Norm M

I have no problem with large extra wide gap hooks on spin gear nor with the hooks designed to be used with sluggos that have a smaller gap .

Paths of Precipitation to a Stream A stream is considered to be the downhill movement of water, dissolved substances and suspended particles. These components are mostly derived from the stream's watershed. The watershed is the total land area draining into a given stream channel. The hydrological, chemical and biological characteristics of a stream reflect the climate, geology and vegetational cover of it's watershed. Water from precipitation, i.e, rain and snow, can follow different paths while moving toward a stream it may first go to the vegetation, then into the litter on top of the soil and then into the soli. The water will only flow over the top of the ground to the stream after the soli reaches it's saturation point. However, most of the water that does soak into the soil remains there and never makes it to the stream. Different soil types can store water in differing amounts. Depth, structure and composition of the soil are the main factors in determining the storage capacity. The storage capacity is continually being lessened by the processes of evaporation and transpiration. These processes return the water to the atmoshere to continue the water cycle there. Only when the storage capacity of the soil is exceeded , is water released to help form a stream. Water moving through the soil to a stream can move through cracks in the soil, worm or animal burrows and root channels. The water moving downward into the soil can be halted by impermeable layers at which point it will move laterally over the impermeable layers toward the stream. The surface of the saturated zone of permeable soil is called the water table. Vadose water is the water in the soil above the water table. Ground water is the water in the soil below the water table. Ground water provides the relatively stable base flow component in a stream through seepage into the stream channel. Overland flow [ above ground water flow ] and excess water flowing through the soil [ vadose water ] to a stream channel after storms are the main components of peak flows and floods. The overland flow is the runoff that enters the stream directly while the vadoe water enters through seepage into the stream channel. None of this information will probably be of direct help to catching fish. It never hurts to have some background information on how streams are formed though. I learned this stuff while researching current and thought it would be of interest to some of you, so I'm passing it on.

I usually get a year out of a pair of waders due to brush busting, year round use in all climatic conditions and the fact that are rarely out of the trunk of my car because I wear them at least 250 days a year. It makes no difference the brand or the price they all leak within a year. Patching the leaks extends the life but it is the rare pair that lasts two seasons. I don't worry about warranties as I figure most places will claim excessive wear. I just get another pair to replace as needed. If you plan on that kind of use, buy cheap ones .

With type 2 diabetes and several heart adventures and the resulting medications I don't heal quickly and it's harder to stop the flow of blood. I no longer wet wade for those reasons and for the reasons Tom and Eric stated. If you have cuts, scrapes, nicks, etc use a liquid bandage to protect it. even the cleanest river have plenty of microbes that can cause serious infection issues .

I let the fish decide. Proper depth and speed control in the proper location is always the most important thing to do. I start with much larger lures and fish them more aggressively than most folks. Many days no change is needed. I will slow down the large lures before I change sizes. When I change sizes, I start aggressively. There are times when I end up with an Eire Darter on a very light jighead worked from painstakingly slow to stopped to catch smallmouth this time of year. Polishing the rocks as one old timer referred to it. Those times are few compared to when larger, more aggressive shine .

from a conversation I had years ago with an IDNR upper management person part of the purpose was to try and get more kids as well as their parents involved in fishing. Part of it was to sell more fishing licenses which could increase the % of Illinois' share of federal dollars from the excise taxes of outdoors goods . The plan was that the sale of extra licenses and trout stamps would make the stocking program a break even proposition. Whether it became a break even deal was something I never was able to find out . Myself personally, I avoid the thing and go and pick up trash when it's over. I have fished that stretch in winter and early spring, never caught a smallmouth or a rock bass. I'm sure they pass the winter somewhere above the mini falls as I doubt the smallmouth jump the falls when they move up in the spring. The stretch below the falls to the mouth is pretty much devoid of smallmouth during the winter. My son and I once were fishing over at the floating pier at Bird Park for largemouth when the trout had been stocked. He was using a Rapala DT-6 and I had a Bandit 200. We caught so many of the stocked trout, we lost count. From that experience I would have to say they will take lures.

Jonn Over the years I have emailed the link to that website to Springfield multiple times. Never got an acknowledge it was received and read . I used to carry a hard copy of the federal law in my vehicle just in case it became an issue. It got waylaid somewhere along the line, most likely should print it out again .

It's not so much the IDNR that worries me it's the county and local law enforcement that most likely wouldn't have a clue about the national laws regarding water usage. You would most likely be wasting your breathe trying to talk your way out of it .

