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Fished 4 days last week. The middle 2 produced only a few small smb. The bookend days were better.On Monday after no luck fishing a Zonker I switched to a bassbug and caught 4 in 1" increments from 14"-17". Fished the same stretch the same way on Friday catching a few small ones and hitting 3 nice ones losing 1 and catching 2 at 16" + 17.5".There were fish both along the banks and in midriver.Working the banks is more enjoyable as it involves making accurate casts to likely looking spots rather than just casting randomly to midriver.Being a holiday I expected to see more people but was surprised at how many were floating the river. Most were just paddling not fishing.I met a fellow ISAer bank fishing. In just the short time he fished he caught a 15" on a twister tail. Wading opportunities are now more limited unless you"re as big as John L. due to the vast amount of weeds raising the water to levels uncomfortable or impossible for wading. G'd weeds!

Ican make it on the 19th

Whichever rod size one chooses,4-8wt for warmwater gamefish, should be teamed with a line 1 size heavier.Whereas trout casting is mostly about laying down a small fly with delicacy and finesse warmwater casting is about generating enuf power to cast large flies often at long distances.The heavier line will bring more of the rod's powerful butt section into play,will better turnover big flies,and will better handle windy conditions.I've used and have had good results with the Clouser, the Wulff Triangle Taper,and the Airflo Distance and Extreme Distance flylines.The Wulff and Airflos have thin running lines to enhance distance casting.A major advantage the Airflo offers for pursuing warmwater fish,which are lost due to a poor hookset more than for any other reason,is that it does not stretch and so will provide better hooksetting especially at longer distances.On the other hand it would be a detriment in trout fishing where the hook is set with just a flick of the wrist and where line stretch cushions the delicate leaders reducing breakoffs.If only 1 line were used for both warmwater and trout the clear choice is the Wulff.It casts both small flies with delicacy and large flies at distance very well.

It's nice to have some pics to look back on atn the end of the season(s)

Mark, It's good to see a flyguy doing so well.Seems a bassbug would've done the job too although they'd be harder to cast with a 5wt.I may have to start doing some pond fishing. The strip pits at Mazonia and the quarry in Lemont where I've always floatubed for largemouths don't produce like they once did.How 'bout some pics next time? With a flash you can get good ones even at dark.

I'll bring a cupl rigged flyrods, the 6 & 4wts I use for smallies.Maybe the 2wt also to play around with the kids if there are any 'gills around.

For pure guilless fun nothing beats b'gill fishing with a flyrod.Makes you feel like a kid again.

Norm, Cabelas sells a wet wading boot that's very light.It's a neoprene boot with zippered access and felt soles.You can size em up if you wear them with waders.For wet wading you'll need to insert cushioned insoles for wading rocky streams like the Kank.Of course they won't last as long as a heavier wading boot but on the other hand they're only $30.

Floatubed 4x for b'gills at Mazonia. The 2 in May were unproductive even though last year I got all the 8-9" gills I wanted in the 1st 2 weeks of that month.The 2 in June were fair.The gill fishing was much slower than in the last few years probably due to the colder temps and endless procession of violent weather fronts.The pits I fished have many good spawning sights yet I didn't see a single bed. I've heard that when conditions are unfavorable spawning may be aborted with the eggs being reabsorbed by the females.Don't know if that's true but if it is that would explain the lack of beds. The rod used is a 20 year old 6.5' Orvis Superfine 2wt teamed with a 5wt(not a misprint) Wulff Triangle Taper line,4x leader and my old standby fly, a sinking spider.[attachment=1779:2008_0602Image00 By the way most of the gills in these pix were not only still alive 45 minutes out of the water but were actually flopping around as I tried to take the shot.I think we underestimte the survivability of sunfish species which includes smallmouth bass.

Tim, The algae in the Dupage is a coldwater type.It appears in Spring when the water's cold provided it's clear too and begins to disappear in late Spring/early Summer only to be replaced by 2 varieties of long skiinny weeds.The algae retuns again in Fall as the water cools but isn't as bad as it is in Spring.At least that's the way it was last year.This year the algae was well contained by all the rain keeping the river higher and murkier than last year when the algae was really thick enuf to actually make wading difficult.Never saw it that bad before. Between the weeds the algae and the silt it's become one sick river.The Fox is now the least screwed up river of the 3 in our region. Who'd a thunk it?

Jonn, I've got a pair on order.Am hoping they've been improved since your experience.I have a pair of Red Ball lightweights that I got years ago that have held up well.Don't think Red Ball's around anymore though.

Your right ,Norm.Those thin strips of vegetation along the banks must not be enuf anymore.

