bob g

First good luck with parking the truck and boat somewhere overnight. With a 17 best bet for any weather conditions would be Chicago River. There is a ramp at 34th and Western ave. from there you can head to the main branch in the heart of the city or the north branch. The river is very dirty (tampons, condoms and feces) and the cleanest section is probably the main branch. Smallies and Largemouth are possible. If the weather is nice you can go out the locks and into the lake depending on whether there is any restriction because of water levels. Around Navy Pier and all break walls have the potential for fish. Towards the end of March its possible for fish to be around and April I've seen lots of fish start coming into harbors for the spawn. If you go into the River try all corners and points. The North Branch probably has the better Largemouth fishing. By the way if you just want the lake there are also launches at Burnham Harbor and 31st st. Harbor the fee is $25 per day but call the city for all details especially time restrictions.

No, but sounds like a great idea. A 4-5 inch bunny strip might be awesome. Thanks for the post.

I attended the Schaumburg show and It was just O.K.. If I hadn't attended I don't really feel like I would have missed much. Pete's Pickle booth was fantastic. I'm not a big fan of pickled products but they had some unique and tasty stuff.

I guess I'll chime in and go with SOT. My very first kayak a long time ago was a cheap little sit in. It got the job done which was just to get me floating and accessing previously unaccessible water. After awhile I wanted to bring a few more things with me such as a small cooler, some food, a rain jacket, extra rods and other asst. equipment as well as finding space for the wallet keys etc.. I finally bit the bullet and bought the SOT. Best move I ever made. More room to move around in, easier to get to stuff instead of having it tucked inside the boat. Anchoring seems easier with the SOT and in shallower water a pole can be stuck through a scupper hole to hold you in place. The SOT may be a little more wet but not much at least not enough to be a consideration from my perspective. The ease of entering and exiting also goes to the SOT. I see Eric likes to hit and run fish and thinks something smaller or lighter would be more effective but I find that once I get to the water I'm usually in for an extended period of time. He has the equipment thing nailed. Add up all the costs of equipment and the kayak it will not be cheap no matter how you cut it. Used is a great idea. If you want to look for cheap and floats Craigslist is a good starting spot for used that will get you on the water for the least amount of money. Test drive is a great idea but the problem is it gives you just a short period of time and you may find that it might take you a whole season to find out how you like to have your kayak set up. Look at the kayak fishing websites for great info to try and save time and money on setup mistakes. I went through about 4-5 kayaks before I settled into a WS Ride 135. For me it offers a nice stable platform for fishing. Good Luck.

Unbelievable that you wouldn't want to go with the tradition of willing your cold, numb, non -functioning fingers into tying a knot.

That looks like somebody had a little to much free time in the boat or some sun stroke. How does that start in your head. Hmmm, we haven't caught anything for awhile. It sure would be nice if we had a guide I'll bet we'd be on fish for sure. Oh man another carp. Hey lets make him our guide. He's swimming around down there and probably knows where the bass are.

I don't think people in jail were doing a whole lot of fishing. If they were they may have avoided jail.

If you think it was expensive buying flies just wait and see what happens if you really get into fly tying. Drug addiction is a good analogy. You may have to start stealing and cheating to afford it. What if I try this or maybe if I get a little of that. Remember those words.

Dear Manny my condolences. It is a painful day when one our fishing brethren is lost to marital bliss. Oh yeah to say nothing of upcoming offspring . In which case please provide me with an early list of fishing items you will no longer be needing.

What is this? Nirvana. Should I be hitting this? Like its the last time you'll be fishing. Look for defined channels between patches even if a foot wide and follow those channels to there end. I had the best luck, on another river, fishing the shadier side of the piles. I was throwing a 3" black blue senko weedless wacky with a few little twitches now and then. Casting upstream and allowing to dead drift as close to edges as possible.

Red Headed Stepchild.

Just a heads up Gander has lefty Shimano Curado G6 and G7 for 106.00 regular 159.00 and Loomis spinning rods SJR782 IMX for 155.00 regular 260.00. Free ship for reels and 5.00 for rods.

Sounds just like my last trip except I lost at least FOUR that were probably over 6 1/2 pds.

Purple and white clouser. Light brown to brown w/ a little gold flash and dark orange or rust can't hurt either.

I haven't done much trout fishing for awhile but I do remember a diamondback rod get passed around at the flyshop that seemed really nice. That was a few years ago and I don't remember what model it was all I can say is it was a diamondback and might be worth checking out there offerings.

50 barely gives you options. Yellow Magic 1/4 oz in bone worth every penny.

The easiest way to start. Buy a couple of good quality bass leaders and some tippet from just about any fishing store. The heavier the butt section on the leader the easier it will be to turn over the flies. Try to learn loop to loop connections and knots for flyline to leader and leader to tippet it will make life much easier. Bass aren't very leader shy so don't worry to much about tippet size heavy is fine. In the beginning a weight forward floating line with weighted flies ( clousers, wooly buggers ) will catch fish. Fly selection isn't to important a good crayfish imitation a bait fish imitation and a popper for topwater. Anything subsurface keep as close to the bottom as possible. If your snagging flies a lot your fishing it right. Eventually you can try a weighted leader for swinging flies. If you have any specific questions later feel free to pm I'll be glad to help. By the way if you get the chance get out and practice casting as soon as possible don't wait for spring. You don't have to cast far. If your in a boat or wading most of your casts will usually be 40' or less.

