Norm M

Well , you can't very well say you misunderstood the rule .

well I wouldn't complain if the old farts cranked up some classic swing but would if they played the sweet . I kinda feel that as long as folks don't confront each other with a bunch of crap , things are ok . I try hard not to cause any one outside of poachers, litterers and such any grief . If asked for advice nicely, I give it freely . If I see a parent who needs help with kids present , I do my best to make any suggestions to the parent privately . If the kids ask first , I always ask the parent first if it's ok to answer . If it takes rerigging and using my tackle to get them going , so what . A few bucks compared to making some one happy and maybe getting them on the fishing path is well worth it . I have done a lot of volunteer work in the past for my river and it's health and programs with kids . Right now , my time is being consumed with health issues . Once that is whipped , since I am retired , I will get back into the swing of things . I can also see myself getting involved with getting seniors more involved with the outdoors . I believe there is a senior facility associated with my healthcare system that has a private lake for the residents . From what I have seen it's underused . It would be a good way to give back to the group that's bringing me back to good health and bringing some joy to someone else by helping them do again what they were able to do before on their own . Not to mention the joy that seeing smiles on their faces will bring to me . Do unto others as you would have done unto you is a concept that should transcend any differences in any belief systems .

I think another factor to be considered is that today's youth are so used to instant response from the multitude of devices , cheats to win games they just bought available at the flick of a finger on line, new lives or redo's in games that they just don't realize that real life doesn't work that way . They never developed that sense of patience I did assisted by an older relatives boot up my posterior when us kids got too antsy . Too many are in for a rude awaking when they finally leave the nest and come face to face with life's realities , you ain't the other guys top priority in most cases , there are long lines at the DMV and you are just another number to most if not all government agencies .

not if they were desperate for wheels . me and my buddys packed in my ma's falcon a time or three to go fishing back in the day . the job market around here is so tight and the pay so low that very few teens can buy cars , twenty somethings with jobs don't fare much better . most are lucky to get their parents old clunker when the parents upgrade . there are plenty of my kid's friends driving vans these days . after all the the soccer mom's van was likely in better shape than dad's work truck .

I have been involved in state/ lgu no child left behind programs here in Illinois , Most of the kids were interested and we preached leave only your footprints as well as solid fishing lessons . Unfortunately a small percentage never took their noses out of their hand held electronic devices , I wanted to take and drown the devices but the officer in charge said no . They just ended up sitting on the group W bench under watch , while we did all we could for those interested . I later meet one of those kids , He was working as ASST Manager at at fast food joint . It turned out both by daughters mentored him through grade school and high school in an after school program called TRIO at the local community college . He remembered all three of us and thanked me and my family for helping him find his way . Last I heard he was trying to get into flight school with the USAF . I loved being part of helping a motivated young man find his way down the correct path in life .

You know I have almost got used to getting moved in on when I'm catching fish . I grew up fishing the crick behind my house which I had to my self , with groups of relatives on the Kankakee River and no one was going to bother that hard posterior bunch of hillbillys and swamp frogs . When I fished the Cook County Forest Preserve lakes that was almost S.O.P for the great unwashed masses . I would get my revenge by picking another spot in view and continuing to catch fish . This sort of thing went on until I tired of the game . I then became somewhat of a trunk sneak and found spots few if any fished . I went so far as to leave the first 3 or 4 of brush undistrubed until I began clipping my trail thru the brush . Now I just want to have fun and catch some fish any species , any size, anywhere . Many of these places are out of the way and there is no hassle . It seems that they happen in the more known to the public places . I do not mind folks coming up and asking for advice . I never turn those requests down as I figure that is what being a ethical and moral fisherman is all about . At times , I have given the spot to guys with smaller kids willingly and just moved a bit further down the way . I don't like the dudes that move in and just start fishing the spot I am with not so much as a how de do . Come on , at least some foreplay before you eff me . This seems to be happening more frequently along with rude behavior and obscene/inappropriate commentary to me . I just wish it would go away but I am afraid it's an indicator of the direction this society is moving toward, which saddens me greatly . White magic doesn't cover this sort of thing and too much evil seems to be involved with the darker stuff so that option is out . I still think the Supreme Court frowns on a bullet in the head as a cure for stupidity , so that option is out . Maybe I should find some bear grease and rub that on every trip whilst eating a handful of ramps . Likely even the skeeters would back off .

