Gary L

It's to bad someone wasn't in line to take up the cause and keep the Lets talk fishing going!

Well I finally got back home after a week in Illinois. It was sure great to see all of you come out and have Breakfast with me and do a little fishing. Even if we didn't do well it was still fun and I enjoyed every minute of it. I hope we get to do it agian the next time I come in town. Thanks for coming out and making my day.

Looks good to me Michael but then again I never tied my one lure. I don't think it is ugly though and it may justy be the ticket for a Spring Time Smallie.

READ THIS VERY SLOWLY... IT'S PRETTY PROFOUND. Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you? How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television? I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college. Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit." When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller-blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to.....not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you. Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you? " Do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"? When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift.... Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over. It's National Friendship and FAMILY WEEK Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. To those I have sent this to... I cherish our friendship and appreciate all you do. "Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here, we might as well dance

Those are great Tim. I have seen Mink up on Mill Creek and they are something to watch. The Snakes I am not to fond of but taolerate them. Now down here I stay in the boat most of the time as the Copperheads and Cotton Mouths are around. Glade you posted those pic's for us all to see.

Isle Royal is a beautiful Island in Lake Superior just off the cost of MN. but actually part of Mich. I backpacked this island back I believe in 2001 and had a great time. It only has two animals on the Island and they are Moose and Wolves. The Moose population took a nose dive the winter before I came do to a severe winter in which as many as 600 fell off cliffs trying to reach food. This also affects the wolf population which will drop do to less prey. This has been going on for ages and will continue for some time to come. If you ever feel like getting out into a wilderness setting and enjoying nature without the worry of Bears Isle Royal is the place to do it.

I have been buying the Bass Pro Shop Pro Qualifier Spinning Reels at $79.95. The lastest one I bought has eight Ball Bearings and the large diameter spool plus and extra spool. It is so smooth that with the antireverse off and about a 1/2oz. drop-shot weight in will draw line down. The older model that I bought last year is just as smooth and works like a charm. I am more then happy with the performance of these reels.

I sure am glad that the Blowout went well. I wish I could have been there but have to many trips in the bag for this year now. The Blowouts I attended in the past have been a real blast and I can imagine that this one was better then all past Blowouts. Congratulations to the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance for another successful year and a great fund raiser.

I am coming to town on March 23 and would like to hook up with as many of my friends as possible that want to have a nice Breakfast and then fish the DuPage River on March 24, 2007, Saturday Morning. I don't know what the weather will be like but we can play it by ear and see what happens. If nothing else we can have Breakfast and a good BS'n session and tell each other as many lies as we can remember. I think if we met at Baba's Restaurant at about 6:00am or so for Breakfast and then head to the river for some fishing it would be real nice. I hope some if not all of you can make it. I am looking forward to renewing old friendships and making new ones so even if you don't know me come on out anyway and enjoy the Socialization side of the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance. Just as an introduction I was the Chicagoland Regional Coordinator for a few years before I retired and moved to Missouri. Come on out to Baba's and have a good Breakfast, good Conversation, and hopefully we can get into some great fishing on the DuPage River. Baba's at Route 52 and 59 in Shorewood, Il. 6:00am March 24th Saturday for Breakfast!

Is it my imagination or does that Crawfish have a frightened look on his little face.

I have broken off 10lb. Power Pro only because I couldn't get to the snag. It is hard but can be done. I didn't see where anyone mentioned that with a Spinning Reel if you close the bail buy hand instead of with the handle to can eliminate a lot of line twist if not all of it. I have been using the BPS Pro Qualifier Reels and the BPS Bionic Rods with great success and so far like them both. I have switched to a Florocarbon line down here because of the super clear water. When I waded the waters of Illinois I used Power Pro all the time and like it very much for its strength and sensitivity.

Jim I think I would go with a Light Action 6'6" Spinning rod with a good quality Spiining Reel. The line can be a challenge as the Rivers vary on clarity. I think a good Trilene Clear or the new BPS XPS Florocarbon in 6lb would be good. I also used Power Pro 15/6 with good success. Down here in Missouri Table Rock is so clear I am changing over to the Florocarbon Lines in 6 and 10 pound. I will use the 6 early in the year like now til after spawn and the 10 from after spawn til winter. I always used the 6'6" BPS Bionic Spinning Rod and loved it. The Pro Qualifier is very good also.

