1-22-17 on a river up in illinois

[Norm M]

The river is still out of it's banks with zero visibility . Outside of spitting rain, some wind and overcast skies it wasn't too bad outside . I noticed a lot of road killed possum , thankfully no dead skunks in the middle of the road . Large formations of geese above and on the water .

I shore fished, too dangerous to wade at the current flow rates . I was real careful about avoiding sloping, muddy areas to avoid slipping into the river as well . I'd rather miss a few spots and catch fewer fish than take a chance on dying .

I was using a jig/pig in shoreline related slack/slow spots with basically a lift/drop/set a spell retrieve . Four smallmouth and one small walleye liked that. For the most part it was soft bottom and flooded grass/brush/tree cover . I also used a slip float with a 1/16 oz jig/2 or 3 inch plastic set from 1 to 1.5 feet deep . I got a fair amount of crappie and a few sunfish in the same areas I was fishing with the jig/pig . Being as how I was on shore I used a 7 ft medium action spin for the jig/pig and a 7 ft light action spin for the bobber/jig .

After that I moved downstream a ways to fish a side channel with a singlespin for some pike . It took a bit of walking and casting but I ended up with three decent sized pike .

While the weather wasn't as nice as earlier in the week it was much nicer than the usual January fare . Too good to pass up .