DaddyO

No Generation on Saturday. You should have a good tournament. I wish I could go this year. Have fun, tight lines and post pics and report afterwards so that I can live vicariously through you guys.

I'm gonna have to find my Clousers and Deceivers and tie up a few more and come join you guys.

OK. It's not a fair comparison to TaneyCoMo, White River, Norfork River, NFOW or anything in Colorado. But, it's not a bad little river to sharpen your casting skills and haul in some trout. Don't expect HUGE fish, but you can expect to be able to have a 30+ fish day, on a good day, of 9 to 15 inch fish and occasionally one a little larger. I rate it better than the Lower Mountain Fork but that's just my opinion because it's closer to me and I can fish it more often.

Zach, You showed me the Vladi worm one time. What size are you fishing and are you tight lining or fishing it under an indicator?

The past 2 years that I have been there, they have also had a fire stoked up to warm yourself.

Annelids? So does it look like this? What color/sizes did you find?

Please don't take offense, but, let's not start that debate in this forum. Personally, I don't eat very much fish. However, my wife and kids, occasionally, ask me to bring home fish. So, occasionally, I do. I harvest "pan size" fish and release the large fish that I catch for those occasions. Whether or not we want people to keep the fish, they are entitled to do as they wish. My request would be that the larger fish be properly revived and released to improve our fishery. However, I'm sure that the Stripers will get their fill before we even come close to putting a dent in the population.

Excellent! Thank you, Sir.

Dan-O, I believe that he said the average size brown was 9 to 10 inches. I think that I read, once, where browns grow at a faster rate than rainbows do. I would say 16 inches is a good sized brown for this river. You didn't say, but I'd guess he was long and slim and hadn't yet put on a lot of girth?

Regarding size of stocked fish, I spoke with the Biologist over the Lower Illinois Trout Stocking Program. He said that the average size of stocked trout is 11 inches. It will vary between 9 and 13 inches. They will stock both Brown and Rainbow trout, but it is, predominantly, Rainbow. The Browns are harder to get. Most of the fish will come from the hatchery by the Norfork river in Arkansas with some of them coming from the hatchery in Greers Ferry on the Little Red river. When they have more money in the budget, they purchase larger fish from the Crystal Lake Hatchery. They also work trades to get Brown trout. They have sometimes traded Striper and Walleye for brown trout. I hope that helps.

I don't know that they, specifically, stock the Watts Area. This is the Link to the stocking schedule: click here However, my understanding is that the Watts Area is just one of the places they stock. I believe that, in addition to the Watts Area, they stock at Marval and below the dam in the cove area. Also, I believe that the water conditions have to be just right or they will hold off and add those stockings on the next scheduled day.

Well said, Dano. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All!

Mr. Berry, Thank you for providing the fishing reports. I always try to follow your posts as they are very informative. I've noticed that, quite frequently, you refer to Dan's Turkey Tail Emerger. I have scoured the internet searching for a picture of this pattern and was not able to find one. Can you tell me if the attached image is a correct rendition of the pattern? Thanks!

Dang it!! I was wondering when they were going to do this. Thanks for sharing the info, Zach. I, probably, will not be able to attend this year. I already have a commitment on that date. Dang it!! For the rest of you guys, if you've never participated in this event, I encourage you to give it a try. They usually give plaques for First Fish, Most Fish and Largest Fish. It is all done on the honor method and it is a fun event with a great bunch of people. Zach, let us know how you do in the event and who the winners were afterward.

Nice Fish, Bill! Striper on the Fly Rod is on my ToDo list for 2011!!

Good Idea Zach. Here's one that I caught in the Watts Area on a #16 Black Zebra Midge: Here's one that I caught right below the Dam Parking lot on a Bob White: Here's one that I caught at the T&M Gravel Pits area on a Turkey Biot Bodied Soft Hackle:

You can, pretty much, always catch fish with Black and Silver or Red and Silver Zebra midges in size #16 or smaller drifted under a small strike indicator. Bead Head Pheasant Tails work pretty good down river in the T&M Gravel Pit area in size #14 or smaller, again under a strike indicator. Soft Hackles in sizes #16 or smaller stripped in short strips work good on the swing and in the riffles. 5x tippet is about as heavy as you should use. I use 6x and sometimes 7x depending on water clarity. I'll use 5x when stripping soft hackles or buggers. I like fishing the Upper and the Lower Illinois. I find that I can always catch fish and have a good day whether it is fishing the upper for smallmouth or the lower for trout. If this river is close to you, don't give up on it. However, if you have better water, like the White or Norfork rivers in Arkansas, then I wouldn't waste my time on the Lower Illinois. My 2 cents. Good Luck and Tight Lines.