After talking to the biologists every year since the walleye stocking program began, they aren't worried about it affecting the smallmouth fishery from what they see in their surveys. Extra folks looking for poaching, that will be the day. I ran into some of the biologists recently, each had a new IDNR hat, first new gear I've seen them get in years. No money for more eyes on the water. I had not heard the number of trout stocked was increased but I do know from the signs posted that a C & R season for flyfishing only is allowed for two weeks prior to the scheduled trout opener. I guess at least they sprung for some new signs.

the rockier the bottom, the more you appreciate some extra padding

Alan Use the bootie over the wool sock. From personal experience it gets uncomfortable with just the wool sock .

Sponsorship to follow ?

I can buy a new tracfone for a lot less money .

proper depth and speed control in the proper location are the most important factors in successful fishing .

Tom I would add Dan Gapen to those that do a fine job of explaining how to read water . He has some videos and books that are quite nice. Infisherman also did a nice job of covering moving water, especially the early Study Guides, those are classics . I have found that many of the old time guys who wrote about trout had an excellent understanding of reading the water and how fish related to current. I read many of them when I was younger because they were the only guys writing about fishing in moving water. Rosenbauer's book about small water is also worth a read . There are many advantages to fishing downstream. You can fish lures like crankbaits much slower if you desire and still keep them in the productive zone. You can minimize losing lures to snags. You can bump a lure into an obstruction, let it slide back by dropping the rod tip a little, bring it forward to hit the obstruction, repeating as often as you like. You can hold a lure in place and let the fish watch it until it's driven to eat it. Sometimes you have to pull it forward a bit to accomplish this. If that doesn't work, you can easily let it slide back to where it was .

I'll bet my wife would . You could tie it to your wader straps with some braid. You could dip the dips into that rubberized gunk you can use to coat your tool handles with if you have some. If not use the rubber tips off the hooks that certain brands of spinnerbaits have. Reuse stuff from fishing gear you have any way .

OMG, Terry is Jim .

unless the river flooded the walmart lot, then Brutus would be behind the second light pole in aisle 6

I would ask for a prettier tour guide .

a holy day for some of us .

Scott, remember that trip we took to help get the Northwest chapter going ? I think it was at a Cabelas .

Some of the cleanups on the Kankakee when we would get 40 or so guys. Grillmaster Mark K handling the cooking, my wife's homemade cookies, impromptu seminars, guys teaming up to fish afterwards. fishing outings on the Kankakee where my plan was to fish with Phil but so many showed up that he graciously lead a group even though it was not his home river . the outing with a few members where my wife and the dog tracked us down, led us back to freshly fried chicken , corn bread and homemade cookies . the panel group at one of the banquets in Wilmington where we sat and answered questions . might be something worth doing again at the banquet . The winter get togethers that more or less was the beginnings of the breakfast club. opening speaker at one of the banquets that lead to me getting together with Steve Quinn to contribute to an article in In Fisherman magazine . representing the ISA at Conservation Congress, the Kankakee river Basin Commission/Partnership, the Kankakee River Roundtable and at the infamous Farmers for a floodfree Kankakee meeting over in Indiana. meeting Jonn and I believe Ron Scott at Davis Creek before a meeting later held in Kankakee. going to an outing on the Fox, hooking up with another member, neither having been in a canoe before. did the float, backwards many times, didn't dump it and caught fish . sharing the Kankakee with a goodly number of members at club outings, breakfast clubs, after cleanups and more informal outings. bumming around with Phil on his great assortment of waters, bouncing all sorts of ideas off each other while driving and fishing . Powerton, sometimes catching fish, other times not so much. Seeing Jonn lose a hair jig and than a little later seeing him catch a smallmouth on his last identical hair jig, that had the jig he lost still stitched to the lip .also the goose that didn't like Jonn more than it didn't like others. cleanups, water willow plantings with my son, also Zach and I helping with the Everglades of the North project . walking back, gathering up materials after the first waterwillow planting and seeing small fish using them as current breaks less than an hour after they were planted.

Net the carp Feed the poor 'til there are no carp no more I'd love to change the river A nod to Alvin Lee and Ten Years After

best hope might be ta commercial fishery to sell them to the Chinese . When I went to Conservation Congress a few years back they announced a deal to sell some, never heard if it grew wings. I heard that in typical Illinois political fashion there was wrangling over whose district the cannery would be in .