This is a used Sage 9' 4 piece 7 weight in excellent condition. It is a great multi-purpose fast action fly rod. For years the XP was the rod all others were compared to. I have used this rod for Smallies, Steelhead, Salmon, Browns, Redfish, Snook and Trout. This rod comes with the original cloth bag, sage tube as well as the blank warranty card. If your not familiar with Sage's warranty it is a lifetime warranty that covers anything that happens to the rod. In the past I have had to return other Sages I have and it has cost me $50 to cover shipping and that's it. Their warranty department in my experience is top notch. On one occasion I sent a 7 year old rod back that had a broken guide and tip ( my fault not rod failure) and Sage actually sent me back an entire brand new rod as replacement. This rod has never been back for repair. I'm asking $300 and you're welcome to pick it up in person I'm in the southwest suburbs or I can ship for $15 insured. Any other questions you can contact me Bob @ 847-501-0676 or rjggoldstandard@aol.com. Thanks for looking. SOLD

Hey John- Check out Sierratradingpost.com has some Redington waders that seem to be well priced and have gotten lots of good reviews. They're at about $100 and look at TJoos.com if they have a 20% off coupon. You should at least be able to get 20 sometimes 30-40 more if you sign up for STP's deal flyer. Their return policy is top notch a great place for a bargain.

Hey John- Check out Sierratradingpost.com has some Redington waders that seem to be well priced and have gotten lots of good reviews. They're at about $100 and look at TJoos.com if they have a 20% off coupon. You should at least be able to get 20 sometimes 30-40 more if you sign up for STP's deal flyer. Their return policy is top notch a great place for a bargain.

I had the most inexpensive pair of Simms breathable stocking foot waders about 9-10 years ago. I used them for about 3-4 years and gave them to a buddy. The only problem I had was very occasionally I would get a pinhole in them but it is easily fixed with the repair kit they provide. The stocking feet I never had issue with. I then bought a pair of Simms guide waders and have never looked back. So far they have been bulletproof. Not even one pinhole and I have done my fair share of bushwackin' with them. Boots on the other hand are another issue. Simms boots maybe 2 seasons and thats it. I've had the side bust out on a lightweight pair. A guide pair the leather dried up and shrank those suckers so I couldn't hardly get them on. I would have to soak them in the river for 5 mins. to soften em up first. Eventually they fell apart. Chota's I say completely forget. I had one pair and 3/4 of a season the sole detached while out fishing. As far as the sole. Vibram soles with metal or carbide studs seem to work the best. I've been in the Kank with good flow on straight vibram and been pushed down the flat rock bottom like I was on a skating rink. The studs help that and they also help with climbing banks. I don't baby my gear so take this all with a grain. I'm the kind of guy that wades 8 hrs over everything takes off the boots throws them in the back of the truck and leaves them there till the next fishing trip. That's my two cents.

The first thing I thought of is a rabbit strip in the center but not sure if it would get tangled in the legs. Maybe if the hair was trimmed and then wrapped to the shank. How are you thinking of fishing it? Lead eyes or on a sinking tip?

Sorry took a little while to respond. I think the foam I use is 3/8" color doesn't matter. I use a metal straight edge with a single sided razor. Sometimes I just free hand it when in a pinch. I agree with the choice of just using one or the other to do a majority of the days fishing. I would use this rig usually just for the fun of it and see what happens. In all honesty I almost always would have the most productive fishing staying right on the bottom. Sometimes I'll go with just topwater all day even though I won't get nearly as many fish just because its cool to see the take. The thin mint w/tungsten bead is an awsome fish catching and easy to tie crayfish pattern. Try twisted peacock for the body instead of chenille. By the way Gurgler is a fun redfish fly but because it floats so well when they come up for it the wake from there arrival has a tendency to push it out of the way and they miss it a lot. It is a fantastic trout and snook fly. Happy fly tying.

I've used a gurgler as the popper which can be tied to the size you like. I go with mono leader to the gurgler from the fly line. For my dropper I use a tungsten beaded thin mint with a tri colored tail ( usually black, brown and orange). I tie the thin mint to the bend in the gurgler hook with whatever length of flouro I need to get it down to the bottom. I cast upstream or up and across and when you give the gurgler action it should also make the thin mint hop a little looking like a fleeing crayfish. My best luck comes in areas where water willows are slightly flooded on the edges or edges of channels and their accompanying eddies.

Lake Michigan in a couple of weeks for salmon around the harbors. Kankakee, fox, dupage and kishwaukee rivers for smallmouth. Depending how far north Waukegan to racine for salmon. all forest preserve lakes busse for largemouth and possibly skokie lagoons also the desplaines river is a sleeper for northerns and largemouth.