The Bears love being the Underdog it gives them inspiration. Come the end of the game it will be a Bears Victory and they will be making BBQ Colt for the Victory Party. The Urangatang (sp) which has predicted the the last four games correctly has choosen the Bears.

It is a great place to go to view our Bald Eagles. When I was in Illinois I made the trip out to Keukuk, Ia. for the Bald Eagle Days they had in the middle of January every year. It was a weekend celebration and they would open the Dam area so you could walk out and watch the Eagles fish below the power plant discharge. The first time I went it was extemely cold and that had the Eagles gathered in huge numbers at this open water site. I have pictures where they are gathered like crows in the trees accross the River in Illinois and many close up shots of them in the trees along the Iowa side. I would then drive up along the Great River Road to Savanna, Il. to view some more before heading home on Interstate 80. It is a great trip especially when we have very cold weather as that gathers them closer to the open waters below the dam.

I am going to try a few Suspending Lures this Winter for Bass on Table Rock. They have been using a Clown Color Rogue. I saw a Picture where a guy got a monster of about 9lbs. on I believe it was Tuesday or Wednesday.

Having a bit of a warm spell Tim?

Welcome to the ISA John! You are where a lot of us were not to many years ago. I moved from Illinois and Wading for Smallies to Missouri and going after them in a Bass Boat. I am starting all over again learning when, where, how and with what. The Breakfast Clubs that Don R is having are a great way to meet fellow anglers and to pick there brains for ideas and methods. You can get with Don who fishes year round and follow him around a little. It is all fun and the Rivers in Illinois are loaded with Smallmouths.

Here is some more research on the Topeka Shiner. Nov. 24, 2003 Contact: Scott Campbell, Kansas Biological Survey, (785) 864-1502. KU research helps in effort to restore endangered Topeka shiner minnow By Cathy Sherman LAWRENCE -- Research discoveries by University of Kansas biologists are helping state and federal wildlife officials bring the endangered Topeka shiner minnow back from the brink of extinction. One key was confirmation by Scott Campbell, research associate with the Kansas Biological Survey at KU, and his colleagues that the presence of sunfish in the right environments increased the minnow's natural rate of reproduction. As a result, KU biologists have been able to propagate thousands of shiners for use in research from an initial stock of 300 taken from one Kansas creek and have provided them for counterparts at Kansas State University and in the Missouri Department of Conservation for their own studies of this "little-understood" fish, Campbell said. The 3-inch Topeka shiner, a member of the minnow family Cyprinidae, lives about three years and is found in the calmer runs and pools in the headwaters of certain small streams in Kansas, where it's most common, as well as in limited places in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota. "In summer months males display bright red fins and iridescent bluish bodies, making them one of the more strikingly beautiful fishes in our state," Campbell said. Developing techniques to propagate Topeka shiners is important to their recovery, considering that the Topeka shiner's range has declined by nearly 90 percent in the past few decades and it was added to the federal endangered species list in 1998, Campbell said. It now occurs in only a small fraction of places where it once was common and even has vanished from the Topeka creek where the first Topeka shiners to be described by biologists were identified in 1884. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks funded the KBS study. The Kingsbury Family Foundation through the KU Endowment Association provided additional funding to support graduate research assistantships. In the study, Campbell; Jerry deNoyelles, associate director of KBS and KU professor of ecology and evolutionary biology; and KU graduate students Cody Szuwalski and Bridgett Chapin provided a variety of habitats in a dozen experimental ponds and several large tanks at the KU Field Station and Ecological Reserves north of Lawrence to determine the shiner's ideal spawning conditions. They discovered the tiny fish likes a bed of clean gravel and calm water and it reproduces much better when orange-spotted or green sunfish are present. "This may at first appear counterintuitive, since the sunfish are predators known to prey on minnows such as the Topeka shiner," Campbell said. "However, and apparently in spite of this risk, Topeka shiners have been observed to dart in and lay their eggs on the nests of spawning sunfish." Since sunfish fiercely guard their nests and fan them attentively with their fins to keep them silt-free and well oxygenated, perhaps the sunfish unwittingly protect not only their own eggs but also those of the interloping shiners, he said. "The results of the current research confirm we are grasping the fact that in some way the sunfish confer a kind of reproductive advantage to the Topeka shiner," Campbell said. "That the shiners apparently depend on other fish species for reproduction demonstrates the importance of diversity in a fish community and provides additional evidence that nature is wondrously full of such complex relationships that humans are only beginning to appreciate. "When a natural fish community becomes altered or diminished in some way and possibly loses the diversity of species that supports it, the effects can be quick and unpredictable." What is happening to the Topeka shiner is an indicator of the broad-scale environmental changes that are greatly affecting aquatic communities throughout much of the Great Plains, Campbell said. Genetic diversity diminishes as species go extinct or as existing populations become increasingly isolated. Several factors seem to have contributed to the shiner's decline, including loss of habitat, diminished water quality and the wide introduction of predaceous fish, such as largemouth bass, Campbell said. There's strong evidence that largemouth bass were responsible for decimating the fish community in Wallace County's Willow Creek, a harsh environment for any aquatic species in extreme western Kansas, Campbell said. Protecting the Willow Creek population is of particular interest to scientists because it exists in isolation, nearly 250 miles from other known populations, and its members are genetically different from other Topeka shiners. Topeka shiners had lived in the pools of Willow Creek for perhaps thousands of years as part of an "ecologically perfect" fish community, according to Vernon Tabor, endangered species coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Tabor also serves on the National Topeka Shiner Recovery Team and is an active collaborator in KU's current research effort. At least six species of minnows, two species of sunfish, a darter, black bullhead catfish and plains killifish had thrived in Willow Creek, according to regular sampling that has occurred there for more than 60 years. But after a single winter, the Topeka shiners and several other species of minnows were nearly gone. Coincidentally, largemouth bass had been introduced to the creek the previous year, Tabor said. Tabor, Campbell and others believe that introduced bass, as well as other environmental factors, may be largely responsible for the decline of wild populations of the Topeka shiner, Campbell said. Predation will be among the many new questions addressed by continuing research at KU using the stock of fish being produced at KU's field station. "Across its entire range the Topeka shiner still faces a long 'upstream' battle for survival and will require the help of humans who must significantly improve habitat conditions and the water quality of our streams for all who share it," Campbell said. "However, thanks to the efforts of concerned citizens and scientific research at KU and elsewhere, the shiner's future may be getting a little brighter. "People may wonder why I think saving the Topeka shiner is worth the effort," Campbell said, adding that it's more than scientific interest. "When I consider the fact that this little fish has managed to survive for countless generations, perhaps thousands of years, here on the prairie, I respect and marvel at that and take great comfort in knowing many other Kansans share that feeling as well."

