Mike Clifford

My point was simply to say that national politics has very little to do with the preservation of Illinois smallmouth. We managed to get meaningful things done by focusing on local issues directly related to smallmouth and their habitat here. A very liberal administration bestowed on me the Environmental Hero Award because of our efforts as a team and our professionalism. We helped to kill a factory farm and a statewide ban on lead in fishing tackle. At no point did we ever get involved in national politics. That would have killed any chance of meaningful dialogue with local decision makers.

I represented the ISA in conservation matters by working with people on both sides of the political spectrum for many years. Mostly environmental advocates. At no time did I ever promote or celebrate a political candidate in the process. Because issues that affect our local environments aren't as simple as that. Illinois smallmouth thrive because of the efforts by smallmouth fishermen that reach beyond boundaries to work towards a solution. Deliberately dropping a hammer on either side ensures a difficult fight for our main purpose. Professionalism and respect is what has worked for us in the past to reach those goals. Anything stating otherwise compromised equitable resolutions.

We're promoting political candidates in this group now? I'm out.

The EPA and Illinois AG nailed the Jo Daviess factory farm during construction. They couldn't even follow what little rules this state has before getting a single pit dug. The group was forced to pull out. There is hope yet in this case.

As I recall, one year we got screwed on the thickness of the signs and they were all way too thin. This one was not too thin. Scott fixed that problem.

Several years ago, Tim Smith and I went to the Deselm parking area, and found our 4×6 timber with signs on it ripped out of the ground and thrown in the forest nearby. I dug that hole 3 feet deep. Amazing the lengths somebody went to for that one.

There is a state sign at the mouth of Rock Creek with fishing regs and limits. I saw no yellow signs left on the wooden sign posts. At least not where I was.

I hadn't been to the state park in a very long time, which is surprising considering it's 10 minutes from my house. I just wanted everybody to enjoy a moment of silence for the signs that Dale Bowman and I installed back in 2004 at the head of Rock Creek trail. Maybe 16 years is long enough. It served the smallies well for a long time. This is why we can't have nice shit anymore. I would have replaced them, but to be honest I have one conservation white sign left and I'm keeping it for nostalgic purposes. Out of the 30 to 40 signs we put up there over the years, I'd be surprised if any of them still exist. I haven't seen one. Considering they don't have dumpsters in the state park anymore, this one ended up in a garbage can. For all to see what they've done to this beautiful State Park.

Nic Anderson of the ILDG is still sticking his nose in everything? The IDOA will invariably rubber stamp the project, but that is far from meaning it will actually happen.

Kankakee River State Park you can't even find a parking spot today. Groups of 20 to 30 people grouped up in the grass. Nice. Say goodbye to that soon.

The latest is somewhat stunning news. State parks and all IDNR managed properties are closed, along with your bars and restaurants. A brand new world.

Wouldn't it be interesting to corral various people in the legislative and enforcement sectors for a town hall meeting type of thing to nail down some specifics. Give a power point with specific areas across the state and put the ball in their court. Laws regarding every other crime on the books is specific. We have a right to know that if we do "this", the consequence is "that".

There is a piece of water just downstream of the Iroquois on the Kankakee that has "no trespassing" signs posted in the water. As if the entire little bayou there is off limits. You can float right into it from the river. Never understood what that is all about.

As for trespassing, yes the law is that there needs to be a sign stating such, which can be at the main entrance or basically anywhere. Or.....if you are told to leave and do not.

I was handing out permission cards to people at various ISA events some years ago. Had landowner info and everything. Not sure if they were IDNR issued though. I will look and see if I still have any laying around.

I also remember something about being able to recreate up to the high water mark on navigable waters. Also, isn't the vicinity around bridge pilings considered to be owned by a state agency on any stream? Such as IDOT?

Much of the confusion is due to land owners not being aware of the latest laws as they apply to people on their property. Secifically, the liability factor. Several years ago, the Recreational Use of Land and Water Areas Act in Illinois was worded in such a way that only included liability protections for a land owner for hunters and recreational shooting. All the wording related to fishing, hiking, conservation and any other activity was removed from the Act. We can thank trial attorney groups for that. When I attended Conservation Congress in Springfield, getting the other activities re-worded into the Act was at the top of my list of objectives. I can't say for sure what may have happened to get those protections put back into the wording, but as of today they are once again included. One gentleman I met there all but assured me that he could turn it around if it was that important to us, and we had a meeting scheduled. Unfortunately, he passed away before we could have a serious conversation. I can't say for certain that navigability laws hinge upon this particular Act (probably not), but if a land owner still believes that an angler is going to drown on their property, a hiker breaks a leg or a bird watcher falls from a tree while trying to get a closer look.....and they believe they will get sued......then there is little hope we are getting permission, and a great likelihood that they won't change their minds on that. Regardless of the fact that the protections are back in place. Hope that makes sense.

The only club in the state devoted to smallmouth bass fishing. A new state record is caught and only 2 of us are discussing it on the club forum. I can't even begin to understand the reasoning for this, but maybe the idea of message boards has run it's course. This should be fun to talk about, right? Crickets.....yikes. FB, Instagram, Twitter and even Tik Tok are blowing up over this. Something is definitely wrong with this picture.

I do remember reading that the large females were tracked to deep, cool water in the summer while their male (smaller) counterparts were staying more shallow in order to forage. The reason being that they expended a lot more energy protecting nests during the spawn and so forth. The answer to "why travel so far?" was....because they can. The whole "small fishbowl vs. large fishbowl" theory. But the studies also found that they always come back home, even in such a large footprint.

I don't see them catching hawgs either, because I'm not there, but I do see the photos. THE Ralph Steigers and many others are posting some absolute Megatrons day in and day out. What we DON'T really know is where they go in the hottest days of summer. Even the tracking program by Savitch many years ago didn't do much to solve the riddle. Of course, now we have reefs and underwater cameras and YouTube.....

It was fascinating to see developments during our Classic here, as the anglers could technically go as far as the Kankakee on the river system. On practice day, we witnessed the pros pulling their boats out of the Cal Sag in Alsip. Biggest fish of the tournament was just over 4 lbs, but it isn't as striking as a Classic in Pittsburgh a few years later where Big Bass weighed just over 2 lbs. Woo Daves' haul of 5 smallies at 13 lbs. on Day 2 was the biggest bag of the Chicago Classic. Kind of surprised me that they never really traveled to find some heavier green fish.

March 2004 it was changed. The final weigh-ins at the Classic were fun to see, but we enjoyed the Trisha Yearwood concert in Soldier Field as well!

It is or has already been released back into the lake as well. This record was only possible because they changed the regulation for Smallmouth in Lake Michigan from Catch and Release only to one trophy Bass. Guys in tournies caught records for decades previously.

7.2 lbs. Lake Michigan