Norm M

First time out in a bit, good thing I was out in the back end of no where with the first couple casts . Pathetic as a politicians campaign promises . Everywhere I went was a mixture of open water and ice , thankfully enough open water to fish . I started out in the back country at a crick that doesn't get a lot of attention and I like it that way . Most of the slackwater be it shoreline, island , snag or weed related was covered with ice. After getting nothing going upstream with jigs/plastics in the open and faster moving water , I figured a change of tactics was needed. I headed back downstream to where I was parked working the edges of the ice cover over the slack areas. I used a small floating minnow , cast it downstream to hang in the current next to the ice cover . I ended up with 1 decent rock bass from the ice cover along a wood jam . Cool, found open water and figured a way to catch a fish . After going thru that medical crap , it was a good feeling to feel something on the end of my line . I hit another crick, this one has some hold over trout from the fall stocking as well as bass and rock bass . I found a riffle-pool-riffle sequence that had more depth than the rest that I scouted and decided to fish there first . I was casting a size 2 panther martin spinner across and down from the top to the back. I ended up catching an 8 inch trout . I fished three of the other riffle-pools with no fish caught but did have a very small smallmouth flash out and miss the spinner as it passed some wood laying on the bottom . Last stop was the river , found some places where there was slower but not slack flow that was not ice covered . rock bottom , algae on the rocks maybe 3 feet deep. I used a 1/8 oz darter head jig with a jigspinner attached and a dropshot erie darter swimming it off bottom . Finally get the fish I've been thinking about while not being able to fish, nice fat smallmouth 15 - 16 inches . Kepp working the area and get another hit, this from the head shake felt like a walleye . Sure enough , walleye just over 19 inches. Man just over the slot , no walleye dinner . Not bad, 4 fish, each of a different species , from three different places in about 4 hours in my first trip back . Back is a little sore , but it's a good sore, I earned it .

Better to hear the DNR is adding new parks than waiting to hear which ones are going to close. word is Illinois laid off 1/3 of the Conservation Police force . I'm happy for you guys , good that some states are at least trying to get it right .

Over twenty years ago my mother passed on . She had made the decision to be an organ/tissue donor . We got letters of thanks thru the donor agency from people she helped with her decision . Bread cast upon the waters. Flash forward to today, I wrote one of those letters of thanks to the donor agency . It took me a couple of days to find the right words but I got it figured out . Someone made that decision to donate tissue that was used to reconstruct my tongue . That enabled me to avoid more pain and fewer complications during the surgery and recovery . Thanks Ma, for making that cast for me

I never got the tube thru the nose, thankfully . first meal the hospital brought me in the recovery room was grits, orange juice and coffee , their idea of a soft diet . so fat it's been chocolate milkshakes with ensure added for nutrients but definitely not taste, homemade chicken broth , green jello and progressing to mash taters/gravy with some small pieces of chicken . my wife is making me some homemade chicken noodle soup right now . my doc says increase the range of diet as I can tolerate it . I changed up to some thinner pillows and some sessions with a heating pad and the stiff neck is improving . I found that if I don't eat at least a little something every so often , I get headaches . wouldn't be surprised if my body is telling I've lost too much weight , better increase the intake . I used to be able to make it on eating twice a day, that doesn't cut it anymore . they gave me a rinse chlorahexidine for my mouth. supposed to be an antibacterial and just to sweep any food particles out . I can definitely tell that stuff tastes like crap. doc says I likely will never have full taste again, with that stuff it's a relief . all in all, I'm like you, I'd rather be a survivor and deal with stuff like this .

8 days after surgery and the shoulder seems fine, no pain or loss of range of motion . I do have a little bit of a stiff neck but I think that is because they just took the clips out of the incision on the neck . I was so scared I would rip one out while sleeping that I had been sleeping in weird positions . I couldn't wash my hair or take a full shower until the clips came out . Man , that hot shower with clean hair made me feel human again . the tongue does dry out at night, I keep a thermocup of ice water next to the bed . When the dryness wakes me , I don't even have to get out of bed . Well not at least until it's woke me once too often and I have to git rid of some of the water . So I'm still sleeping in segments, have not slept thru on any night . As far as taste , I'm starting to be able to make some distinctions. I guess only time will tell on that .

sorry for your loss to this horrible disease .

