Norm M

Best that could prolly happen is for the major conferences to pull out and let the ncaa die on the vine

congrats Al, persistence and attention to details pays off . I've been there, spent all day on the water without noticing the passage of time or tending to bodily needs. Those days are quite enjoyable .

mostly on a mr twister weighted keeper hook, but they work with the your jig of choice. quartercast upstream let them bounce with the current to slowly dragging to inching them along the bottom . I don't go to the real slow extreme unless I have to. I use the regular size , the juniors and the dropshot darters.

The last time that happened to me , I didn't care what the weather was outside . Then again, I was young and impressionable , so I plead youthful exuberance .

I like wall calendars but I'll pass on that one .

river dropping, down about another foot, still over 5 times normal flow rate , visibility chocolate milk, water temps edged up to mid 30's . mostly overcast and windy, air temps supposed to be in 30's but with the wind it didn't feel that way . day off work, got to fish a bit longer today, I decided to fish fewer spots longer rather than checking as many spots as possible . I caught fish , would I have done better with more spots, no telling . First fish , a decent smallmouth took a jig/erie darter at the head of an eddy . The second fish , a very nice walleye took the same lure at the downstream end of the eddy . Both fish hit well enough to feel a definite tic and see a twitch in the line . I just quartercast upstream and let the current do the work . The third fish, a nice carp took the same lure while I was slowly dragging/pausing it thru the heart of the eddy . All fish from the same eddy . Fourth fish, another nice carp , took the same lure , retrieved the same way in the same section of another eddy . I fished a larger shoreline related slack area and the mouth of a larger creek with jig/plastics, jig/pig , rattlebaits, crankbaits, hard stickbaits, soft stickbaits and swimbaits, no fish caught. I used the same assortment of lures at the two eddies that produced but only the jig/erie darter worked . I catch a lot more carp on artificial lures in cold water than cool or warm water . A change to a more fish based forage perhap

congrats to all

always great to start the year off with success

same as usual, keep on learning .

Joe I don't mind fishing with others at times . I find it much easier to get into the mental zone I need to be in when fishing by myself . Then there is the matter of working a railroad schedule, it does not sync well with other folks schedules .

river dropped about 3 feet and down to about 25,000 cfs, both way above normal . chocolate milk for visibility, still out of it's banks, low 30's water temps. not as cold as it could be but still not pleasant, mostly overcast and some wind . The catching has been nonexistent since 12-29 . Today was a welcome change . The first place that produced was a flooded dead tree, the root mass at the upstream side. I dropped a jig/pig in a bit upstream letting it bounce back . It stopped in the slack pocket at the bottom of the root mass. I let it sit, lifted it , felt some weight and set the hook . A very nice smallmouth to hand. I worked all around that tree, no more fish . I worked the rest of the flooded cover in the area to no avail. The other place that produced was a shoreline related slack spot. Once again the jig/pig produced a smallmouth but not as big as the other. It was holding amongst some flooded brush. I tried fishing some current seams with ratlebaits, singlespins and jig/plastic , no hits. I fished a wide variety of flooded cover options with a variety of lure options, no fish . I can't complain , two fish in these conditions is a great day .

From my experiences , it's "easier" to catch fish early on in the high water process . It seems to taper off for a bit after the initial "success" if any is had. My friend , Phil and I theorize it's due to the slower metabolic rate this time of year . There have been enough exceptions to this over the last two decades that I realize that there are no hard and fast rules that I can discern. The only thing to do is got out and try , if this sort of fishing appeals to you . It's definitely not for every one but I enjoy the challenge and the opportunity to learn something . I agree with Al , that it is mostly about survival .

River is flowing at 43,500 CFS, usual 3.780 CFS . Water temps at 35 degrees , zero visibility. There was a regular parade of debris headed downstream , some of it very sizeable . Parking lots flooded, gates to boat ramps in the state park both locked . Cloud cover, wind not too bad, air temps 33 to 34 degrees . Raw enough to wear gloves while moving twixt spots , wore the waders mostly to cut the wind and keep the mud off . Minimal entry into water , deepest I got was knee deep on a paved flooded bike path that had minimal flow . Passed on fishing a creekmouth that generally holds fish in high water due to muddy sloping banks that had way to much current to contemplate venturing on . I fished with one lure all day, a weighted keeper hook 1/0 or 2/0 depending on flow or what I was trying to accomplish with the lure.. The plastic was a BfishN 3.25 inch pulse worm. It has a paddletail that the maker says works well at slow speeds. Slow speeds was the initial thought in these water temps, cover and current conditions. The type of cover/ current that produced best was debris piles in slower, slacker water. Tossing it on top of the pile and letting it drop straight down of the downstream side was not as good as letting it wash under the upstream side of a debris pile. I used the 2/0 to drop down and the 1/0 to wash under around the debris piles. Then it was pretty much a matter of letting it sit still for a while . If that didn't get picked up, squeezing the rod enough to make the tip quiver or softly bounce was the next thing I tried. That worked better than the dead sticking so I went with that. 2 smallmouth, 1 rock bass and 4 walleye, nothing of great size but at least I caught some fish . The only other situation that produced fish was the sloping area from the bike path down to where the normal shoreline is. There I used the 2/0 and dragged it along the bottom with frequent pauses. The fastest the jig ever moved was when it popped free from a snag . Both fish, nice sized carps ate it when I started the dragging motion after a pause. Fishing flooded objects like trees, grills or parking blocks did not produce. Most of the picnic tables had been taken to storage for the winter. The few that remained are on higher ground where it does not flood . Someone finally used some common sense