Thanks for cleaning up after that turd . There is another bunch of kids not being raised the right way unfortunately .

I'm in Illinois and we do encourage kids fishing, have free fishing days and harrassment laws as well . So the MDC gets a break on this one . I just did not think of calling the cops or a CPO at the time , I just thought they were idiots whose parents never put a boot up their posterior . When I got home my wife pointed out that I should have called the cops and driven right to the police station with them following me . I think I just proved to her once again that I'm not as smart as she is . Not that she wasn't convinced of that before .

I grew up with those commercials watching the Cubs back in the day . Unfortunately, sometimes in the early 60's they were the highlight of the broadcast .

There was a time in my life when the butt end of Mr Barreta would have appeared during the conversation . Unfortunately the way things are now , I would likely get sued for violating their civil rights if I showed them that now .

I am beginning to feel cursed by this weird crap that keeps happening . Today , I am fishing a decent sized pond , no one else there . A van pulls up and 5 teenage boys get out . Next thing I know they are right by me, I could have shook hands with the two closest ones . I asked them to to fish elsewhere as there was more than enough room . One of them replies that it is a public pond and it's legal for them to fish any where they want . I responded with that's true but common courtesy combined with being ethical folks as well as common fishing practices , they should give a person who is already fishing a good cast of fishing room . I noted the rest of the pond is empty so you have plenty of room to find your own spot . The same dude responds that they are not courteous , ethical or gave a **** about common fishing practice as I had found their fish for them . I told them fine , I'm moving to another spot and headed back to the car the long way around the pond . I figured I would hit another spot on the pond . Nope these fine young idiots packed up their stuff and started following me . With that , I just kept going to the car . They followed me all the way to the car and their smartass spokesman said I thought you were going to fish another spot . I told him I was, just not here .They then , jumped in their van and began following me . I headed to the ****iest spot I knew on the river for shore fishing . Sure enough they followed me there . I got out and made a couple casts and they moved in next to me again .I told them , f you , I am going home for lunch and you are definitely not welcomed . They got back in their van and followed me all the way into town until I turned off the main drag onto the street I live on . They kept going on the main drag . I fail to understand why they wasted all that time doing that when they were already at a spot they knew was producing fish . I've heard the saying don't leave fish to find fish but leaving fish to follow an old curmudgeon who has made it clear he does not want company around the county is stupidity in spades .

Yes , that definitely enhances the experience . I got a late start as I slept in today . going to get the chores done and go fishing somewhere .

very nice fish and a magnificent mustache .

I went back to that pond today with one of my friends . Same basic rig float, splitshot , ice fishing jig and bee moth . It's a good thing no one else was there to see two 60 year old guys acting like a couple of kids , carrying on laughing, cussing [ when we missed a fish ] but generally just an abundance of exuberance over hand sized blue gills . We had a couple a tad longer and a few of the smaller , more subdued in color females . Those male gills had magnificantly orange chests . Afterward , back at the car, comparing notes , we both agreed , it felt like we were kids again . That is a wonderful feeling for two old farts for whom the aches and pains of old age are starting to afflict . Both of us were so taken in by this resurgence of youthful exuberance that we could not remember feeling our age . It's a beautiful thing when you just let the simple joys have their way with you . A couple hours later and I still feel it . Peace, out .

I only had two hours to fish due to mucho Dr crap and the pond was near the office I had to go to , so it was an easy decision . I rigged on rod with a mini shy bite thill float , an ice fishing jig and tipped with a bee moth . The other rod I rigged with a 3/16 oz jig and a 3 inch twister . Gills and pumpkinseeds on the float/jig rod . Bass and crappie on the jig/twister . Good way to kill time and relax between the too many waiting rooms I endured today . The shortest wait was 20 minutes .

