleasure. I totally agree with his position that color is of little importance to the fish. I also liked the short article on tactics for riffle, run, pool in the same issue. Has any one else read it ?

unless the water is completely iced over, no reason to stop. fish have to eat to survive. don't get hung up on bottom content, just as likely to be feeding in a mud hole as on a cobblestone bottom.

read the fishing report and his blog, you'll see another one on a regular basis. Good to see those two there.

one of our plow drivers took out a fire hydrant and they have metal flags on a long pole on top to mark the location of the hydrant . right down the street from the fire chief's house, he was a tad p.o.ed

hate to keep the government's snow, most likely have to pay taxes on it .

snow, power out at 0 dark thirty, had to get crap coffee from a gas station, power finally back on around 10. phones immediately lit up with telemarketers. wunnerful start of the day . blasting some black Sabbath , some relief

Well if the red canoe draws fish like a red rattlebait does at ice out in ponds, you have got a winner.