multiple river trips up in illinois

[Norm M]

river level dropping, almost to normal flow, couple ft visibility, water temps got into 50's . unseasonably warm , but enjoying it tremendously .

two short trips, first trip hit big slack area, about 4 plus ft out near seam w/faster water, cobblestone bottom, algae covered, creek at upstream end intermittent ditch at downstream end . fished suspending rogues, jointed floating rapalas and rattling spook. one very nice smallmouth on the spook, couple decent smallmouth on the jointed raps. spook fished with long pauses between short pops, raps stop and go, all fish hit when lure started moving again . hit in 2-3 ft water. couple decent walleye on the rogue, slow , steady retrieve, hit in about 2-3 ft water. second trip, bit over an hour, 1 smallmouth on bandit 300 banged off boulder in slower water, cobble bottom with boulders, wintering area for bass .

river level coming way up with the rain, gauges almost straight line rise, well above normal flow, getting muddier as day went on. water temps dropping back to high 40's at the end.
made a run of creeks and intermittent ditches, mostly cobble bottom with algae, some had woody cover, some had water willow beds.
only had success with one lure, weighted keeper hook with erie darter . it had to be sitting still for a while, pickups were extremely light, small tic to line. couple I didn't see the tick, just felt a little less pressure thru the line. 11 smallmouth, mostly 14-16 inch, couple bigger . 5 walleye 10-14 inches . was light rain until sometime in early afternoon then sun started breaking thru. when that happened the bite died. went thru a variety of more aggressive lures but it soon became apparent that low and slow was the way to go. not my favorite way to fish but it was working. you just have to go with want the fish want, not what you want. of course if I had what I really want, I'd have a 18 year old body again

[Al Agnew]

You're killin' me, Norm.  I had a trip all planned for tomorrow...last warm day after the big warm spell, figured the rain would color the river a bit, and it would be perfect.  But got more rain that I was counting on, and river is up three feet or so, bound to be muddy, just too much water.  By the time it drops back into fishable territory the water will have cooled off considerably.

[Norm M]

Al

 

 Heard it might warm up again around Christmas. If so , hopefully the river is down and you can get some bronze cheer .

 

 Fishing in the rain with a chilly wind put more ache than usual in my joints today   Getting older does beat the alternative by many orders of magnitude though .  

[Mitch f]

Norm, the spook bite in this water temp can only be accomplished exactly how you did it, good job. I get the feeling you are the only guy on the river?.........is that true?

[Norm M]

 if there were others out I didn't see them. there were no other cars at the access areas .

 when the winter temps get colder "dead sticking" the spook can work . I really don't recommend topwaters in water temps in the 30's . I've caught fish doing it but it's such a low percentage deal that it's not worth it . it's tough enough just catching a smallmouth most of the time in really cold water . since I proved to my self that it can be done, I've only done it when I get a wild hair up the backside .