rprice

Thanks Dave for arranging the day for us. We needed to get back to the family reunion before the ladies tossed us in the dog house but for 4 hours we really had a steady stream of hookups. For our 3 person party, we managed about 40 total and we each landed a 15" and I managed a bonus 16" and we know that's a trophy on this skinnny stream. I'm really tempted to bring my coosa next time mid summer when the water is a bit higher and see about floating downstream of the BS Camp or even south of Hanover. I don't see much more than 3 miles between take-outs on the map and I think the portages seem managable downstream of the camp. I may be in for a shock though. If I couldn't get through, the current isn't so strong that a paddle upstream would be impossible. Might be wise to try with a 2 person canoe first though. But it would be an adventure to try. There have to be some hidden-honey holes down there somewhere.

Great- looking forward to meeting you JohnnyB

We kick-off the 2012 season with our opening meeting at the I-HOP on the Southpark Mall grounds in Moline. Contact Ron Price 309-314-2294. Bring a friend or two and come prepared to discuss outings to Duck Creek, the Apple and Green Rivers, and other waters during 2012. We'll also plan a stream improvement project and arrange car-pooling to the Bronzeback Blowout in March. Since this coincides with the QC Outdoor show- a group of us may head to the show following our meeting.

Saturday, Sept 10th This is a wade or float trip. Currently (no pun intended) the river is in fine shape for either choice and I expect it will be so on the 10th as well. This river is a unique challenge in that it's atypical waters for Smallies but it holds some of the largest fish I've personally seen. You'll spend more time fishing if floating but you need to be prepared for a strenuous put-in and take-out and significant "paddle-by" stretches- not unusual for these lengths to be a mile. Waders must be willing to bridge hop by car and to hike along levees as well as scramble up and down some pretty steep banks. Shore fishing would be limited to bridges only and they get lots of pressure from locals. When fish ARE found, there's room for just two or three anglers at each location and you pretty much fish for an hour or so before moving on. Since this river causes fish to be congregated and far between, we'll break up into 2-3 person teams for the day. Call me at 309-314-2294 if you would like to join us. We'll meet at 7:30AM at the Hardee's restaurant just off I-80 in Geneseo (Rt 82 exit). If you want to float but have no ride I'll see what I can do to hook you up. Please post here if you plan to attend. Ron

Dave, I too have a family wedding to attend in Michigan that weekend so I won't be able to join. I was up there earlier in the week and the water was quite high (for the apple). I was shocked to see how much that river has changed (the original stretch we're all familiar with) in the past year. I literally could not recognize entire100 yard sections that I previously had memorized. While i had my worst day ever in terms of numbers, I did bring 3 pretty good sized fish to hand and lost two more. They were really aggravating that day- just pecking but not picking up. No solid hits or takes- I simply got lucky timing a couple sets in order to land what I did. You should have a good day if the water levels cooperate- I look forward to your report and if you need to reschedule, do let me know- Ron

Gonna make it an early morning for me, but I'm gonna try to join Jim's group. I'm supposed to arrange a sign posting outing for the western region this summer and I'll benefit from participating with some experienced groups first. I'll need time and place of meeting for Jim's group and keep in mind that I'm not familiar with any of your rivers or streams. I'll need pretty explicit directions. 309-314-2294- Ron

On my calendar

That's a big help Rich. If you and Paul can take Sunday, we're completely covered. Paul, can you confirm your ability to help Sunday and coordinate with rich? Maybe you can hook up in Rochelle and save some gas.

Paul- that would be very much appreciated. We'll see what we can do to get you a partner so you can get a break or two.

The Western (or Quad Cities) Region of ISA chapter will be showing our organization to this region at the QC Outdoor Show from Thursday, Feb 17 - Sun, Feb 20. We have pretty good participation (at least 5 of about 8 members) that will be manning the booth Thursday through Saturday. We could use some help for Sunday morning, though, particularly from someone in the Chicago-land area that could return show items to Rich Mc soon after. If you are able to assist and don't mind a quick 2-1/2 hour road trip to Rock Island to pump some flesh, we sure could use 1 or 2 of you. I think the show is about 8AM -1PM that day. Contact either myself (Ron Price) or David Jones. 309-314-2294. Or just respond here with your contact info. Thanks to any and all! Ron

All seven attended and met for a quick breakfast before splitting into smaller groups of 2-3. One group headed downstream to some muddier but more natural waters to wade and I don't yet know how they fared. My group of 3 went for about a 5 mile float that offered around 4 places to stop and concentrate. We managed just 4 smallies for day, 1 dink and 3 ranging from 10-12". We caught them with a slider/Kut-tail fished on the bottoms near structure and also near some fresh incoming farm-ditch run-off- usually right in the spill turbulence. a number of other tactics were tried throughout the day with no success. I understand that Dave J and Ron M headed upstream to a couple hike in locations and I think Ron managed a catfish at the first site but they both hit the mother load at site number 2 catching around half a dozen each in the 12-18" range. Glad they could finish on a great note. Dave and I have decided that next years outing will be a wade trip and closer to Labor day (earlier in Sep). If we keep the number to 7 or 8 there enough good spots to walk in. It should also shorten the day substantially. Thanks to all the gentlemen for their willingness to work with me as this outing developed and especially to Dave for lending me the use of his canoe and SUV for the day. Great also to spend quality time with Don Z. I hope we can find a chance to get together again. Ron

Update-- same 7 guys but, due to a few peoples choice, we'll have less floats than I first expected. The 2 John's will be wading and it seems more likely that Ron M and i will also be on foot. I share this with all as an FYI. It also sounds like there may be some wading done down near Colona- a stretch I've never fished before. If anyone has any concerns about this, please call me at 309-314-2294. Dave, I'll need to be sure that Don Z stays with you as he is not familiar with this water at all.