(Sorry for the double post. I didn't see this one until I posted in the other one.) I'll be tying a #14 Hair & Copper. Hook: #14 Scud Hook Thread: Brown Tail: Pheasant Tail fibers Rib: Copper wire Body: Brown Dubbing (brushed out to look buggy) I've used this fly to catch fish in every river system that I have fished. It drops through the water and gets to the bottom fast. It is a great fly to use on a riffle that drops to a deep pool or to drop it in those pockets behind logs and rocks that almost always hold fish. I've tied them as large as a #12 and as small as a #16, but, the most productive size seems to be the #14.

I'll be tying a #14 Hair & Copper. Hook: #14 Scud Hook Thread: Brown Tail: Pheasant Tail fibers Rib: Copper wire Body: Brown Dubbing (brushed out to look buggy) I've used this fly to catch fish in every river system that I have fished. It drops through the water and gets to the bottom fast. It is a great fly to use on a riffle that drops to a deep pool or to drop it in those pockets behind logs and rocks that almost always hold fish. I've tied them as large as a #12 and as small as a #16, but, the most productive size seems to be the #14.

Cool! So, are we tying 24 flies now?

Sounds good. Do you want 22 of the same fly or half of one fly and half of another?

I like the idea of tying whatever was your best fly of the year, but, I'll try to participate in whichever direction is given. Count me in.

Eric, Thanks for posting that. It makes my desk jockey job a little easier to deal with today.

Well, it's been a while since the Lower Illinois has had some wadeable water on the weekend. I saw that this was going to happen according to the generation schedule Friday evening. I also noticed that it was going to be cold Saturday morning. The combination created a "Perfect Storm". (Wadeable water and no crowd) I left the house early, for me, 5:15am. Ran though Mickey D's for a couple of Sausage Burritos and a Bottle of Water. (I'm on a diet and had to stop drinking my Dr. Peppers) Anyway, I pulled into the grassy parking lot below the Dam at 6:30am and was geared up and on the water 15 minutes later. I had a short leader of about 5ft of 4lb test from a previous pond hopping trip. Rather than tie on new leader and tippet, I decided to tie on one of Leonards Olive Hibernators. I walked across the up river tip of the island and hit the stump water below the kiddie pool. I stripped out some line and tossed the fly into the water right in front of a downed tree. I started stripping it as soon as it hit the water and a nice little Rainbow slammed it immediately!! 1 drift, 1 fish. What a way to start the day. After 5 fish in 5 drifts, I soon realized that this was going to be a good day. I eventually lost the Hibernator to a hard hitting Rainbow. By that time, I'd caught about 10 fish and was getting a little tired. I decided to tie on a Hair and Copper under and indicator, thinking that I'd be able to fish a little slower than the fast and furious streamer fishing. I was wrong. The fish imediatley began hitting the Hair and Copper nymph which broke off a couple of fish later. (I forgot to mention that I tied on a new leader and 6x tippet) After catching a few more fish and losing another Hair and Copper, I decided to tie Rick Pikes River Crack. The fish were actually fighting each other to get to this fly!! I decided to move up river after losing the River Crack. I wasn't too disappointed to lose the fly. I'd already caught another 3 or 4 fish on it. So, I decided to tie on a BobWhite and see if I could get any interest in the Kiddie Pool. There were two guys working the pool. One young guy, having some C&R success on a San Juan worm and one old guy fishing Power Bait and keeping fish for the frying pan. It turns out the old guy was sharing his faith with anybody within listening distance. The young guy got tired of listening and left. I had a nice conversation with the old gentleman. Turns out that it was his 83rd birthday. He said that he'd been "Com'in down here for over 50 years! Of course, when you get my age all you can do is sit on a bucket and fish. Sometimes I fall off of my bucket!" I told him that falling off the bucket was better than kicking the bucket! I fished the BobWhite in the pool for a while and landed several more fish. The old man had struck another faith conversation with another young angler. It was nice to see the young guy being patient and respectfull with the old guy. It made me smile. I fished the big water above the Kiddie Pool, but it was too slow. So, I clipped off the BobWhite and tied on a BeadHead White Wooly Bugger with Grizly Hackle. That was my fly of choice for the rest of the day. I used this fly to fish the shallow water right above the Kiddie Pool. After landing 4 more fish, I moved to the rocks right above the Kiddie Pool. Casting my line to the very back of the pool, I stripped the bugger back to me. It was running shallow and I could see the fish swipe and miss it. When they hit it, it was a blast! I caught several more nice fish doing this. Needing a little break from casting and stripping, I reeled in my line and walked down river to the trees, again. Being a glutton for punishment, I threw the bugger in amongst the stumps. I picked up 4 more fish before, finally, losing the bugger. At that point, my stomach began telling me that it was time for some nourishment. Looking at my phone clock, I determined that it was 11:00am. Seemed like a good time to break for lunch and head home. I grabbed a "Bunless" Burger at Jimbo's (remember the diet?) and headed home. Beautiful Fall day and great fishing. What a day!! I didn't take any pics. All of the fish were between 10 and 15 inches.

That's interesting. I just clicked on the link that you provided and the date show 11/12/2010. Clear your browser cache and try it again.