Norm M

Thanks.

I was just happy that it was someone who was willing to hear the other side and then mentally flexible to realize that the initial impression needed adjustment.

Mike,

I going fishing tomorrow with a guy from St Anne, doing a kids fishing program Wednesday with Stacey at the state park and going to a KRBC meeting Wednesday evening. If all goes as planned I'll get the heart tuned up Thursday, get out of the hospital Friday afternoon, recuperate on Saturday and back to work on Sunday. I won't be able to wade for a week or so until the leg heals but with the water up, I'll just fish slack pockets from shore or if it's down, I'll tight line for cats.

I really would like to get the Cup in game 6.

Unless they decide I need bypass to fix it, I'm not planning on slowing down.

We had to cancel the stream monitoring demonstration set for today at the K3 state park due to safety concerns with the high water. Mike and I made the call earlier in the week and began the process of notifying folks. Due to some family health issues I couldn't get to all the bait shops that had flyers in them to put up notice of the cancellation. I felt that it was my responsibility to be at the site to let any one know who didn't get the word that the event was cancelled and why. Three guys did show up that had seen the flyer and wanted to see what it was all about. I explained what we were trying to accomplish with the demonstration, why it was necessary to cancel and offered my apologies for the inconveinance. They all took River Watch and ISA pamphlets as well as some tips on what to look for in fishing the high water conditions. They all understood the circumstances and said they appreciated the fact that the ISA had folks who cared enough to sit and wait like that. Hopefully that spread some goodwill and maybe some new members.

There was a fourth person who also showed up. He heard heard about the ISA from some internet sites that he declined to name. He also declined to give me his name. He basically had heard that the ISA was a bunch of elitist a-holes that for the most part didn't know didly about catching fish either. He had come down to see if we were actually going to hold the event and endanger people to advance our "agenda" or to cancel it and leave those that showed up no clue as to what was up thus wasting thier time. Either way it would have validated what he had heard and he was going to torch us for it. The first thing he saw was me catching a smallie out of high muddy water in conditions that he admitted he wouldn't have considered fishing in. The next thing he saw was the bag of trash I had collected from the banks of the river and creek. He asked if I knew anything about the event and I told him I was one of the organizers and was there to tell folks of the cancellation and explain why it was necessary to do so. After I offered up my apologies he said he would like to talk if I had the time as it appeared that the ISA was not what he had heard.

We talked about all the ISA has done over the years. He was especially interested in the conservation stuff and was amazed to learn that the ISA actually helps fund conservation projects. I spoke of all that Mike Clifford and I were involved with, about Scott's dedication to the newsletter for so many years and the quality of that newsletter. I told him of Eric's work in creating the website. He admitted that he had never personally checked us out before but had relied upon things others had said. He said that I had changed his mind as any group that had dedicated people like that, had accomplished what we had and if what he saw of my fishing was any indication of others in the group we might just know something about catching fish. As Johnny Cash once sang, he came away with a different point of view.

If the gentleman in question reads this please PM me thru this site if you have anything else to discuss while wetting a line.

For all of our members the point is, that you as an individual can make a difference.

Edit to add, a thanks to the fishing gods for the timing of that catch.

Kid was cute on the cover, not so sure about that old guy with him.

It's that guy on the back that just got his first Illinois smallie in three years, that had to be photoshopped to take the rain and clouds out, blue sky my aching ***.

The Momence and Chebanse gauges both show the levels to be rising slightly which means that water is still coming our way. Based on the present levels and from what Mike and I both observed tonight, it is not reasonable to believe that the water levels will be low enough to be safe enough by Sunday. Thanks to all that volunteered for your interest.

A little reminder, this event is scheduled to be taped for a river documentary and hopefully some of the local media will be on hand. Come on out and wear something with an ISA logo if you have it.

What's a camera?

Sand which covers spawning areas, degrades or destroys nursery areas for young of year fish, destroys habitat for crustaceans and benthic macrofauna, increases the frequency and severity of flooding, has changed flow rates and water levels and ruined weedbeds, what effect do you think that has on the smallmouth population in one of the state's premier smallie rivers, the Kankakee?

The floods of recent years did affect the spawn but those year classes missing won't be noticeable for a few years yet. The bigger damage was the hastening of the demise of the older year classes that made up the real trophy fish in the 18 to 20 inch plus smallies.

Another problem is the poaching of fish off spawning beds in the best known tributary, Rock Creek. In one stretch where is was not uncommon to see three seperate waves of spawning fish, with 60 to 80 beds in the largest wave, that has been severely depleted. Last year the biggest wave had 19 beds and by the following day 6 of those had been cleaned off. When the fish that are genetically predisposed to spawn in that tributary are removed before they pass on their genes,there will be a decline in the numbers of fish that do return. I sure there will be a few newcomers looking for new territory trying to use that creek but if they are poached, then where is the gain in numbers?

The fish that spawn in less accessible, less traditional, spawn earlier or later than usual will be the ones sucessfully passing on their genes, unless the sand covers the areas they use.

