christmas fishing in illinois

[Norm M]

river crested and dropping, just under 4 times normal flow, no visibility, 45 degree water temps . nicer day today with less wind and not so over cast .

First place I fished was a creek mouth . There was a foam line over the seam between the river and creek flows that was Ma's way of saying fish here . I was tossing a square bill crank that runs 5 ft deep downstream and bringing it back against the current. Cobblestone to bit larger rock , inches to 3 ft or so deep. I let the crank just wobble in place against the current, reel in one turn or so and repeat. That got one nice smallmouth. I worked the rest of the area with the crank, a rattlebait, spinnerbait, swim bait and jigs but nothing was going fish wise.

Next up was fishing the flooded , exposed roots of a sycamore tree with a weighted keeper/erie darter . That got two rockbass in the 5 to 6 inch range in very short order .

After that I fished a lot of shoreline related slack spots and the current seams there abouts . Cranks, rattlebaits, swimbaits and jigs didn't produce .

Last shot was fishing some bridge abutments with jigs, that didn't produce either

[snagged in outlet 3]

Are you fishing in a boat?

Thanks for the reports, I enjoy them.

Pete

[Norm M]

 wading, with very limited access into the water at those flow rates. I'm not taking any chances to get fish . My days of being young , foolish and invincible are well past.

[joeD]

Norm, didn't you catch smallies off a picnic table at 38000 cfs?  This cold dirty water should be nothing for you. I'll refresh your memory:

"37,800 cfs and rising, more rain forecast .

I combined a couple set lines with casting for smallmouth today, both produced in this turbid mess.

I targeted two breaks in the flooded shoreline cover that allow access to the flooded grassy areas teeming with worms. I used crawlers in one spot and stink bait in the other. It didn't take long to switch both to crawlers. Catfish, carp and freshwater drum were interested in eating the worms. Why not, plentiful and easy to catch.

I started with a tandem spin with a twister trailer, worked ok . I switched to weighted keeper hook with a paddle tail fluke rigged sideways, worked much better. Smallmouth off flooded picnic tables, grills and parking blocks. Smallmouth off trees, weed beds and debris piles"

The Meramec River at Steelville is 36,000 cfs right now. I'm sure big smallies can be caught right now "bank" fishing for the enterprising angler.

 

[Norm M]

 Joe

 

 Some days are better than others . I didn't use the right combination of location, lures/retrieves and timing . Angler error as there were fish feeding somewhere on the river .

 

 As far as fishing in extremely high current conditions the most important thing is safety . If you have any doubt about approaching a location, don't do it, no fish is worth dying.

 My river right now is 30.000 cfs and rising rapidly . I didn't fish today due to treacherous footing from freezing rain . I almost busted my tail bone taking the dogs out on level ground in my yard . There was no way I was going near a river in that combination of conditions.

 

 Right now every thing is melting , the river could get close to 40,000 cfs . I plan on giving it a shot but I'll be really picky about where I go. That spot I had success on in that report you quoted is one of them.  I'm not sure if the worm thing will happen this time of year but with the recent warm spell , I wouldn't be surprised if it did .

 

 I'll be wearing waders but mostly to keep mud off and cut the wind. Any entry into the water will be severely limited to spots with good footing and very low to no current flow.

 

 Will I catch fish, I hope so, that's the reason we all go. If I don't, I'll try to learn from my mistakes . That's all we can do .

[joeD]

Would it kill you to fish with someone? You're always alone in your posts. To each his own, obviously, I get it, still...wouldn't it be nice to have a friend along?

 

[Old plug]

JOE. I do not think you do git it. i want to be alone out there. it is not about being anti social. To some of us this fishing stuff  is a compulsion or addiction we thrive on . Wrench is a very good friend of mine. But over the period of 20+ years I have only been fishing with him 3 times that I can remember. We do not fish the same style. He fishes very shallow and I on the other hand am not comfortable with that. He does fish sometimes with someone.  I also do have another old clog my age that I fish with. But it means nothing to our friendship. i do not think I would be comfortable with him in the front of the boat. i know he would not ne comfortable with me in the back. i am one of  the most talkitive  deaf people  you ever could meet. I am sure we both  fish alone for comcentration and peace as well. There is also more than 20 yrs between us. it can make differance. 

[Flysmallie]

Some people like to fish alone and some people like to fish with other people. I don't think I have ever fished with anyone that matched my style of fishing. Hell for as long as I fished with my dad most people would have assumed that we liked to fish the same way but that wasn't even close to the truth. Sometimes you gotta give a little if you want to be out there with somebody. I know some of you would rather not do that, I've been there and been like that so I understand. But now days I'd rather be out there with someone enjoying it together. Thankfully I lost the desire to perfect this craft, it's been a lot more fun since I achieved that.

[Old plug]

I am out all of the time bow with nother guy pushing 80. He was a marine and I was  navy we enjoy ourselces out  there for a few  hours every evening.We tell  Sea Storie , bachelor days stuff ,mama sans, and all that sort of thing. ( sort of wishful thinking) Most of my fishIng comes over and in water  15 ft. wrench on the other hand you just about have to get a tow boat  to get him out there that deep very often. 

[podum]

This thread has been hijacked.  In a good way.  I used to fish alone a lot.  As i've gotten older i realized (45 now), I like to fish with a companion but it has to be the right person.  Not in my business.  Not necessarily near me when wade fishing.  Just company on the drive down and when having a break or eating lunch.  Talking about what's working and such.  Other than that, by myself please.