Believe me, when you come up to that kind of brink and your doctors let you know what could happen good or bad, with most of it bad , it sets you to thinking . I knew that attitude can help and not even the docs fully understand how much your mental attitude affects your body's ability to fight off disease . That is why I decided from the start that I was going to win . No point in going into the biggest challenge I have ever faced admitting defeat from the start . What did I have to lose, go in with the right attitude and hope like heck it matters . To my way of thinking , catching it early was probably the biggest thing I had going for me . After they did yea many tests and confirmed the cancer had not spread, I knew my chances of living had just taken an upward tic . Add in a very good medical team , support and prayers from family and friends and the fact that I am in deed a stubborn, crotchety old curmudgeon who wasn't going out without a fight all played a role . I think all these years of fishing and the mental attitude I developed along the way helped . When you can make yourself believe that you will catch a smallmouth bass on a topwater in a river in the middle of winter and keep on believing that cast after fishless cast , then you can likely convince yourself of anything . Believe in yourself and your abilities and good things happen . Another positive to come out of this , is that my wife and I have grown even closer through her unwavering support and belief in me . I did not think that after all these years it was possible to grow any closer but I was wrong . I love that woman now more than ever . I knew I was getting the news about my future when I met the doc today . I doubt I slept more than 2 hours the night before . I should be dead asleep by now. The adrenaline rush I got when the doc gave me the great news still has me going. The emotional release and the joy that sprang thru my soul at that time is something that I just don't know how to describe with words . Falling in love with and marrying this wonderful woman was the greatest thing that ever happened to me . Being there for the birth of all three of my kids comes next . The doc giving me this news is third. There is no fourth as everything else pales in comparison

had the surgery one week ago today . still taking pain pills to eat but I've found that using the right side to eat with is working right now as the cancer was on the bottom left . I have an appointment to see a speech therapist , my wife says I sound a little better . how long did you have to do the soft diet ? I have an outrageous desire to take two slabs of homemade bread, slather on some creamy peanut and have some bbq chips on the side .

cancerous lesion on the forehead removed, got it all, margins good - no further treatment needed cancer on the tongue removed with about 1/3 tongue, tongue rebuilt with graft from tissue donor. margins good . no cancer found in lymph nodes removed- no further treatment needed . looks like I'm going to win .

definitely let me know when they go on sale . I believe in paying for a product . mitch deserves to reap the rewards of his hard work .

I'm from Bourbonnais il, near Kankakee . you won't miss the northern il weather .

Tim just got back from the post office, they said at book rate it should be there in about 5 days . don't worry about paying for the postage . I'm an old Deadhead who still believes in random acts of kindness and continual acts of love . Or as my Baptist mother would have said " cast thy bread upon the waters "

how long do you rest the spot , I usually give it 10-15 minutes

sending them off to you Tim

Thanks Al , for the additional information . Well , since Al already has copies , if anyone is interested PM your mailing information to me .

Al In a box of older fishing magazines I acquired today were some copies of Fishing & Hunting Journal The Magazine of the Ozarks Region Volume 3 Number 4 July/August 1988 has your artwork on the cover and back .The cover is a smallmouth leaping out of the water , the back cover is a green sunfish . Volume 3 Number 5 September/October 1988 features an article about you written by Robert Montgomery . by the way the July/ August issue has an ad on page 105 for 6 issues of Smallmouth Magazine for $12.00 . If you are interested in having them , please PM your mailing information and I will send them your way . I also have Volume 3 Number 3 May/June 1988 that has an article by Spence Turner about C&R for smallmouth on Ozark streams . It is about a discussion he had with Otto Fajen on the subject . If Al or anyone else is interested in this edition please PM me . Phil Is Tim Lilley listed as one of the Field editors kin of yours ?

surgery to remove the cancer on my tongue 12-6 then 6-8 weeks to recover . right now outside of the constant pain which I am learning to live with I am doing well . the only good thing that came out of it is that I've shed the excess weight and my knees are grateful .

