asherman

We are pleased to announce that the Bronzeback Blowout will be happening on March 4, 2023. Starting time will be 3:00 PM. The event will be held at the American Legion Hall in Elmhurst at 310 W Butterfield Rd, Elmhurst, IL 60126. Please put the date on your calendar. Blowout Details Buy your ticket now! Blowout Tickets

Yes. I've corrected the site.

I have listed the dates and costs of the annual ISA Road Trip at Tinkers Dam on the Menominee river below. The new owners have raised the rates a bit, so the costs are a bit higher than last year. Please request your dates on this thread or send me an email at isalliance2@gmail.com. Once you receive a confirmation from me, I will need a $50 deposit. You pay via PayPal at isalliance2@gmail .com or mail a check to Illinois Smallmouth Alliance, 895 Garden Lane, Wheeling IL 60090 Arrive Saturday August 5 and leave on Tuesday August 8th (3 Nights) $115 Arrive Tuesday August 8th and leave on Saturday August 11th (4 Nights) $152 Arrive Saturday August 11 and leave on Tuesday August 15th (3 Nights) $115 Arrive Tuesday August 8th and leave on Saturday August 19th (4 Nights) $152

The 2022 Chicagoland Fishing, Travel & Outdoor Expo is happening on January 27-30 and the ISA has a booth. We need your help in manning our booth! Chicagoland Fishing, Travel & Outdoor Expo The show is at the Schaumburg Convention Center at 1551 N Thoreau Drive North in Schaumburg. The show hours are: THUR 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM FRI 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM SAT 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM SUN 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM This year we are using Signup Genius to allow our volunteers to sign up. Please use the link below to sign up. ISA Booth Signup If you have any questions, send an email to isalliance2@gmail.com

I've been tying and fishing with "hair jigs" with spinning gear over the past couple of months. The biggest downside is that unless they are tied with relatively heavy jigs, it is tough to get the kind of casting distance that you you get throwing plastic baits. They fish well within the distance that you can cast them. I've tied jig versions of flies that I have used and I have caught fish with some of them. My Fuzzy Grub pattern has done well, as have rabbit strip patterns like Tom L's Foxy Craw. I have tied the Bad Hair Day on jigs that that pattern just does have the same action or has had as good of results as the fly version of the pattern. Gene, what kind of eyes (size/brand are you using are your jig?

I’m looking forward to fishing with Gordon in the new/old canoe.

I'm in the process of reducing clutter in my basement and I have too much fishing gear with more duplicates than I can use.. I have an eight weight setup that needs to be used. The rod is a Guideline rod that was a prototype, so it has no markings on it. Guideline is a company that went out of business several years ago. It is a fast action rod is a cannon that has not seen much use. The reel is a Lamson Konic 3.5 that is loaded with a eight weight Scientific Anglers Wavelength MPX line. The reel shows signs of use, but it works just fine. The line also has not seen much use and is great shape. I am asking $100 for the setup. I would be happy to meet you someplace in the suburbs where you can test cast the rod . PM me if you are interested.

The only fiberglass fly rod that I use/own is a 6’9” Echo three weight. I use it for trout fishing in in small streams. This rod works well for that purpose, but it limited in what it can do. It works best in small, overgrown streams when there is minimal wind. It is fun to use the rod for pond bluegill fishing but it is too limber to pull a big bluegill or bass away from the weeds. I prefer longer Graphite rods for most situations. Casting and fishing with with fiberglass rods, especially with heavier weight rods, is very different than using graphite rods. It takes some practice and patience to slow down your casting stroke to use a fiberglass rod effectively. I have test cast and have tried fishing with seven and eight weight fiberglass rods and they just felt wrong to me. My experience with test casting fiberglass rods is that the more expensive new rods are much better casting tools than less expensive fiberglass rods. If I did a lot of trout fishing, I would seriously consider a 7 1/2 foot four weight Scott fiberglass rod or a custom fiberglass Rod for small stream dry fly fishing.

The last time that I fished the Kankakee River, (about 3 weeks ago) I noticed that the river bottom felt different to me through my wading boots. It felt kind of soft and crunchy. The river was pretty muddy at the time so I could not see much on the river bottom. I didn't think much of it at the time. When I got home after the trip, I rinsed my wading boots and waders in the yard using a garden hose like I always do. A couple of days ago as I was getting my gear ready to fish the Root River, I noticed that there was what looked like dried mud stuck in the tread of my boots. I took a closer look at the boots and found a bunch of tiny snail shells stuck in the tread. I had to use a screw driver to dislodge all of the snail shells from the boots. That seems to explain why the Kankakee river bottom felt kind of crunchy. Some Internet searches for invasive species of snails in Illinois and the Midwest indicated that the snails could be New Zealand mud snails. The snail shells that were in my boots (see attached photo) seem a bit larger than pictures of New Zealand mud snails that were on a link on the IDNR web site, but they look pretty similar. I called the IDNR and left a message regarding the snails, but I have not heard back from anyone yet. I would like to know what kind of snails that were on my boots. I will let you know what happens when and if the IDNR gets back to me. In the mean time, I am going to start inspecting my boots and waders for contaminants after I rinse them off and dry them.