So in a nutshell what they found it 2000 was that the Extant strteams had an existing Topeka Shiner Population and they attribute that to a lack of Largemouth Bass. The Extirpated Streams had the Topeka Shiner Population destroyed and they attrubute that to the existance of the Largemouth Bass in various pools thru the watershed. It is a small article and can be confusing and may be that the water quality was better in the extant streams then the extirpated streams. This study was done in 2000 which was six years ago. I ask what is going on with the Topeka Shiner now. Has it migrated into the extirpated streams and repopulated them or has it remained on the declining list. I am sure other factors such as spawning sites for the shiners was part to blame. Where these manmade pools or where they natural. If manmade could they have been removed thereby providing a better future for the Topeka Shiner.

Good Job Mike and the ISA. That is what makes the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance Stand out way above the rest.

I just bought two new books for my reading enjoyment. They were writen by a local Author and should be interesting reading. "Buried by Table Rock Lake", by Tom Koob "The History of Fishing Table Rock Lake", by Tom Koob

Mike and all the members of the ISA I extend a Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year.

I have to put my favorites in here also. When I was up that way it was these most of the time. 3" BPS Stick-O in Watermellon on a 1/16oz. Charlie Brewer Crappie Slider 2" Black Producto Twister Tail on a 1/16oz. Weedless Jighead 3" Tube on a 1/8oz. Tube Jighead I carried a ton of other stuff but usually ended up with one of those three on cause they caught fish for me.

Thanks Jonn! I know the speaker had a solution that he sprayed on the Gortex waders that would show the hole. I don't have any leaks but some others do.

We had a speaker at the Meeting one year that talked about waders and in particular Gortex waders and how to find the leaks in them. He would spray a solution on the inside that would sow where the leak was. What was that solution. I promise to write it down and keep it this time.