Gary Lange

I was gonna put in at the State Park and fish the dam area but not I am gonna sneak into Aunts Creek and work it hard. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

It right there along the shoreline by the tree with the leaves on it. The one I wanted to land came to me on up the way on the James and it did whatever it wanted including wrapping me around a tree and breaking me off. Should have been using my Baitcaster and 15lb. instead of the Spinning Gear and 8lb. Such is life.

I put in at Aunt's Creek today and did some fishing. I caught one of your fish. It was about 3.5 to 4.0 and like a good boy I put it back where you left it.

In fact, at this point, I think that I will make a point to keep whatever legal bass I catch and FRY them up. It is my God given right. Yummy Make sure you get pictures of them in the Fry Pan because this post is useless without pictures.

Eric, You can agree or disagree all you want because there is and never will be a way to prove either one of us right or wrong. The fact remains that most of the tackle and fishing innovations have come about since Tournament or should I say competitive Bass Fishing. Sure guys liked to fish and if nobody had ever done anything to improve the water quality or habitat would he still have a place to fish that the fish were actually eatable. The argument could go on for years and this thread could go on forever because all it is is opinion generated by how one feels about fishing. I see all this debate about this guy keeping a few big bass but when I post that I am having a meeting of the Southwestern Chapter of the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance nobody says anything and nobody shows up. What this tells me is that nobody really and truly gives a rats butt about Conservation or the environment except to post there views on a web site in a meaningless thread that is going nowhere and will solve nothing.

I don't Tourney Fish except for a monthly club outing. That said one needs to look at where Bass Fishing, Bass or Fish management would be if some guy hadn't thought about having a Bass Tourney or a Walleye Tourney. I suspect Forest wood would be making runabouts, and your tackle would be nothing more than a cane pole. Why would we have any of the advances in tackle, Boats, Fish Management if it weren't for the Big Money that can be made by having them. This brought interest in Bass fishing, created Fisheries Management jobs, Boat Builders and Tackle shops. If it weren't for all this then nobody would have put boat ramps on Table Rock because it would be all pleasure craft set in by crane. Look in your tackle box and think about the fact that interest brought on by competitive Bass fishing is what spawned the innovations in tackle you see. Without that it would be Nightcrawlers fished on a cane pole.

May 19, 2010 By GLORIA CARR gcarr@stmedianetwork.com SOUTH ELGIN -- The Illinois Department of Natural Resources continued Tuesday to investigate the illegal dumping of an acid-based chemical that caused a fish kill in a tributary of the Fox River over the weekend. The IDNR is looking at what and how much was dumped, and it will examine the effects of that dumping on the creek and its wildlife, spokeswoman Januari Smith said. Preliminary reports indicate the chemicals were contained within the creek and did not reach the river, she said. There is no time line for when the investigation will be complete, she said. No charges have been filed against two men who were taken into custody for questioning Saturday, after police found them dumping a substance into a storm sewer at DY Recycling in the 600 block of Sundown Road. The chemicals then leaked into a retention pond on the property and flowed into the creek. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is continuing to work on the investigation with IDNR, spokeswoman Maggie Carson said. Due to the type of chemical dumped, there is nothing to capture because it blends into the water, Carson said. The type of chemical dumped means it immediately causes harm to wildlife, which led to the deaths of spawning carp. However, the substance becomes more diluted as it goes downstream and becomes harmless, she said. "We've got a lot of water (in the Fox River and its tributaries) now that increases the dilution," she said. IEPA investigators are not sure how much of an area was affected, she said. That will be a conclusion in the final investigation.

Well they are starting a cleanup but as of yet they haven't filed any charges. They caught them dumping the Chemicals into a sew drain I guess. The lastest read is from a guy that lives along a section of the waterway. Neighbor: South Elgin fish kill 'obscene' Comments May 18, 2010 By GLORIA CARR gcarr@stmedianetwork.com SOUTH ELGIN — Ben and Anne Culos' home is like an oasis with its lovely lawn, two man-made ponds and a peaceful stream passing through the southern part of the property adjacent to the Fox River. Every night, the couple can hear the bullfrogs and see the gray heron and cranes swoop into the stream to catch fish. RELATED STORIES • S. Elgin stream cleanup begins; no charges yet The last two nights, though, the sound of bullfrogs has ceased. Ben Culos had to chase away the birds to keep them from eating the dead carp, contaminated by a chemical poured into a storm sewer upstream. Dead carp, catfish, frogs and water snakes were pulled from the stream, and more dead carp keep popping up, he said. "The river's really been cleaned up the last seven or eight years," Culos said. "It's really obscene. It's really ridiculous for these idiots to throw those chemicals" in the sewer. He has lived along the river for 14 years and watches nature's scenes unfold every day. The stream next to his house is a natural feeding and breeding ground for the carp this time of year. "We sat here all day Saturday just seeing thousands of them," he said. "We had fish from one end of the stream to the other." Then he and his neighbors began seeing a substance like soap suds, "except they were 6, 8 feet tall," he said. "It was pretty incredible. All of a sudden, you see the fish turning on their sides, gasping for air." An Illinois Department of Natural Resources officer told him the suds take the oxygen from the water, Culos said. He figures since the stream is not very deep, the fish couldn't swim at a different depth and were killed. Ben Culos is sad and disturbed about the loss of the wildlife and losing a natural hatchery.

I don't know right now but I am going to try and find out in the next few days.

I will keep up with this and let you all know!

