Norm M

Rte 113 between Areas 9 and 10 west of Warner Bridge Road. That combo would work, bring spare props and shear pins as you learn the routes to take. Lots of new sand makes for new hazards, it gets shallow real quick on rock bars/humps as well.

only one?

I saw Brad at Anglers Outlet in Markham[old Ed Shirley's] to get a new rod today. I got a 10% ISA discount there.

Brad is an ISA member so let's give him some business for those in the area.

Phil is in Florida visiting family right now, not sure if he will be back in time.

I'm also a U of I Master Naturalist. It's also one of my favorite events, love the dirty hands kinda stuff. It was Zach's first planting, from what he said, it won't be the last. It was good to see Max as well, he did a fine job, Mark has every reason to be proud of him.

I actually caught a smallie chasing minnows along the newly planted water willows and saw many minnows using the plants.

Zachary caught and landed a nice snapping turtle a little farther downstream, glad he had those longer pliers, all the distance I could get from that p.o' ed turtle's maw was appreciated. The highlight of my catch was a flathead on a crankbait. We stopped at the Duper on the way home as well.

This is the kind of event that makes a lasting impression on others as well as providing future habitat. I had one gent come up and thank us, said he saw us from across the river and was impressed that folks cared enough to give thier time.

John, Zach and I saw a 11 to 12 inch smallie go airborne a couple times where you said you spotted that musky. We worked the spot hard but no avail, mebbe he caught the smallie after all.

It wasn't even really work, more fun than anything else, the weather was just about perfect and my tan was improved. I spent some time with an old friend, caught some fish and put some faces to names, what more could you ask for?

Zach said he may come , I told him not to believe most of the tales he'd hear.

Zachary and Norm Minas, lord willing and the crick don't rise.

I grew up on a crick, I've got running water in my soul.

I fish with a guy that uses a drift boat, worked just fine here in Illinois. Shoot he even had a gas cooker in it and made sausages. Should work on the larger flows locally but the smaller weedy ones probably more trouble than it's worth.

Oars , dragchains and anchors, no motor was all he had. Biggest problem he has is getting time off work and finding someone to partner with and help with the shuttle when he had time off.

I start with cranks, rattlebaits and spinnerbaits because I want to catch the most agressive fish first and I can cover the the shallower areas where they are feeding much quicker and more efficiently.

Now in deeper, heavier flow cranks are not as efficient as jigs because of the heavy pull on the lures flat wears you out and in the case a lot of cranks they spin out or ride up.

Jigs and plastics have a place in my tackle systems and they get used in real heavy wood/weeds, in deeper harder flows and to follow up the more agrressive techniques.

Using just enough weight so that you make steady bottom contact but not so much you are dredging a new channel on the bottom. Starting with your basic twister tail to build confidence is a good idea. You can always expand your choices later[and prolly will]. Learning how much to lead your target area so that it's on the bottom when it gets there is one one the things you will need to learn. Making accurate casts to seams or ahead of boils is also a skill to develop.

I prefer to quartercast and follow the path of the jig with my rod tip at about 10 or 11 oclock reeling only to take in slack. Learning to distinguish the tic of a fish from the tac of a rock will be the hardest thing to do. Hooksets are free, when in doubt, set the hook. Unless you have hands of stone, you'll develop the feel for that as well with time on the water.

I'll shoot for a vacation day. I'm packing my SAS survival kit as there will likely be a tornadic blizzard followed by a freezing drought. The Dupe will run dry, cats and dogs will lie down together, Jim J will buy breakfast for all and other end of the world portents but it should be a good discussion at breakfast.

With the way it's been raining for the last two years you could always take up cutting the grass as your new hobby.

Steve,

Same one year 26 of the NIAA derby.Both tagged fish and Big Board contests.

Jim,

Holiday weekend as well as last weekend of the K3 derby, even bigger crowds. It will require some walking to get away from most of them. Bring plenty of liquids and pack some plastic grocery bags as there will be plenty of trash along the way.

The NIAA's Kankakee River Derby starts tomorrow[Friday] , if you are coming to the outing be prepared for larger than normal weekend crowds.

About a 4-5 lb hybrid striper tagged, biggest walleye about 22 inches, maybe 4 smallies over 18 inches tagged. A couple double digit drum and carp being tagged. If memory serves more walleye [5] than carp [3] tagged. 1 pike about 6 lbs. Bill Byrns should have the numbers today or tommorrow in the Journal.

Most of the tagged fish with be smallies in the 10 to 11.5 inch range.

Introduced Zachary to Bill Byrns and Dale Bowman. Also Gary Lutterbie, Steve Pesticelli, Bob Rung and Rob Miller from the IDNR.

