Terry Dodge

It had to have been the Kilbuck but I don't see it tying in with the Rock, plus there's the Kilbuck dam that keeps fish from going too far up stream and that's before route 251. Now Stillman Creek is another story. Being you said it was only about 3 miles west of Monroe it had to have been the Kilbuck. Stillman Creek is a bit further.

So I won this TALS-500 wading pack. Man is this thing neat. So I'm sitting there at my fly tying desk loading this thing up with all my spin-gear plugs and I happen to drop a jointed minnow down inside the pack and one of the treble-hooks get caught up in the mesh netting part of the TALS-500 wading pack. Dang! so I grab my needle-nose and start kind of tugging on it. Dang! I just got the other treble-hook caught up in the same stuff. Well now I start crimping the barbs down so I can get this plug out and into it's nifty little plastic container that comes with the TALS-500 wading pack. I get the barbs smashed down on one of the treble hooks and give it another tug only to have the entire plug come free and lodge one of the hooks deep into my middle finger. Now I've seen this on YouTube and I've read about this in magazines but I've never had to do this. Okay, I can do this. The only thing I'm wondering at this point is, am I sure I got all the barbs smashed down? No I'm not. So I start trying to feed this hook back up another part of the meat in my finger and bring it back out and snip the hook end off. Well this hurts like H-E-double-tooth-picks so I stop. Well maybe I should go to the doctor? I start thinking to myself. No, I'm not going to pay some doctor 500 plus dollars to pull a hook out of my finger. So I start back doing the same thing I was doing but it still hurts so I stop. Now that doctor thing is scratching the inside of my skull again. Should I go? No! I can do this. Well I'm just going to have to trust myself and believe that I got that barb smashed down. So I grab the needle-nose and start pulling. Not really pulling, just kind of like a lot of pressure and slowly curling the hook back out. There's no pain so I guess I got that barb smashed. Any-hoot, I got it out with no pain. Now I'm wondering........Have any of you had to force a hook back up through another part of you body so you could snip the end of and pull it out with ease? If you have that's "TOUGH". Or could I just be reading the wrong stuff and watching the wrong stuff?

I agree with Jim on the shirts. A t-shirt don't cut it. I only suggested the special edition promo news letter to hand out because I thought it sounded like it could be a good idea if done right which I'm sure would be done right if the ISA were to do something like that. Is it necessary? Not sure but something to maybe consider in the future. I believe the whole idea of doing these sports shows is to promote our (the ISA) mission and to gain more members who believe in our mission and would maybe like to take part in some of the things we do and stand for. The news letter (which is great) and fishing outings and meetings with other members are just great pluses that come along with being a member. The show in the Rockford area is attended by mostly bucket fishermen looking for as much free stuff as they can get their hands on. The area has been hit hard by the bad economy and most attendees complain more about the cost just to get into the show than anything. It's more of a "something to do" day for fishermen in the Rockford area. I'm sure it was not intended to put any kind of negative focus on the RRFC. They maybe smaller than the ISA but they do practice and teach the same beliefs. The Rock River Fly Casters is a local, smaller organization that is gaining members and does do a lot for conservation. For example from what I understand they did help out with the cost of the Boone County Conservation District stream-barb project. Whether this was grant money or private donation, I'm not sure. ISA member Paul S heads up that organization and could best answer any question. Getting back to the shirts. I wish I would have known shirts were being sold at the Blowout. By the time I found out all of my money had been spent. Where can I order one from?

You might buy one but I don't think Average American Joe is going to. He's out there looking for free stuff.

Maybe the ISA should consider an "Outdoors Show special promo edition" of the Bronzeback Bulletin for the shows.

Does your basement flood?

What does it all mean???

COOL!

If you "axe" me, I thought it was a great time! This was my first Blowout and like what was said in an earlier post by Jeff D., "looking foreward to next year already." It was nice to meet and talk with a bunch of members that I usually only chat with here on the site and I thought Joe did a dang good job as the featured speaker also. Only bad thing is......This Blowout seems to land on the same weekend as the Rockford show. Not good. I'm thinking I'll have to flip-flop from the Rockford show and the Blowout if they keep falling on the same weekend. I'd rather be at the Blowout having some fun and some brews but if duty calls. Good job. Thanks to everybody that makes this happen. More peanut-butter cookies for future Blowouts.

I do stuff like that in my yard also. Ever wonder what people driving by think when they see you in your boat, casting into your yard? Well if they think it's odd..... I feel sorry for them. Hail to the smallie!

What are them thar blue things on the top part? It kind of looks like the rod is suppose to go through them to kind of hold the upper part of the rod? The one with the bobber thru me a bit. Might I suggest foam pipe insulation instead.

I use http://photobucket.com/ for resizing pictures...........

That Coosa looks real nice but I guess it depends on the kind of rivers you are fishing on. I use to think that I made a mistake by not getting a yak but each year I seem to grow to love my 'toon more and more.

Mike G - Don't feel bad. I consider myself to be a Facebook jeanyes (oops), genuass (damn!), I'm real good on Facebook. Any hoot, I punched in "Illinois Smallmouth Alliance" and got nothing. Then I did "ISA" and got nothing. The only thing I can find about the ISA was an "ISA Blow Out" page and a "Rivers of the ISA" video. This was just recent that this problem popped up, I think it was Wednesday or Thursday I was trying to find it. All is good now. I just searched it again and it popped right up. Facebook is always making lots of changes and sometimes things get out of whack.

So what's for dinner?

Got mine today. Thanks! Looks good and reads even better.

The only reason I tried this was because I wanted to find true dead center. We all know how hard it is to get your hook perfectly centered when using foam. For the last few years I've been tying poppers using only one (1) ear plug. I would heat the hook shank for the count of 3 (1, 2, 3) and then slide the ear plug onto the hook shank. The thing is I only have one (1) eye so my depth reception is a little bit off and this makes it tricky for me to this kind of stuff. How do I make it easy to find true dead center? Put two (2) ear plugs together side by side. The advantage of the ear plugs to me is...... I have an endless supply at work.

Call me stupid..........

Here is some new footage of the stream-barbs at work. The first video I posted (29 January) the water level was 5.75ft. and now with the big Febuary thaw the level is now 9.22ft. Stream-Barbs at work...........

Dang! That was agood guess. That's not right but a darn good guess to start off with.

I thought maybe it was because I was about a month late on my dues but I now I see Jude has yet to receive one so maybe not. The Rockford area issues may have been lost in a pot-hole.

Just so you all know.....You can laugh at me all you want about my ear-plug poppers but just you wait and see. You'll be begging me for my latest invention. You'll see. You'll all see! Ha, ha, ha haaaaaaaaaaaa. (DDBEPP)

Don't think I want to go through the hassle of trying to convince my wife that that the rubbers are for fishing. Seems like there are all kinds of jokes that could come out of this. I'm not touching it. It was a good video. Kind makes you keep your mind open to any kind of material you happen to run across. If you knew my wife you would understand why I have all the ear-plugs.

If interested go to my Profile Page and click on About Me and then click on BCCD/ISA Stream Barb Project to view an updated slide show of the project.

These yellow type (Bubble Yum) ear plugs have some kind of coating on them that keeps them from sucking up water and becoming twice as big and heavier than all get out to cast like some of the other type of ear plugs do.