TimU

On Saturday July 7th we will once again be doing our annual water willow planting on the Fox River. This year we will be planting an area in Batavia, we will meet at 8am at the Glenwood Forest Preserve (1644 S. River St., Batavia). We will plant several areas and should finish up in time to grill up some lunch and hopefully get a bit of fishing in. This is a great chance to give back to the river and provide better habitat for our beloved smallmouth! In the case of severe weather or high river conditions, the make-up date will be Saturday July 21st. Please post here if you plan to attend!

Third Grip for sure...works as your wading belt, holds the second rod and a pair of plyers. RonG actually added an additonal rod tube on his using PVC...that way he has somewhere to put the rod he is using when he catches a fish or is changing lures.

Deb landed a couple of fish including this nice 16" that gave her a good fight. I landed 1 dink and this decent northern. Paul did the best numbers wise, with 5 or 6 fish in 9"-13" range. My knee held up pretty good, I had once scary moment under a bridge but other than that just a little swelling and soreness. If you were able to stick out the rain it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon, we didn't catch any fish after the sun came out, but sure did help to dry us out. It is always nice to fish with different members and see how each person works an area differently.

I might have 1 more, if he doesn't have to work, we will be signing him up as a new member.

LOL Terry! Your comment to Chris on the YouTube page says it all...you would be a billionaire for sure! Always enjoyable tho...keep them coming.

Ron, Probably not, depending on how long we fish, I will be driving straight to Dekalb to see some friends. Sorry, Tim

Is this event still a go for Saturday morning? My knee held up pretty well minus some swelling and soreness during last weeks water willow planting and 3 hour Kish wade so I plan on coming out for this. Who else is in?

John, I will be there closer to 8am, I have to pick up another person to come help out.

I understand 100%, best wishes to you and your family!

Terry, I still can't PM you...Check your Facebook messages as I sent you my phone number last night.

Morning would probably work out better for us as well....I hate getting home late Sunday night. Do you want to just plan on meeting for breakfast at 7am and we will go from there? We can do a bit of fishing as we go and be off the water by 11am or so? If anyone else is planning on making this event please chime in and let us know if the time change will work for you. P.S. Terry, I tried to send you a PM and it says your not accepting new messages. Is your mailbox full???

Terry, I will get back to you on the time, we might want to start a little earlier because I have an hour drive home afterwards and my friend will be closer to an 1-1/2 hour drive home. How long of a stretch do you plan on cleaning up? Knee is looking good, I have been cleared to swing a golf club, but no wading yet. The concern is unexpected movements and sudden jolts, so it will probably be next year before I am cleared for wading. Not sure if I will be able to hold out that long...I might have to fish a bit after the water willow planting on Saturday...I am going on 6 weeks since I wet a line. The wife-type is getting real tired of hearing me say "fishing" everytime we pass any sort of water.

Terry, If your canoe is available and will hold two people, I have a friend that will join me and we will come out for this. Let me know. Thanks, Tim

Jude, I use a "Third Grip" when wade fishing to hold a second spinning rod. I turn the third grip around so the rod points behind me on my off hand(I'm right handed). Not sure if it would get in the way of fly casting, I do hook it every once in awhile while casting the spinning set up. I also need to watch out when getting past low trees, as you basically have a 6' pole attached to your waist like a flag pole. Just a suggestion....I think the below picture shows the setup pretty well.

Awesome! Thanks Jude! I will see you at 7:00am.

Jim, If your looking to get to Kentucky Lake I highly recommend Big Bear Resort. My family vacationed here for years after trying several other campgrounds down there. They have a variety of lodging depending on your budget, from camping to cabins to condos. Full marina with boat rental and guide service, you can also rent a slip for your boat if you have one. Beach on the property along with a pool, kids activities, basketball courts, jet skis, parasailing. My Mom and most of my brothers could care less about fishing, so this was the only place we went back to year after year that gave them plenty of stuff to do and allowed my Dad and I to fish about 10 hours a day. It's a nice family owned business where they care about you and not just the money.

Does someone have an extra spot for me? I would love to come out, but don't have a canoe or yak? FYI...I have never been in a canoe or yak on a river. Please let me know Thanks, Tim

We only had one group meet at the north check point, with Eugene stopping by to drop off a post pounder. We were only out about two hours as I had been battling a nasty cold most of the week. We did get 8 signs put up or replaced along both sides of the Fox from Army Trail Rd. to Route 88. One thing to note is that the IDNR signs posted along the Fox river show "No Harvasting" of any Smallmouth or Largemouth bass at anytime or at any length. So we avoided putting up contradicting signs in any area that already had the IDNR sign posted. I will get pictures up later tonight of a few of the signs we posted along with a picture of the IDNR sign. Thanks again to everyone who came out and helped! Please remember we don't need to put a date down to get these signs up. If you know of a place that needs a sign, please let me know and I will work to get you the materials needed. It only takes a few minutes to pound a post in and attach a sign, it can easily be done on any trip to the river.

Sorry for the delay - Meeting points as follows. North Group - Will meet at the John J. Duerr Forest Preserve(Formerly Blackhawk Park) Boat Launch @ 9am. It is on route 31 in south elgin 1 mile north of McLean Blvd. The North Group will cover the Fox river north of Route 88 and parts of the South Branch of the Kishwaukee I have not heard from anyone in the Rockford Area, but if we have a group or two, I would be willing to make a meeting spot a bit more that way at 10am as well to cover the North Branch of the Kish. South Group - Will meet at the Damn at Hammel Woods off route 52 in Shorewood @ 9am. The South Group will cover the Fox south of 88, the Dupage and parts of the Kankakee. I will have lists of known sign spots and places people have suggested. I have also started printing maps and marking sign locations that will be passed out. I will have another form ready for listing additional signs that get posted that are not on the current list. Please let me know if anyone has questions. Tim

I wanted to bump this back up to the top and remind people of the date - Saturday April 30th at 9:00am We currently have 3 of the more experienced ISA members signed on to volunteer for the day in Scott F, Jim J and Norm M. Please read Scott's post in this thread regarding the wealth of information that can be gained from this opportunity. This is not only a chance to help the ISA cause and educate people regarding the C&R regulations for smallmouth in Illinois, but a chance to talk fishing, share knowledge and wet a line with fellow members. Again, please if you can't make the outting, take the time to let us know any area that is need of a new sign. Thanks, Tim

The rescheduled date for the sign posting will be Saturday, April 30th. We will still plan on having two meeting places, one north and one south and will look to start @ 9am. Please post if you can make it, or if you are aware of any locations that need signs. Post here or PM me with any questions. Thanks, Tim