Joe Some days are better than others . I didn't use the right combination of location, lures/retrieves and timing . Angler error as there were fish feeding somewhere on the river . As far as fishing in extremely high current conditions the most important thing is safety . If you have any doubt about approaching a location, don't do it, no fish is worth dying. My river right now is 30.000 cfs and rising rapidly . I didn't fish today due to treacherous footing from freezing rain . I almost busted my tail bone taking the dogs out on level ground in my yard . There was no way I was going near a river in that combination of conditions. Right now every thing is melting , the river could get close to 40,000 cfs . I plan on giving it a shot but I'll be really picky about where I go. That spot I had success on in that report you quoted is one of them. I'm not sure if the worm thing will happen this time of year but with the recent warm spell , I wouldn't be surprised if it did . I'll be wearing waders but mostly to keep mud off and cut the wind. Any entry into the water will be severely limited to spots with good footing and very low to no current flow. Will I catch fish, I hope so, that's the reason we all go. If I don't, I'll try to learn from my mistakes . That's all we can do .

the forage this time of year tends to be more fish than crustacean/macro invert up in Illinois. The forage can't handle the increased flow so they move to areas like Al mentioned . The predators follow. Find the food , you'll find feeding fish . Don't get hung up on bottom type or natural vs manmade cover . They don't care if it's a rock or the bumper from a 63 chevy pick up .

My river is flowing at over 20,000 cfs and I can't get to my favorite flooded spots because the roads are still too darn icy I just about busted my tailbone taking the dogs out . Hopefully after lunch , I'll be out there trying for some smallmouth .

wading, with very limited access into the water at those flow rates. I'm not taking any chances to get fish . My days of being young , foolish and invincible are well past.

Mitch I think that is the case as well. I was thinking more along the lines of would they be feeding or least be interested in biting in a different time frame .

river crested and dropping, just under 4 times normal flow, no visibility, 45 degree water temps . nicer day today with less wind and not so over cast . First place I fished was a creek mouth . There was a foam line over the seam between the river and creek flows that was Ma's way of saying fish here . I was tossing a square bill crank that runs 5 ft deep downstream and bringing it back against the current. Cobblestone to bit larger rock , inches to 3 ft or so deep. I let the crank just wobble in place against the current, reel in one turn or so and repeat. That got one nice smallmouth. I worked the rest of the area with the crank, a rattlebait, spinnerbait, swim bait and jigs but nothing was going fish wise. Next up was fishing the flooded , exposed roots of a sycamore tree with a weighted keeper/erie darter . That got two rockbass in the 5 to 6 inch range in very short order . After that I fished a lot of shoreline related slack spots and the current seams there abouts . Cranks, rattlebaits, swimbaits and jigs didn't produce . Last shot was fishing some bridge abutments with jigs, that didn't produce either

put enough time in and sooner or later you end up at the right place at the right time . I've often wondered about stuff like this, what if I was there 15 minutes earlier or later, would I have had the same results ?

ever stop to consider that those cave paintings over in france may be a post hunt tribute to the gods .

Went out and fished today before it was time to get ready for work . Riveru p over 4 times normal flow, no visibility , water temps low 40's . Kinda windy and raw but better weather than usual for late December . with the river up , the current seam in many places is just a few feet off shore. I stuck to fishing shoreline related slack areas . I wore the waders to keep the mud off and cut the wind, boots hardly get wet . I used two lures , a weighted keeper hook/erie darter and the fat ika reverse rigged on the 5/0 ewg unweighted hook. I didn't fish either lure very fast, just played with speed until it got bit . The weighted keeper/erie darter worked best with a lift -drop retrieve , got 5 decent smallmouth. The Ika rigged worked best with a dragging retrieve. 2 smallmouth including one pig. Time on the water pays, got my biggest smallmouth of the year, 22 inches on the tape

Joe Taking pictures my self of the fish I catch is part of it .

I'm not going to explain my religious beliefs and how they work and take a chance on starting a long winded and ultimately unproductive religious discussion. While Phil most likely doesn't mind Cubs-Cards banter , I don't think he needs the headaches a religious discussion could bring . I know I'm going to hear it until the Cubs win the World Series and really don't mind . It comes with being a Cubs fan in Cardinal country . I have fond memories of taking the tour at the brewery, enjoying the free beer and going to the stadium to enjoy baseball and a few beers With the heat and humidity , sometimes more than a few beers ..

river continues to rise, past twice normal flow rate, visibility nil, water temps still mid 40's . it was a bit to the raw side today, ditched the ball cap for a knit cap . Fished inflows, current seams and shoreline related slack spots again. Started with thumper tailed swims baits 4 or 5 inch 3/8 to 1/2 jigs at inflows. Not as many fish as yesterday but much better size to the smallmouth and walleye . I went back to the J-9 floating Rapala minnow, picked a one more smallmouth, no walleye. Switched to the rattlebait , nada. Tried the reverse rigged fat Ika, couple smallmouth. Hit the current seams got a couple smallmouth on the rattlebait worked against the current, no walleye . Tried the Ika and the swimbaits, nothing . Hit some shoreline related slack spots, initial success with a couple very nice smallmouth, swimbaits ignored the rest of the day. Rattlebaits and J-9's ignored as well . The fat Ika reverse rigged on the 5/0 unweighted EWG hook was the ticket. Once again the standard plastic worm retrieve worked. I experimented with swimming, hopping, popping and ripping, zero interest . final count 21 smallmouth, 13 slack area, 6 inflow, 2 current seams. 4 very nice walleye . It was a very nice way to celebrate the Solstice