There was a study done on the Kankakee River some years back that was reported in the Transactions of The American Fisheries Society Journal. Basically it said the lower flow rates over winter were more conducive to survival on young of year and age 1 and 2 smallmoutyh bass. I have had to get good at fishing in high cold muddy water because those have been the conditions I've been faced with all too often. These conditions are exactly those which are not conducive to the over winter survival of younger fish. Increasing amounts of sand combined with more precipitation[snow and rain] have been the culprits.

My fishing skills didn't suddenly disappear, but my catch rates both in numbers and size have severely declined. A good day recently is getting into double digits, when in the past 40 to 80 fish days were not uncommon. I have 2 twenty inch plus smallies so far this year and it's May, it looks like the days of double digit twenty inch plus smallies in a year might be gone as well. I'm sure part of that is that the fish have adapted to the new conditions better than I have, but they have to if they are to survive. Maybe things will get better as I figure out the adaptations I need to make but I'll probably have to lower my expectations of what constitutes a good day as the loss of habitat degrades the population.

I truly wish that I'm just in a slump fishing wise and the fish populations are strong as ever but when I look daily upon the damage the sand and sediment are causing, I am not heartened for the future.

Degrade the ability to reproduce and interrupt the food chain and the population of any species will be adversly affected.

Scott,

Do you still have anything frpm me on file that hasn't been printed yet?

My son Zachary and I have replaced or posted new 11 ISA signs in the Kankakee River State Park. We have 6 signs left from those I picked up at the Banquet, prolly destined for the Des Plaines Conservation Area. Damned if I'm putting any more up in the park in Wilmington only to have them vandalized almost immediately.

More sediment coming our way from the east. Stream cleaning has a whole different meaning.

With the Indiana DNR removed from the permitting process, I'm afraid scenes like that will become more common.

Sign up to become a river watch monitor and get their id stuff. Identifying macro invertebrates is exactly what they want you to do.

Just ask your wives, they'll all let you know you are to blame. Except me , I got more teflon than my cousin the former Prez Ronny Rayguns ever had.

If you see fish taking bugs off the surface, fish lower in the water column for bigger fish eating the smaller fish that are eating the bugs.

Watch for birds taking bugs as well, you don't always see the fish taking bugs off the surface but if there is forage, there is usually something eating it. Once again fish lower in the water column.

I emailed the thread to Nick at the Trading Post. I'll let you know what he thinks.

Pre made into patties but frozen is best.

How is it that our volunteer grillmasters end up being named Mark?

Thanks to both Mark Kascik and Mark O Donnell for their past efforts over a hot grill.

Y'all come out and smile for the camera.

Some good ideas, and how about making them out of a material that will break down , so at least the slobs junk would disappear.

One day I picked up 50 plus containers below the Wilmington Dam, picked up 40 plus more the next day.

As many of you know Zach and I do many, many cleanups on our own. Mostly fishing related junk and alcohol related[ in an alcohol free park- HA},just wish folks would tote their empty containers back with them. Lord knows, they are now lighter then when they brought them down to the river

The gate at 2 usually opens April 1 for access to the trap range. At 7 the only time I saw a barricade was when the road was really soft after the thaw. I haven't seen it barricaded since.

Remember spring turkey season starts soon, I believe they hunt until noon.

Catchable trout starts on April 3, find a place away from the crowds.

I know what you mean Bill, I think every out of work guy in the trades in a 5 county area is there some days. Bad enough we got to deal with some school teachers, we know.

Start with very aggressive techniques/lures and work your way back. Right now it's all about feeding, for most of them they won't start singing "feel like making love" for a while. Look to shallower areas that provide feeding opportunities. Remember the entire food chain from macro inverts to fish has turned on, so be flexible in your decision making process.

If you are a member, use the access codes in your newsletter to look up past issues of the newsletter on line, lots of good articles there on this subject.

How can the wetland restoration spoken of in the video be resolved with the farming interests?Are they "on board"with the restoration plans?

In Indiana, not until the feds make them.

Terry

I hate to tell you this but I called dibs on the Creekyknees thing better than a decade ago. Royalty payments are now expected.

A 7 ft medium heavy Techna AV spinning rod would do nicely for the first payment.

Mike,

I forwarded the link to the Kankakee County Economic Alliance.

Any possibility of concerned citizens, interested groups or non city government stakeholders sitting in on that workshop so they could have input on the report?

The reasons the levees breached was there was to much water for the system they designed and the river did what rivers do when there is too much water. It doesn't matter if the banks are natural or man made it's going where it wants to go.

Logjams caused the flooding my aching ass.

Mike,

I'm taking a class on Emerald Ash Borers in connection with the Master Naturalist Wednesday afternoon and have a KRBC meeting Wednesday evening.

More K3 Roundtable meetings coming up, I hope to talk to them more about the kids turning in the video thing I told Marc Miller about at the Blowout as well as other stuff.

I thought a guy was supposed to start slowing down at this stage of life, it seems that there is always another opportunity to do something for the river that beckons.