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Andy C

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Posts posted by Andy C

  1. Milwaukee river

    in Open Discussion

    Posted

    10 hours ago, JOHN SCHENCK said:

    Very cool, thanks for the info. The window for Kings is closing then soon I assume? 

     

     

    Kings are dead by now.  There will be steelhead and browns in the river all winter though.  If you want kings, it seems early to mid September may be prime time.  I much prefer catching the big browns and steelhead to salmon.

  6. Kayak Name

    in Open Discussion

    Posted

    16 hours ago, Ed Buric said:

    I'm so glad that Old Red is still alive and doing well. My wife Bonnie, who is a fine girl, said not to sell her( Old Red that is ) and to be honest I am kind of sorry that I didn't listen to her.

     

     

    I am glad you didn't listen!  I'd take that as a life lesson, my wife reminds me all the time when she is "right".

  7. Kayak Name

    in Open Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Ed Buric said:

    I don't have a kayak but I do have canoes. I sold Old Red when I bought Gnu Red. The cedar strip canoe that I built is named Bonnie after my wife who is also a fine girl.

     

     

    Old red is still alive and well.  I've put enough river miles on it that it was in need of skid plates.  I put these on about a month ago.  Please ignore the clutter in my garage, it's a work in progress and haven't even finished unpacking since the move.

    Before photo.  I cleaned up the areas that had worn through the outer layer of royalex and filled with two part epoxy

    HcABluS.jpg

     

    Wd9w4Y7.jpg

     

     

  8. Lower Vermilion River Contamination

    in Conservation & Volunteer Opportunities

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Bart Durham said:

    Thanks Rob.  What a beautiful Illinois stream.  Dynegy must be held accountable and do the right thing to make the repairs and cleanup necessary to save this beautiful  stream for future generations to come.

    Last weekend I traveled through Galatia, Illinois near the former Kerr Magee Coal mine in southern Illinois and was astonished to see the huge gob pile outside the mine that stretched for miles and miles.  Who will pay for the cleanup of this awful gob pile which must have a toxic drainage effect on local land and streams?

     

     

    Look at the tailings pond at the top portion of the screen.  It dwarfs the city of Galatia.

     

    image.thumb.png.a3b4d1054e25e205b1189c417c23f7a3.png

    image.thumb.png.47025b4d93806193ec1dfbb65bed9839.png

     

  10. Shawnee National Forest in February

    in Open Discussion

    Posted

    16 minutes ago, Rob G said:

    thanks siusaluki for sharing those photos.  I haven't fished Lusk and Big Creek for so many years and those photos just have me yearning to haul my 4 wt. down there when I go cycling in that area come spring.  One thing I remember is not a lot of access points and long walks in between where I could get out because of the terrain, and never mind the banjo playing in the background, Ha 

    Did you spend much time down around the mouths where they enter the Ohio?  I remember the water getting pretty stained by that point and getting more difficult to wade

     

     

     I have.  The lower end of the streams are affected by the pool level of the smithland pool of the Ohio river.  The lower end of the streams become embayments with frequent oxbows and sluggish flow.  Some great crappie fishing in those oxbows and flooded trees and a great run of temperate bass in the spring.  Big grand pierre was always a fun trip.  Put in at HWY 146 and paddle down towards the Ohio for oxbow crappie and bass.

     

     

    There are some smallmouth starting to take hold in the Ohio proper in the smithland pool and upstream, but few and far between.  Some big stripers and great sauger fishing though!

  11. Shawnee National Forest in February

    in Open Discussion

    Posted

    35 minutes ago, mannym said:

    I was looking on google earth and saw that Bay Creeks turns into a small lake. It looks man made.  Expect the same there in terms of species? LB, SpotB, crappie? I also saw that many many people swim there in the summer. I assume it has deep holes. 

    Bay creek is small and has only LMB and sunfish above Millstone lake. Some beautiful areas in bell smith springs with deep clear pools. Long stretches will have water flow only under the gravel.  The lower reach below the lake has some spotted bass, but quickly turns into tupelo and cypress swamp as it nears the ohio. Not worth the effort IMO.

     

    Let me know your plans before you head down there and I will point you in the right direction. 

  16. Shawnee National Forest in February

    in Open Discussion

    Posted

    I spent 9 years working for the fisheries department at SIUC after I finished my master's degree in aquaculture there (as well as my undergraduate degree in zoology), so I have fished nearly all of the streams down there and have spent a lot of time on the shawnee streams so I can elaborate.

    Personally, I would not say that the habitat is similar in all of the Shawnee streams. 

    The first thing you should know about these streams is the geological region they lie in has very little limestone, it is mostly sandstone and clay.  Sandstone does not hold ground water well, so the base flows of the streams can vary widely over the course of a year.  I regularly saw the flow rate on lusk creek and other streams fall below 0.5 CFS throughout the summer.  This leads to high water temperatures from the headwaters to the mouth at the Ohio.  Many of these streams are characterized by short steep riffles or ledges and long deep pools.  Nearly all streams in the area are like this, and although there are some very small springs in some areas, the volume from them is not sufficient to keep water temperatures down from June-September.  Smallmouth do not compete well with spotted bass and largemouth in streams with high water temperatures, especially in areas with habitat that is less than ideal for smallmouth.  Some great LMB and spotted bass fishing if you can find the right areas.  I have caught LMB over 22" in Lusk and other area streams, and spotted bass to 17".

     

    Big creek is the exception because it has several springs that keep base water flows throughout the year, and the geologic region that it drain's (Hick's Dome and Karber's ridge) has lots of limestone under the ground.  Limestone dissolves, forming karst areas and this forms springs due to hydraulic pressure.  Water temperatures in the creek stay below 85 degrees due to spring inflow and abundant shade and the fact the overall water volume is low and the majority comes from springs. The stream itself does not form long pools, rather short pool areas with good riffles and runs which keep the water shaded.  Smallmouth, spotted bass, and largemouth are found there, but the lower water temperatures and favor the smallmouth.

    The limestone also dissolves calcium in to the water which is something that smallmouth bass love.  If you look at the latin name of smallmouth bass, it describes this very well.  Micropterous Dolomieu (think dolomite, which is a calcium magnesium carbonate).  Smallmouth bass and limestone go hand in hand.  In the southern midwest, without limestone in the watershed there may not be any smallmouth.  

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