Norm M

Why not try a dropshot in that situation . Substitute a couple or three very large split shot , clamp lightly and pull free from snag with steady pressue , loosing only shot ? If you want to avoid all the knots associated with the 3 way swivel try a product Phil Fiscella turned me onto . It's an adjustable Carolina Weight Stop made by McCoys product code 21021 80002 on the package . It's a plastic bead you squeeze open with pliers and slide the line into . For this rig slide in a precut dropper and your main line . Attach weight to dropper and lure to main line , just 2 knots instead of 5 . Don't neglect floating Rapalas , shallow running cranks or streamer flies on the main line .

Jonn , Looks good , dressing to the sparse side . Try rigging the Assassains upside down on the jig and also taking a little chunk of plastic out where the tail starts thinning down . Mr Twister Sassy Grubs [ not Sassy Shad] are good if you want a smaller package on the presentation . Some of Charlie Brewers grubs would prolly go well too if you wanted a finesse touch . With the weed sitution being what is is on the Kankakee , I think swim jigs are going to be a very efficient presention to use . I think white with a pearl fluke would also be a good combo , very easy to see if it disappears inside the maw of a big ole sow .

Mark , There are a couple interesting thread going on at River Smallies related to this right now .

Water temp was 36 degrees today , got a couple smallies on topwaters . Something to think about .

Back when I still wore neoprene waders , groups of women would gather and throw twenties and fifties at me as I was putting them on . I really felt like I was hotter than hot until I heard one say , maybe if we tossed him some 100's he'd quit ............................................................................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . funny same thing happens when I sing .

Tim , I've been in a canoe twice , once with Dan Ramano on an ISA outing on the Fox and once with Phil . Neither Dan nor I had ever canoed before , amazingly we not only stayed afloat but caught fish . With Phil , I dumped the canoe as I was getting in , got wet but we still caught fish . I'm willing if you are .

The 4th and hopefully last stent in , all is well . Back to catching a fish or two , now and then .

One of my favorites , "The fish are already cold and wet " Phil F Brendan , The fish don't go by the manmade calendar , why should we ? " Big , fat , dumb , slow, eat me " Midwestern Hillbilly .

If my flow is completely froze over , I'll start working south until I find some open water . It's nice having the flow to yourself unless of course you hook up with someone who is just as nuts as you are . Big , fat , dumb , slow , eat me .

Jude , Spray them with WD-40 . Mike , Sharpen them during the Bears game , you won't miss much .

10 minutes to my flow , breakfast , afternoon delight or after work for a nightcap .

Some gaseous discharges can help warm the waders on a cold winters day , by gum .

Eric , It's a tough tongue to master but I will return the greetings . The less said about the St Croix guy the better . The last time I saw him the spear was in the truck but still dry as far as I could tell . Shoot he even said he had been enjoying some crappie fishing , hopefully he used an ultralight spear .

Eric and Mark , Kamala says to say howdy to both of you .

Lets not forget all the extra fertilizer getting pumped in from all the new subdivisions . Mark , Kamala and I were talking about the changes just the other day . Many areas are filling in with sediment , the moss isn't going away and the eel grass beds are expanding . It will prolly stay a smallie river for a while , but I wouldn't be surprised if it became a largemouth river in my son's lifetime . More largemouth showing up every year , gar numbers on the rise , numbers of truly huge smallies on the decrease . The sand buried an entire spawning area up town in one flood a few years back . Take a trip up some of the tribs and look how much sediment is in them . It definitely is not your imagination .

All I will say is that the topwater bite has been fantastic and I'm not usually one to make topwaters my first choice . When you see Kamala and I throwing and packing only topwaters that ought to tell you something . The fish are feeding heavily on shad right now . They like to herd fish such as shad against a barrier to make the foraging easier . The surface is a barrier is it not ? One thing is that when the bite dies at that particular spot , move to another . Being mobile is important right now . The bottom is covered in moss making foraging on the bottom extremely difficult at best . The fish respond by switching to another food source which pretty much involves feeding off the bottom and up to the top of the water column . Presenting a bait on the bottom is a futile exercise where the moss is prevalent , it gets fouled immediately and in my opinion the fish aren't feeding down either . Topwaters or baits that can be fished above the moss in the upper part of the water column allows you to fish most efficiently at this point . You aren't catching fish while dragging a half pound of salad , at least I'm not . The fish have adjusted and those like Raymond who have made the adjustment are doing well . Does a fall feeding frenzy exist , who knows . It may simply be that the fish are concentrating in a smaller area and there simply is more competition for food . As is well known , I'm one who believes the fish never stop feeding and that a fall feeding frenzy is not necessary to build up fat to make it through the winter . I do believe that when an opportunity presents itself the fish will take advantage of it as long as they can . Right now it seems that shad are presenting that opportunity , maybe the falling temps have something to do with that . I believe that shad are a much better source of protien than crawdads , but whether the fish are smart enough to know that is another question . It prolly is just a case of taking advantage of whats easiest and /or most availible . Prop baits , chug baits, stick baits , whatever you like it's been working . Fishing baits like sluggos, minus ones , rattlebaits that can be fishing in the upper part of the water column has also been working . Haven't thrown a buzzbait yet , prolly should have .

If Jude had a" biblical beard "instead of a goatee he might be getting more of what he mentioned in the health thread .

I've got a bunch of unopened , unused Mepps Combo Killiers Size 4 , the ones with the keeper hook and the twister tail , though not $50 worth , lots of unopened unused plastics . Not to worry if if it's not what you are looking for , prolly got too many lures like I do .

Tim , If your name was spelled correctly then rest assured you were prolly misquoted .

Most wanted for what ? fishing stud or regular stud ?

Tim , I'm 6 foot , 210 lbs and losing weight , do you think the waist is too big for me ?

If only I could get women to listen to what I've got to say .

Tim , The good news is sex is still good for you .

Hopefully they are . I offered up prayers and thanks to all the gods and goddesses .

2cd angioplasty on Nov 13 , cardiac rehab starts after that . Doc said everything was looking good from first proceedure .