Well it was intended to be a smallmouth trip but it didn't go quite as planned so I'll post it here instead of the smallmouth section . I had a lot of time today before dinner so I decided to use it wisely and go fishing. Nothing on the boob tube held any interest , all the chores were caught up and no one in the immediate family has interest in the shopping nonsense . The river is coming up, better than 3 times it's normal flow rate and still rising . Water temps in the low 40's , no visibility, debris floating down river . Still have algae on the bottom in many stretches, maybe the high, muddy and cooler water will help get rid of some of that before the true cold water period starts . I decided to travel light, medium light spin rod, matching reel and 10lb nanofil with no leader . One small box that fit in my coat pocket, some jig spinners, handful of 1/8 and 1/4 oz jigs, walleye assassins and sassy grubs . The plan was to hit a series of creek mouths , that went out the window from the start . First spot had someone camped on it with 5 or 6 rods , second spot parking area full likely folks out walking the nature trail building an appetite and third spot the parking area was too muddy to take a chance on getting stuck . I got to the fourth spot and to my surprise not a single car parked, time to fish . I started with a jig spinner with a size 2 orange Colorado blade, 1/4 oz darter head jig and a walleye assassin rigged upside down. Working back slowly against the current on the creek/river seam got two nice smallmouth 16-17 inch range in the first 1/2 hour. I worked the area upstream on the creekmouth with the same rig , got 3 walleyes in the lower 20 inch range . I took a little hike to get to the point pool downstream of the creekmouth , figuring there might be some smallmouth staging there with the higher flow . After the 1/4 oz jig didn't produce , I switched to an 1/8 oz darter head , walleye assassin rigged upside down and changed the jig spinner to a size 1 gold Colorado blade. I worked in from the seam to the shore , slow rolling it just above the bottom . No smallmouth but 4 walleye in the mid to upper twenty inch range . I made another change to a 1/8 oz ballhead jig with a shorter shank , a sassy grub and switched to a jig spinner with a size 1 nickel Colorado blade . As I was working thru the area again slow rolling above the bottom, I got bit on the drop about halfway down . That turned out to be a very fat crappie about 11 inches long . I spent the rest of the time counting down and working the mid depths of the water column. I ended up with 6 more crappie , none as long as the first one but all very fat . Good thing for those crappie that I prefer to eat my fish fresh and I knew my wife was making a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. If not for that dinner would have been fried crappie, corn bread and iced tea. It turned out to be a good thing I didn't fish the first three spots because I never would have made it to that point pool otherwise . Catching river crappie is not my strong suit so I always appreciate it when it happens .

Twas a bittersweet time during the playoffs, Cubs win the Series , I get diagnosed with cancer on my tongue . PET scan. MRI, Ct scan all done, meeting with oncologist, radiation doc and ENT doc over next couple days to get a course of treatment . I will beat this and survive . The Cards do things the right way, develop talent of their own, trade for or sign free agents as needed . The Cubs finally got an owner who hired the right baseball people and gave them the freedom and resources to do it the right way as well .

Change of pace, chasing walleyes intentionally . Hit a creekmouth in an urban environment late afternoon . Suspending rogue, purplish in color, steady retrieve working the entire area in a clockwise pattern . Picked up two walleye 21 and 22 inches, both in the protected slot so they were released . It figures I go out hoping for some walleye for dinner and I can't catch any legal ones twixt 14 and 18 inches . Hit two other spots with shad raps and wally divers , no fish . hit up a spot that has produced some nice sized fish in the past . went with a 3/4 oz tandem spin[ #5 willow-#2 Colorado both gold, yellow head and skirt tipped with greenish 4 inch swim bait] slow rolled near bottom making occasional bottom contact to be sure it stayed in the zone . One walleye just under 30.5 inches , 3rd 30 inch or better walleye in over 5 decades of fishing this river . As the river gods willed I lost that lure to a snag three casts later .

I have had some fantastic days in cold water when the wind was blowing white caps up stream .

In that case , yes a major disruption like that in conditions already difficult to have any sustained success in would make things extremely difficult .

Al I have to disagree about forgetting about it when the temps are under 35 degrees . A few years back I took the outdoor writer for the Chicago Sun Times out to prove to him you could catch smallmouth bass in a river in water temps just above freezing on crankbaits . He got his proof . We were standing on shore amidst mounds of snow and large chunks of ice fishing a creek mouth . The creek flows thru our one and only small mile long limestone canyon and the creek water in summer is cooler than the river water . My river is definitely a different beast than the Ozark rivers you fish, It is definitely much shallower , Not much of what you describe as wintering areas in the waters you fish . The other side of the coin is that it is much further north, about an hour south of Chicago .

I am a real lucky guy, here it is my 31st wedding anniversary and I not only went fishing but am writing a report. I am married to a very understanding , loving and wonderful woman . The river has been dropping for the most part, it's still not exactly safe for any but limited wading due to the force of the flow . Water is clearing , over a foot of visibility . Water temps fluctuating depending on over night temps and the amount of cloud cover during the day . With some of the natural signs I look for to indicate prespawn are present . I'm using techniques and avoiding known spawning areas as much as possible to try to avoid the early spawners . That plan went into effect when the natural signs started and I started catching smallmouth with worn tails fishing low and slow . I have been using aggressive techniques, rattlebaits, swimbaits, swimjigs, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and crankbaits . Crankbaits and buzzbaits at the heads and tails of riffle areas have been a winning ticket . Rattlebaits on seams, at creekmouths and over waterwillow stubble have been the best producer over all. Chatterbaits and spinnerbaits over waterwillow stubble have had their moments . Swimbaits and swim jigs on seams have brought fewer but higher quality fish . Mostly smallmouth feeding heavily, walleyes picking up their feeding and the number of channel cats taking lures is rising