Steve S.

Fish can congregate at dams during parts of the season, but so do many fishermen. I stay away from them for the most part. If I do fish them, I stay well away from the dam. The undertows are dangerous and currents can be swift with deeper holes. Also, you never know what might have come over the dam and is resting below the water that may trip or trap you. Better and safer fishing is almost always found elsewhere.

Yes, I saw it. How situations like this happen in the first place.....welll, its very tragic so I don't want to preach. The K3 flows fast. Its not just the dams that are dangerous. Even those of us who have "experience" wading these rivers can never be too careful. Its always good to have a buddy with you.

Hey Mike Thanks for the info. Those hooks look like they'll work well for other plastics as well.

LOL! Very funny! This particular mink cruised the river for the most part, diving periodically to scavange/hunt. Perhaps this one was searching out crayfish. I will be careful from now on when fishing the YUM Crawbug! They must be pretty scrappy to take on muskrats, considering their size. I saw another one about 1/2 mile downstream from the first sighting. I thought it might be the same one, but now I'm thinking it was a separate animal. In WI, I have watched the otter travel well downstream before disappearing around the bend or just out of my sight. I'm wondering if they are more nomadic than the mink. Thanks for the info.

Tim The section I spotted the mink at was "footsteps" away from the main street in town, with residential homes on the opposite bank. I would guess there is a 100 yard buffer between the road and the bank (in some instances less). I kept watching to see what it might be hunting for (another Clamburglar in the works?). I don't know if the minks are swift enough to run down fish or not, but it sure looked pretty agile in the water.

Fishing downstream was part of a topic presented at the 2005 Blowout by Bob Long, Jr. I found it to be very informative and I have changed my approach to mostly downstream. I don't flyfish, so I cannot offer any tips. However, from a spinning aspect, I use the current to hold baits in place and swing them to and from various targets. Topwaters work great, as do crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Depending on the current, plastics may need more or less weight to be effective. The biggest downside I have experienced is the tough wade upstream back to the car (right Don?)! Perhaps if Bob is lurking, he can chime in, since he is an experienced flyfisherman as well.

Otter was the first thing that popped into my head, but the animal was small (not that there aren't small otters). I have seen minks before in WI, and they were usually in & out of the water a lot, though more out I would say. Also, they were a little on the mean side! The mammal I saw Sunday just swam up and downstream most of the time. But, looking at the cropped close-ups, the head shape is that of a mink and the overall body size is that of a mink. So, its a mink......... I think. Either way, its good to see the diversity of wildlife along a beautiful stream. I also saw many green frogs, a couple spiny softshell turtles, great blue heron, a variety of songbirds (lots of cardinals again), one garter snake, plenty of deer tracks, and I caught smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, a pumpkinseed, a green sunfish, and saw many carp and suckers.

I didn't notice it either until I started fishing them again. I'm moving up to the 4" next to see if that weeds out the "dinks".

I know what you mean. I had one pop up right at my feet when I was below the dam. I really didn't know what to expect next, but it seems he was just curious. They are really larger in person than I imagined. Pretty neat mammals.

Don I have been rigging the crawbug like a tube jig, since the body is hollow (just pushing a tube jig head thru the hollow body and pushing the eye through the body). This way, I avoid starting with a hole in the tail, though I often end that way after it gets beat up from the smallies.

"Why I Otter Though otters have prospered since their reintroduction in 1994, they remain rare and secretive. The speedy, sausage-shaped Mustelid that people often mistake for an otter is more likely a mink, hunting for muskrat." I have seen otter in WI and they are large. Even though he swam all up and down the river, I'm pretty sure I saw a mink. I wish I had my zoom lens on, so sorry for the quality. here's the little bugger:

"Although otter populations statewide have grown, Chicago Wilderness otters are still rare. “From 1994 to 2004, we had 12 reliable sightings of river otters in the Des Plaines River and Lake Michigan Tributaries Population Management Unit, 18 in the Fox River System PMU, and five in the Kankakee-Iroquois River System PMU,” says Bob Bluett, a biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources."