Is this the color that you are referring to? This one is tied with Rootbeer Estaz Metallique. I also tie them in regular Estaz in root beer and black. They all work.

I received a text from Don Rego regarding the passing of Jude Torre on July 19th. I'm sharing the information with the ISA. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/jude-torre-obituary?pid=193435208 Jude was a nice, warm, generous person. He provided me with good information about fishing spots without me asking several times. I smile when I remember that on my first ISA outing on the Kish, he told me to "cast to that spot". I did and I caught a 19 inch smallie. I still have a Jude Bug tied by Jude that he gave me years ago. That fly will be a keepsake. Jude will be missed. Regards, Alan Sherman

Scott, Put me down for number 1.

Ed, like you, I prefer beer, but Ron liked his Gin and Tonic.

I am truly saddened by this news. Ron was a great guy and a lot fun to be around. He made fly fishing trips and ISA outings interesting and enjoyable. I will miss him. We will need to down some gin and tonics in his honor at the Blowout next week.

In the past couple of years I have been using leaders that sink slowly, like Airflo intermediate Poly Leaders or Feathercraft furled fluorocarbon leaders. In addition to working well with weighted flies, they work great with any floating/diving fly like the Stealth Bomber. The leader is not heavy enough to sink a bouyant fly when sitting still but the leader keeps the tippit under water enough to make it easy to get the fly to dive and make the blurping sound. You can change the behavior of the fly by switching between mono and fluorocarbon tippit.

For years I have been using Stealth Bomber flies when I want to fish with a floating diver. I tie them on either #4 or #2 hooks for smallmouth. These flies dive well and make a nice loud gurgle sound when stripped. They work very well. The pattern below is pretty much how I tie them. Stealth Bomber

I'm going to break down an start using UV Glue products for fly tying. There are lots of UV flashlights for curing UV products with prices ranging from ten bucks to considerably more than that. Does anyone have recommendations for a light that will work well for fly tying UV glues? I don't mind spending a few dollars more for something that is going to do the job. Thanks, Alan

I like it. I will have tie some up. What is great about using Angel Hair on flies is that no matter hard I try to prevent it, the Angel Hair gets distributed throughout the house and leaves sparkly stuff in the carpeting. The sparkly stuff in the carpeting drives my wife crazy. It doesn't bother me a bit.

I use both indicators and floats or whatever you want to call them. Yarn type indicators work well for trout fishing or panfishing where high buoyancy is not critical. With yarn indicators, fish do feel much resistance when they suck in a fly or nymph. Floats like Thingamabobbers or foam indicators work well for suspending a fly. Using floats with a right angle hook works well, especially when I have enough patience to use them the right way. I really like Airflo Strike indicators. It is easy to adjust the depth with the Airflo indicators and they do not kink up the leader like the thingamabobbers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDwTz7VnqLU

Last year I spooled up a spinning reel, which I use occasionally, with 10 lb mono line. I found that I could not get good hook sets with a 7 foot medium light spinning rod. The hooking results were better using a 6 1/2 foot medium spinning rod which is much stiffer. In general, I felt that I lost more fish due to poor hook sets with the mono line than I did with braid. I just didn't like the mono line so I went back to Power Pro braided line. I usually tie on a fluorocarbon leader, which provides some stretch in the setup. I have not had problems with losing fish, especially with the medium light rod.

According to the USGS web site, the South Branch of the Kishwaukee river rose 6 feet since yesterday. It is going to be a while before the river is fishable. I have fished the Kish once this year, and it was really too high to fish then. Yuck.

That is horrible news and it is something that could happen to any of us. I feel bad for Mike's family and friends. Be careful out there and keep your wading belts tight. Consider using a wading staff. Don't ever take the river for granted.

I will bring fruit salad. I hope that no one gets mad at me for bringing something healthy.

Scott, Are the two openings for August 24 to August 26th still open? I will swap the dates that have on the 13th and 14th and John Loebach and will take the 24th to the 26th. Let me know. Alan