Hopefully everyone sees this. We have 7 committed at this point. Myself, Dave Jones from Muscatine, John Graham from Minonk, John's dad Jon Sr from Erie, my son-in-law Alberto from Moline, Don Z from the Chicago area, and Ron Manthe from Eldridge. The 2 John's will be together, i'd like to put Alberto with Dave if Dave's OK with that. Don Z has a single Kayak. Ron Manthe is still working on getting a canoe but if that fails, he and I will go to a few walk-in spots while the rest of you float. At least 4 of us have pretty good knowledge of this river. We'll meet at a restaurant called Lisa's Place which is just east of Atkinson on Rt 6 (22385 US Highway 6) at 7:30AM. Also- if you're interested in breakfast, show up at 7 and join Berto and I. We'll develop a final plan at that time. My number is 309-314-2294. Could each of you text me your number so that I have it? Also, please confirm here with a reply if you've seen this and/or have questions. Still room for stragglers- especially if you have a canoe with space. Weather looks good so far and maybe the river will have cleared from this rain by then. Ron

I agree with Ron M regarding the value of changing that last 2 feet of line frequently due to cuts and scrapes from rocks and other debris. So I've taken to using a 6lb fluorocarbon leader (about 6-8 feet) at the end of 6 lb braided line. That braid is so tough I can't break it no matter what I do, but it doesn't tie as well to my lure and really annoys me when I need to break off a snag and can't. In such cases I often loose the entire leader but that's still a pretty simple fix and rarely have to tie on a new leader more than once per day-trip. At such times, I'm usually getting tired and it affords a good chance to stop and just think a bit about how I'm approaching the fish. I tie the leader to the braid with a modified surgeon's knot adding 3 more "pass through"s (for a total of 5). I use the Palomar knot for my jig or lure. Such a quick knot to tie, I find I can tie it faster than messing with those itty-bitty swivels anyway. I love the feel I get from the braid and the quick and certain hook set. Best of both worlds. Ron

I think a float is the better option- but I still want those who would rather wade know that it is a possibility. So, let's plan on a float (with optional short wade) trip. Here's why I say this- I went out 2 days ago to wade between 2 bridges working downstream (Dave, this was the final stretch of our recent float). Being on my own, I had to park at the bottom end and walk through a recently picked corn field about 3/4 mile or a bit more to the upper bridge-- there really is no "path" atop the levy at this point. A team of 2 vehicles could mitigate this. That took about 20 minutes and half my energy. During the wade back I had these experiences (and only scared up one 12" smallie)- 1) Depth would average about thigh deep in the middle but there were sections where I was glad I had chest waders instead of hip AND times when I regretted not wearing my belt as it got above waste deep on my 6 foot frame. 2) Unlike wading a smaller stream (i.e. the Apple) I just couldn't tell if I was positioning myself properly from point to point and ended up just walking down the center pitching both ways. 3) No matter what I did, I was stirring up mud that would tip off my presence to fish I was approaching. I could move at the pace of the current but then I wasn't really focusing properly. 4) The very final 50 yards, I felt like I hit quick sand and each step had me concerned the next would be my last. It was this way shore to shore so I just scrambled up the bank and walked the uncut woods out (very difficult this time of year). I don't think I'll do that again- certainly not that stretch- but it's the only stretch I know of that is short enough between bridges for me.

Ron, This is definitely the best place to be. I would certainly encourage you to join but it's not at all necessary in order to tag along on the 26th. The Newsletter alone is worth the nominal annual dues (I don't know how we keep it so low to be honest with you). i sent you a PM with more details. Hope to see you there and more of you from here on out! Note that Dave Jones (above) is from Muscatine and I know he;d love to meet you as well. Ron (SR?)