Redemption today . The creek I fished was too high to wade safely and was chocolate milk . I ended up slogging brush on shore and fishing slack pockets along the shore .After trying my standard high water stuff albeit downsized i finally hit upon the winner . I have an UL Pop-R that is 1.5 inches long and sports a single barbless hook on the rear with no belly hook . Some fish slammed it, some slurped it and some just sucked it under .Spent the rest of the trip using that and continued to catch smallmouth and rockbass . Great day and when I went to the Doc afterward they commented on how good my blood pressure was . Good thing they didn't check it while I was fishing .

Yesterday , I just ran out of steam before I could post this report . I went back to two of the bridges that produced better than the others in the last report . Well it was a case of you should have been here yesterday . Except for two rockbass on a beetlespin , I might as well have been casting in my backyard . Nothing worked , I was getting hungry and sleepy , so I bagged it . Just one of those days, when you get humbled .

Good to hear you are getting better . Hope you get into some fish . Fighting with bees for the honey , hope you win that by a KO . Looks like my estimate of 11 to 12 weeks for the whole deal is not that far off .

I don't know if I'll get thru all of these in the 10 to 12 weeks it's going to take for treatments and recovery . If I can't fish , I can continue educating myself and have compiled this list for that purpose . Some of these are real heavy duty reading . From my personal library :The Ecology of Running Waters by H.B.N. Hynes University of Toronto Press, a reread this is the book that brought worldwide research together and gave the whole movement of studying the ecology of running waters it's start . Heavy duty but a must read for those interested in the subject .Wildstream-A Natural History of the Free Flowing Stream by T Waters a reread this book is a worthy follow up to Hynes . It covers everything that contributes to a river in that river's valley . How Fish Work- Fish Biology and Angling by Sholseth a reread this book,s title is a fairly accurate description of the content .The First International Smallmouth Bass Symposium American Fisheries Society a reread a collection of scientific papers submitted for the symposium The Warmwater Streams Symposium American Fisheries Society same as aboveResponse of Fish to Habitat Structure in Standing Water American Fisheries Society same as above . If time runs short this is one that will be skipped until the river freezes .IDNR pamphlet Aquatic Plants - Identification and Management a shorty but goody From the Kankakee Community College Library :The Fishes of Illinois Illinois Natural History Survey by Smith Handbook of Freshwater Biology Vol 2 Life History of Centrarchid Fishes of USA and Canada by CarlanderFreshwater Ecology Principles and Applications by Jefferies and MillsExploring Ecosystems - Rivers and Streams by Martin The Rivers Handbook Vol 1 Hydrological and Ecological Principles by Catlow and PettsBlack Bass Biology and Management by Sport Fishing Institute Symposium collection of scientific papers submitted to the symposium From the Public Library system :For the Love of Rivers - A Scientist"s Journey by FauschElements of Physical Hydrology Vol 2 by Hornberger, Berg, Raffensperger and D'Odorico Aquatic Plants of Illinois- An Illustrated Manual Including Submersed, Floating and Some of Shallow and Muddy Shores by Winterrenger How to Know Aquatic Plants by PrescottA Manual of Aquatic Plants by OgdenA Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America by VoshellTextbook of Limnology by ColeHandbook of Common Methods in Limnology by Lind Likely more than I will get to in this time frame but I'll have the rest of my life to finish reading them and others I'll find . A lot of real heavy science but I believe that the more you learn about how rivers work the better you will understand how to fish them . Who knows maybe I'll be inspired and have the knowledge to write followups to Current- A River Primer that is available in various forums online that I wrote some time ago .

better get the river monsters dude on the case

Made a tour of multiple cricks today, just some quick in and outs at several spots on each . Pretty much the rain we got locally didn't do much , up a little and added some color to the water. Combination of buzzbaits[got two fish ] , beetlespins [ got better than a dozen ] , 1/16 oz jigs with 2 inch craws [ got better than a dozen ] , rebel wee craws both shallow and deep [ got 4 fish ] and a panther martin 1/16 oz spinner [ got 3 fish including the biggest of the day ] .I was on the last crick using the Panther Martin spinner when I tied into a real good crick smallie , a tad over 17 inches . On a 51/2 ft ultra lite spin with a 100 reel and 6 lb test it was touch and go but lady luck was riding my shoulder . That was the last fish of the day as I figured it wasn't going to get any better than that . Sometimes Ma saves the best for last .Edit to add smallmouth bass, rock bass , sunfish and creek chubs species caught .