Talk of a walleye slot for next year prolly 18 to 26 inch protected slot.

Zachary and I are off to help the NIAA with the shocking day for the K3 derby. We will be assisting them as the derby is thier major fund raiser for thier conservation efforts. We will also be there to make sure that only fish that comply with IDNR regs get tagged.

It's a great way to network with the IDNR staff that do the zctual shocking and the CPO's that stop by to make sure all is in order. We also network with another conservation group as local media as well.

It could be they just didn't like the rain falling on the surface of the water and moved deeper to avoid it. It bothered them for sure and will be something to remember and experiment with next time you get on a Buzzbait bite like that. Now I am wondering also if the Crankbait bite was there all the time but you were unaware of it because you had fish hitting the Buzzbait. Then the rain came and moved the Buzzbait fish off and you switching to a Crankbait started catching the Crankbait fish. Questions, Questions, Questions, with no real answers.

Gary ,

That's the beauty of fishing, every "solution" is just a step in the direction of more questions.

I was on a smoking hot buzzbait bite today in the waterwillows, 45 minutes and going strong, until the raindrops started falling. I mean barely a drizzle but it was like flipping a switch the smallies just flat out stopped on the buzzbait.

I switched to a crankbait and immediately started getting bit again. I fished the same spots in the beds, alongside the beds, the washout holes below the beds and the current seam out from the bed.

I went back to the buzzbait, nada. Tie on the crankbait fish on again. The only change in the conditions was the rain. Now I don't fish buzzbaits as much as I should, cranks are higher on my confidence scale to be sure. I was just wondering if those that use buzzbaits more have noted this reaction.

Then again maybe it's just the fish being contary and humbling me when I finally start thinking I'm some sort of punkins with the buzzer.

I took some of the family to Barnes and Nobles cuz the ball game was rain delayed tonight. I wandered over to the magazine rack to look at fishing magazines[yeah not exactly hold the presses hot news , I know]. I see a familar face looking out at me from the cover and see that same smiling face in the article.

Jon Graham in Illinois Game and Fish surprise, surprise being qouted about smallie fishing in Illinois.

Thanks guys. With the string of events that took place that allowed me to be there, I'm sure some force was at work to get me there.

I originally took the day off work today to go to the private pond outing but some family business came up so I rsvped. First thing this morning cat got sick so took it to the animal hospital then back to family business. Later Zach and I did some cleaning up and then home for a late lunch.

I decided to go out for a little fishing -late afternoon and evening bite - hopefully. I hit a few spots and was on a decent waterwillow pattern. I was moving to go hit a couple other patches when on a whim I decided to hit a point pool below a popular tributary. I was working a crankbait from the seam in and got one fish before I heard a lot of screaming and yelling from around the bend by the creekmouth. Next thing I hear a voice yelling I can't swim and see a head out in the main current flow. I yelled at the person to try to kick over a few feet and get into the slower water and she just yelled back she couldn't. I fired out a cast with my crank, it fell about 3 feet short. She yelled to throw her the line again, I was already wading out further as I reeled in. Next cast , I was out far enough and lead her enough that the current swept her right into my line. She grabbed hold and wrapped it around her arm. I started pumping and reeling and tightening the drag as much as I dared. I got her in far enough where the current was slow enough and it was shallow enough that she could stand up. I kept wading out to her and grabbed her and walked her onto the shore where someone from her family got her.

The local Fire Dept showed up and checked her out. Ok except for being scared. The family was advised to take her to a doctor if she had any intestinal trouble develop from potential waterborne parasites.

I don't know why I decided to stop there but I'm glad I did. Also something to be said for using medium heavy spinning tackle and 17 lb Trilene XT as my regular gear.

I just wish folks didn't let thier kids swim in rivers that are about twice the normal flow for this time of year.

imcoming pm

John and Ron,

A family matter has arisen and Zach and I can't make it. Thanks for the opportunity and the invitation.

Sorry we can't come but I thought I'd let you know asap so you could contact someone that may be on a waiting list.

I talked to Larry Reed when I took the safety vests back after the spring cleanup. He told me that if someone in your party rented one of thier canoes they would shuttle your private canoe for 1/2 the regular trip price. If it was just your private canoe it would be the full trip price.

Give me a couple days notice and schedule permitting I could drive you back to your put in point after you drop your vehicle off at the take out.

There was a guy who used to drop his bike off at the takeout and chain it to a tree. He would then go back to the put in and leave the car there. At the take out he would then chain the canoe to a tree and ride back on the bike path to get his car. A bit cumbersome perhaps but he was in great shape.

The bike path runs along the river about 11 miles or so, plenty of room for a decent float, I'd think.