Dave Jones and I scouted some new waters on the Green today in preparation for the September 26th Outing. We were pleased to find one stretch in particular that offered some more traditional Smallmouth habitat. We launched Dave's canoe at about 7:45 AM and finished at around 2:45PM. Not much action but what we did scare up was very nice sized. We ended up landing 4 ranging in size from about 15" to 18"- all healthy and beautiful! This was the first of the four. I need to start getting an idea who plans to join us on the 26th. Depending on the numbers of fisherman and canoes/kayaks we have a few options. There was one stretch of app. 1 mile that could be waded and covered in a couple hours. Please let me know as soon as you are able if you plan to attend and can bring a canoe. The Green River is a frustrating mystery to most but it does offer some opportunity to land a fish with some size and fight. There's also adequate backcast room for you fly fisherman as long as you're either in the river on foot or canoe. I'll post a meeting time and place later but for now I'm looking for you to let me know if you plan on attending. Ron Price 309-314-2294

Thank you to Paul and Dave for organizing this day. I brought my new son-in-law, Alberto, along (who I am fast teaching the art of catch and release) and we went to a section down-river from the other 3 groups. Boy, am I glad we did. I had one of my best days ever with 32 in hand and Alberto managed 14 as well. The vast majority were 8-12 inches with two Creek Chubs, a 13" smallie, two 14"s, and a 15" thrown in for good measure. Those who have fished with me know what we employed. All were very feisty and the water was incredibly clear. We were whipped by 1:30PM. I don't think we covered even 1 mile of stream and virtually all were caught over 4 hours working downstream. It was steady all day combining for around 9 fish per hour- that's just plain fun. No rain- just oppressive heat. We also saw 2 goats navigating the cliffs above us and Alberto saw the remains of a Great Blue Heron. That section would make a fine kayak trip some day.

Wow! Mike's link to the law itself was very instructive. The problem I see is Section 2 part © © "Recreational or conservation purpose" means entry onto the land of another to conduct hunting or recreational shooting or a combination thereof or any activity solely related to the aforesaid hunting or recreational shooting. which defines Recreational or Conservation "purposes" as hunting and shooting as though it's the only form of recreation in IL. Clearly this redrafted law was drawn-up at the behest of a wealthy contributor to a political party/candidate OR possibly a powerful ITLA member who hunts a great deal and had been denied access to prime property because the owner feared the potential for a law-suit (I couldn't get that crap done-- could you?). The unintended consequence was that landowners are no longer protected from liability should any non-hunting related activities result in personal injury on a private property. So the IL Farm Bureau (a WA guess) starts advising its members to cease permitting friends and strangers alike to use their property to go fishing, ice skating, rafting, tree climbing, and even bird watching I suppose (you never know when someone might trip and fall while trying to get a better glimpse of the red-breasted whippoorwill). Mike implies that the ITLA may have expected to benefit from a series of land use law suits but I'm far more cynical. I think this is a law written so one powerful dude could hunt where he wanted to hunt cause he couldn't buy what he wanted to buy (the land itself). That's my theory- nothing else makes sense. What the former president of ITLA was apparently trying to say was that they'd have gladly inserted fishing and canoeing into the language if they had bothered to think of that as recreation at the time. It just never occurred to them. There were cracker commercials a while back that had the catch phrase "Get Your Own Box!" I think that's about it.

Being in the mailing business, I can shed some light on this. First, while the post office is capable of loosing mail it is extremely rare. The fact that ISA had been sending issues over 3 years (18 or so issues) and that you'd received none means we need to look at addressing issues and not blame the PO. Second, I notice we do not use what's called an Ancillary Endorsement on the bulletin such as "Address Service Requested". With such an endorsement, any undeliverable mail is either forwarded (if the party moved and filled out a change of address at their local PO) or is returned to sender. In either case, the piece is NOT thrown away. However, without such an endorsement, if the PO cannot deliver the piece (mailed at bulk rates) it is disposed of. Note to Scott, there are modest fees when this happens but it's money well spent to keep up with people when they move. Less than a year ago, the PO forced mailers to do what they call Move Update effectively matching your address list against the National Change of Address (NCOA) database and updating the senders's database PRIOR TO MAILING. The fact that you received an issue soon after moving leads me to the conclusion that ISA had a faulty and undeliverable address (or that you weren't on the list) for those many years. A simple entry error or hard to read hand writing when you signed up could have caused this quite easily- again- without the "Address Service Endorsement" ISA would never know the copies are being thrown away. My guess is that you are now on the list after renewing membership and that we found your NEW and correct address through this NCOA process. I recommend you PM Scott F and have him verify your address is in the list and is CORRECT including every element (street number, directional, street suffix, etc).- Ron P For a variety of reasons, 4% of the population thinks their address is something different than it actually is per the PO.

Have to agree Mike. "why have the regulation" if exemptions can and will be given to any who apply. Reminds me of the IL "No Fireworks" legislation which exists to save lives and prevent injuries. Therfore, dad and his two kids, none of whom drink, cannot enjoy a real sparkler or bottle rocket. But let my neighbor apply for a permit and he can have a kegger so that he and his drunken mates can set off 5 grocery carts full of every explosive you can concieve. Makes perfect sense.

Mike, I'm not very experienced with tournament fishing. Do they actually hold smallmouth bass tourneys in IL, or is it that some smallies are caught while focusing on LMB for the tournament? My first thought when I read your post was "Do they hold bass tourneys on the smaller rivers and streams where this regulation applies (DuPage, KKK, Vermillion, etc)"? I would think any tourneys not held in lakes and reservoirs would be held on those larger rivers which are exempt from the reg anyway. However, something must have sparked your ire so I'm just curious what is being held and where? Ron