I went out today exploring a creek I have never been to except for fishing around the mouth . I went up to the north end of the county and followed it south . I did not get to the mouth as I was getting near home and there was fried chicken , taters and gravy and biscuits waiting . Guilty of exploration being over ruled by my stomach . I fished from the bridges and waded upstream and downstream from the bridges for a bit to kinda get a feel for it . As I got further downstream I ran into a couple spots it looks like I'll need the chest waders . At a couple of the bridges the land was posted with houses right there so I just fished from the bridge .Just downstream and on the next southbound road from one of those spots I found a bridge where the land was not posted . I only waded downstrean just to be safe from confrontations . I primarily used a 1/16 oz jig with a 1 inch twister , a 1/8 oz jig with a 2 inch twister or a 1/16 oz beetle spin . At a couple pf the deeper spots I broke out a teeny deep rebel craw . Smallmouth bass the biggest about 14 inches on the rebel craw, rock bass, sunnies and creek chubs were also caught .

The oncologist who is doing the chemo and the radiology doc were both very upfront with what I was going to go thru . Chemo and radiation start the 17th so I guess it will be sometime in September before I recover . I had a feeding tube put in my stomach . I am arranging for home health care to assist as it takes three hands to operate . My wife has RA real bad so she can't help but my insurance will cover most of that . I do have a $5,000 of of pocket max then everything is covered 100% . As you know it won't take long to hit that limit . As you said I will be miserable but I will be alive .

Long posterior day yesterday , passed out from exhaustion before I could post . I went back and revisited a few places on this particular creek that i had not been to for 3 years . I fished one stretch of a creek where the gradient is extremely low , the bottom is soft and emergent veggies all over . With the low flow on this creek the current flow was barely noticible . It looked more like a pond than a crick so that's how i fished it .I used a beetle spin and let it drop next to every weed clump . If it hung up , I popped it free . Most of the smallmouth bass hit it on the pop free , a couple on the drop . No real size but decent numbers . I moved to another spot on the creek that used to be the rock bass spawning spot for a long stretch of this creek. Complete devastation by sand , could not see any evidence of rocks on the bottom . I caught nothing there on fast or slow presentations .I moved up stream to a stretch that got straightened and looks more like a ditch . The last time I was there it was filling with sand . Well, I hope whoever made the decision to ditch it is happy , there is a beach under the skinny flow of water and not a fish to be seen . I am sure that ditching that stretch up stream of the former rock bass spawning area lead to that spots demise . What a waste of a resource . There is one spot downstream I did not get to because I needed to get home and sleep . I plan on getting to it sometime this week , hopefully the sand has not mucked it over yet .

Short trip due to DR'S and such today . I scouted the stretch first from shore and saw the fish were moving down stream and back up stream in what seemed to be a defined territory .I could see why they chose the up stream limits as there was a good sized drain that brings water in from a retention pond that is feed by an intermittent stream draining a sub division . The downstream limits were the same conditions below where they stopped as it was above the stopping point . About a foot or so deep, intermittent weed patches covered in algae on a bottom more sandy than rocky . I started at the down stream end throwing 1/16 oz beetle spins into the lanes twixt the weed patches . Once I reached the end of my casting limits I got back up on shore as I figured that wading into their territory while they were in an obvious search pattern would only spook them .From up on shore I used a 1/6 oz jig with a one inch twister to bounce down stream thru the lanes twixt the weeds until the line fouled on a weed clump . I would reel in to pick the green and move to another spot where making such casts were possible . Once I got above the drain , I got back in the water and cast the jig downstream into the area around the drain . The drain area was the most productive , casting up from the down stream edge was next . The casting from shore was the least productive due to the limitations in casting and drifting among the many weed clumps . Some smallmouth bass, some rock bass , a couple sunnies and one creek chub . After spending some time thinking about the down stream limit the fish chose , I still have not come up with a reason that makes sense to me . Maybe they have learned that going further expends more energy than is returned for the effort . Maybe it had something to due with the changes from overcast and light rain to partly cloudy and back again . I am sure it made sense to the fish and that is what counts . I just had to adapt to what was instead of what I thought it should be .