Hey DuPage River folks: Has anyone seen an otter on the DuPage before? I believe I saw one today. I'm checking on the geographical range now.

Hit that topwater bite early. It can be hit or miss sometimes, but when its on you can't beat it. Also saw a very nice pike (yes pike, not musky) downstream by the downed tree. In a foot of water, two feet from shore, probably 38"-40"? Very nice. P.S. don't forget the YUM crawbugs!

I used to catch them as well (and more than 10 years ago!), along with some of the biggest Rock Bass I've ever caught in the State. We did get a handful of smallies every year that were 16" to 18", but most were as you stated.

Just wanted to submit a post from a recent trip up to northern WI. Day 1: Sunny, temps mid to upper 80's by afternoon. Water levels LOW. My daughter stayed up late the night before, so we did not arrive at our destination until mid-morning. Waded out to my favorite topwater area in hopes that a few stragglers were still around. Second cast nailed this beauty in about a foot of water, after 3 mad rushes: I thought the soft dorsal was a little longer than typical. It really flapped in the water: This bass, and my next five (12" to 16"), were taken on a Rapala Skitterprop. My daughter was throwing a Skitterpop, and caught three herself between 12"-14". She also nailed a really nice bass (+18"?), but after a few strong runs and some poor first base coaching , she lost it. It really looked like it would be a fantastic morning, but as the sun crept up higher, the topwater bite abruptly stopped. I switched my daughter over to what became her new favorite lure, the YUM Crawbug, green pumpkinseed. She proceeded to outfish me for the morning, 8 to 6: It was a short but exciting morning. Day 2: Sunny, HOT. We arrived about a half an hour earlier than the previous day, only to find 8 others scattered throughout our target area. It was disappointing to say the least. I've been fishing this area for quite a few years (14+?), and this was the first time I had seen so many anglers in the same area at one time. Is it possible our good fortune the day before was witnessed??? It was too bad they were standing in the "prime" areas instead of fishing them. I saw a few cigar walleyes being caught, but that's all. We booted up and headed downstream to a few pools. My daughter's second cast rewarded her with this gem, courtesy of the YUM crawbug: Fishing was tough and very HOT (temperature wise). We both knew it would be a short morning, and it was. Totals, Stephanie 2, Dad 1 small pike.

True dat! Especially when the water clears up. I throw a bigger buzz than 1/8 oz, though I used to have good results on some small ones I bought at Gander a while back. The bigger ones cast further, make more noise and seem to run true (the small ones tend to twist - unless thats because their "cheap"). When I fish the northern WI River (which I leave for tomorrow, ) I cast as far as I can to target some shallows up above and towards the shore from a good set of riffles at the back end of a major eddy (wow, thats a run-on sentence). If I wade in for a closer cast, the bass spook and that's that. Good line, freshly spooled helps a lot. They are usually gone from this particular area by 8am. My daughter will be with me, and I hope to post some pics come Sunday.

I've been throwing a white buzz with silver blades, and I like to throw them anytime! I was catching bass early this season on them (Apr/May?). Anyway, topwaters and buzzbaits are usually associated with warmer waters and summer patterns, but they work pretty much year round IMO. I've found they can work really well if you can sight fish bass holding over flats and/or the backside or frontside of eddys rather than just casting them blindly, but that works as well. Plastics are probably the best, most consistent all-around producer, but I get great results with the wirebaits and topwaters, and you can't beat the thrill of it!

NICE!

Scott How close were you to those bears when you snapped the photos?

What night do you open at the Funnybone??? !

Don So, you're pushing the head thru the body? Do you have trouble with the body becoming dislodged?

Just what I needed to hear!

How did the river look this morning?

Eric I love the picture you added to your first post. It is the one I showed my Dad awhile back when I tried to convince him to make the time to fish. It didn't work. Still, a great pic that no doubt depicts the quality of the bass in this river (and the effectiveness of the spinnerbait ).