2-15 up in illinois

[Norm M]

state park area of river full of icy, slushy crap, up in urban area there is open water . the biggest problem is access , not a whole lot of plowing done .

gauge still screwed up due to ice, river looked to be up . I didn't bother with water temps .

With the sloppy conditions I traveled light, rod/reel, box with Carolina rig stuff and pliers in coat pocket, line clippers on lanyard , no waders, wore the redwing boots .

I fished current seams and slack areas with a Carolina rig slightly modified for use in current . Where possible I casted as straight up stream as possible on the seams and quarter cast when not . In the slack areas it was pretty much a straight retrieve allowing for some movement by current .

The pickups were very light, just the mushy, not quite right feel .two smallmouth on the seams, two in the slack areas , 1 carp in the slack areas .

nice outing for this time of year

 first outing in a bit due to some health issues with the wife . you have to keep the priorities straight .