This is one of my favorite rivers to fish in Illinois and I spent countless hours chasing Smallmouths on this body of water. I hope to hear what the Chemical was and that these two are charged. Fox River fish kill caused by chemicals May 17, 2010 at 06:35 AM SOUTH ELGIN, Ill. (AP) - Authorities say no charges have been filed in connection with the alleged dumping of chemicals into the Fox River that left fish and wildlife dead. Witnesses called South Elgin police on Saturday after seeing bubbles floating downstream and fish popping up from the water. Police Sgt. Randy Endean says officers and fire officials followed the bubbles to their source. There, he says they found two people putting substances into the water. Endean wouldn’t say what the substance was. The case has been turned over to conservation police from the state’s Department of Natural Resources. Spokeswoman Januari Smith says state officials are investigating. Endean says workers have been cleaning the water, recovering dead fish and caring for affected wildlife.

Well this seems to be the most active thread so I will ask here. How many of your guys that have posted on this thread still fish with a cane pole. How many have not spent a dime on fishing tackle in the last year and still fish with the same cork bobber and hook that you got from your Dad when he took you fishing.

Duckydoty, You have presented a very interesting perspective. The fact it that it is so very true. We hate that someone keeps Bass for food because we love to pursue them so much forgetting that they have every right to keep a limit of Bass. I would have thought some other species would be better eating but they were Bass fishing. Love you slant on this Duckydoty.

That has only happened to me once! It was on Grand Lake in my club tourney and we hit the first point as the fish where on Crankbaits on points and had three keepers in the first 20 min. We ended up with 25.91 pounds backed up by a 6.96lb. Spotted Bass that I caught. Haven't been able to do that since. I guess God gave me once and that will be it.

What Techno does know is that the Sonar System they were using to map Aunt's Creek can only be used at high speed so they have every rock tree and creek bed scanned now for the next fishing outing. They are good guys and ready and willing to talk to anyone. HydroTec also works on Rangers as well as Mercury outboards but with Mercury they don't do warranty work like they do with Yamaha. He made the higher speed run up lake out away from the ramp on better water and less wind. I would have been there also but had other things going on. If you need work on your Yamaha or Mercury Wayne and the boys at HydroTec can help you out and Wayne is as honest as they come and stands behind his work. No I am just a friend and met him much the way you did and I receive nothing for pushing business toward his doors. Techno for a few dollars I may be able to get you a copy of the scan!

The boat will handle some awful nasty stuff. Keith hasn't been driving one that long but he does a good job. Only thing stopping me from owning one is the wife won't let me buy another boat. She's cute though!

Were you hoping they flipped it over or what as that is the way you sound. They are personal friends of mine and that boat is one of the most stable riding and fishing boats built. It is a Stroker Bass Boat built one at a time in Maryville, Tn. by Chub Bryant who is about 6'7" and weighs about 330lbs and he wanted a tournament boat that would take a big man like him fishing fast. The boat ran 96 with a 32TXP which is not a good prop for that boat. The guy that owns it was driving and fishes tourney's in Mn. where the boat is at now. Him as well as the guys from HydroTec Performance Marine were down that night testing the rig before he went back home. They are a good group of people and if you have a Yamaha there is no better place then HydroTec to get it repaired.

Six fishermen plead guilty for excessive fishing of smallmouth bass: Outdoors Notebook. By D'Arcy Egan, The Plain Dealer May 07, 2010, 7:30AM PORT CLINTON, Ohio -- Six southern fishermen had a banner week of smallmouth bass fishing on Lake Erie last week, and it could cost them their boats, bass and plenty of cash after being cited for overbagging 141 smallmouth bass. The men, from Tennessee and Georgia, were under surveillance for a few days before Ohio wildlife officers arrested them last Friday. "It was the largest case of overbagging Lake Erie bass I'd ever seen," said Gino Barna, head of Lake Erie law enforcement. "Few Ohio fishermen, especially the hardcore bass anglers, keep Lake Erie smallmouth bass. We observed these six men making two or three fishing trips a day, bringing back a daily limit of bass each time." The daily limit when they were fishing was five per day. Cited were: Freeland Leffew, 66, of Soddy Daisy, Tenn., and his son, Michael Leffew, 38, of Hixson, Tenn.; Samual Stephens, 58, of Soddy Daisy, Tenn.; Freddie Warren, 63, of Wildwood, Ga.; and Charles Burkhart, 67, and Samuel Carroll, 65, both of Ringgold, Ga. Ohio's closed bass season on Lake Erie began Saturday. Bass caught through June 25 must be released. Port Clinton Municipal Court Magistrate Louis Wargo accepted guilty pleas on all 30 charges from the six men on Monday. Wildlife officials confiscated three bass boats, two chest freezers, 155 bags of frozen fish and 20 unfrozen fish. A pre-sentencing report is due Tuesday, with sentencing June 2. In addition to court fines, the Division of Wildlife is seeking restitution of $50 per fish, or $7,050, forfeiture of boats and freezers and a three-year revocation of their fishing licenses. Ohio is one of 34 states belonging to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. Oddly enough, the men said they had also caught a few walleye, which they released.

I bet you caught that same 8lb'r back when it was growing up and returned it then also Bill. That is really a nice catch and that guy will wear that smile for a long time.

I was out Wednesday and used Tubes in about 20-25 feet to get a few fish.

The Monthly meeting of the Southwestern Chapter of the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance will be meeting this Thursday May 6, 2010 at the Springfield Nature Center off Republic Road. Hope to see some come out and see what we are all about. Those that are members come out and lets get to know each other better.

The Monthly meeting of the Southwestern Chapter of the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance will be meeting this Thursday May 6, 2010 at the Springfield Nature Center off Republic Road. Hope to see some come out and see what we are all about. Those that are members come out and lets get to know each other better.

You tell Cliff what you want Jason and he will paint it for you.

A good friend of mine has started a full time Lure Painting Business. He is really good at it I think so if you can check him out and see what you think. http://www.cliffscustoms.net/

Welcome to the OAF! You will learn a lot her I sure have.