It is sad how so few kids over the past 25 -30 years have any connection to nature.About all many of them do outdoors is dribble a basketball on a patch of concrete.

Norm, If you have a Cabela's catalog check out their Three Forks 420 Denier Featherlights for $50.They're actually lighter weight than breathables since they don't require multi layers.Of course since they don't breath they won't be as cool in the heat.They also won't be as leakprone and since they stand up much better to stress they won't have to be "babied " like breathables.

Norm, Thanks for your response.While you have a good point the silt has been increasing for the past 5 years or more during years of average to below average precipitation.

Ken, Your advice is good but it doesn't answer the problems I've had with leaky breathables.Until this last pair in size small the previous 3 pair were all roomy mediums given my height and weight,5'5" 165lbs,From now on I'm going to stick with a pair of lightweight nonbreathables which are truly waterproof and unlike expensive water resistant breathables can be had for $50.They're comfortable in all but the hottest weather when wet wading is the most comfortable way to go anyway.

Fished a cupl hours in 3 areas.Caught a 14"er in the first few casts on a bluegill fly. Figured that was a good omen but that was the only fish I hit.Just as this year's hi murky water kept the algae at bay earlier this Spring it has also kept the weeds from being as bad as they've been in recent years by this time.They are on the increase however and as Summer wears on likely will become as bad as ever.The water is still hi and murky but falling and clearing at least until the next rain due in a cupl days. The main reason for this post is the appalling increase in the amount of silt in the river.When it first started becoming noticeable a few years ago it was largely confined to slackwater areas.It now exists throut the entire main branch even along shorelines having a good currentJust about everywhere you step off shore you step into silty mud of varying depth and if you're foolish enuf to step off in a slackwater area you risk the fate of one of those prehistoric beasts in Labrea.What I don't understand is where all the silt is coming from.I've waded just about the entire main branch from the confluence of the east/west branches and have never seen any evidence of anything that could account for such a massive accumulation of silt.Just about everywhere I've seen there's been vegetation buffering the shorelines etc. Does anyone have any ideas of the source(s) of all this silt? Could it be washing down from either or both of the branches?

Fished today with a brand new pair of breathables from Columbia Sportwear.They leaked like a sieve.That's the 4th pair of premium breathables (Dan Bailey,Hodgman,LL Bean)that have either leaked "right out of the box" or after only little wear.I'm sending them back for a refund.Four things I'll never do:1)tug on superman's cape 2)spit into the wind 3)pull the mask off the old lone ranger 4)buy another pair of breathable waders.

Now that you mentioned it I think you're right,Jim.

Thanks for the tips,Jonn.I'll try the flashlight technique the next time I get a leak which will probably be the next time I fish.While I've had good results with neoprene and nonbreathable lightweights, results with breathables have been terrible for me probably because they really are a compromise.In order to stay dry I've even resorted to wearing breathable waist highs under the chest waders. Another technique Joe Meyer advocates is to apply rubbing alcohol to the suspected area of the leak.The leaky spot will take on a different color.

Can't make it on the 12th.Am committed to a TU flyfishing seminar for boy scouts that day.

While dam removal is very desirable on most rivers I hesitate when it comes to the Fox.If their removal would result in its becoming clear enuf to promote the unchecked growth of the coldwater algae followed by massive amounts of weeds that have choked the Dupage for the last 6-7years and is increasingly having the same affect on the Kank it would be better for fishermans' purposes if the dams remained.Better a dammed murky river free of noxious vegetation than a "freeflowing" clear river choked with it all season long in most years.With all that vegetation it wouldn't be freeflowing anyway.Perhaps the bedrock streambed of the Fox, unlike the gravelly bottom of most of the Dupage, would inhibit the weeds but it hasn't on the Kank which seems to have the same bottom makeup as the Fox.When it comes to dam removal on the Fox I can't help but be reminded of that old addage "be careful what you wish for....."

Big carp are unpredictable fighters. Some take off for the horizon on a reel screaming run like a bonefish.Those are the most fun. Others choose to slug it out in close.If you can't bring the carp back to you go to it if you can keeping a tight line.Doing that I've caught several big carp with a 4wt that have been encountered while smb fishing. It's good to see a fishing report from another flyfisherman.

I'll come.

I've always looked forward to b'gill time with a flyrod in Spring.Fast and furious action and great little fighters on a light flyrod.I use a 6.5' 2wt that weighs just 1 oz.Great on the table too.Caught a cupl dozen in the Mazonia area Sunday.Kept 17 8 inchers.Plan on going back today.