Chainsaws for carp.

[pkins44]

Well sharpened up the chainsaw for tomorrow mornings fishing adventure to my usual river. I went to check the river levels in person this morning but before I could get to the river this tree just happened to fall asleep in the road. I decided to give it 24hrs before I fixed it for the park. It took them 3 weeks to get rid of the last one, the least I can do is help right? The river was still high anyways with huge gusts of wind.

If there is anything I enjoy more than fishing its pretending to be a lumberjack. Hopefully Ill have enough fingers left over to strip in some line after.

 

[iaflyguy]

Yeah, its always fun when we have to take matters into our own hands. Don't they know we have work to do? :biggrin:

 

[pkins44]

Indeed it was fun cutting up the tree this morning. When I arrived at the park the entrance gate was open and the tree untouched. I wouldn't be surprised if the city even knew about it. But I wasn't gonna call and miss out on the fun. After I started making the first cut on the trunk, sure enough one of the few times I've seen forest preserve police pull in behind my car. I quickly finished the cut so even if I had to stop I would be able to push it off the road after he left. It ended up being jut fine with the officer. It was actually a police officer I had seen twice last year and he knew me to be kinda crazy then too. I made a few more cuts, then the officer and I cleared the road. I finally made it to the river after being called nuts by the officer.

I was able to fish for 2hrs after the tree down dilema. I forgot my camera as usual, but most of the fish were small. I caught a total of 8 fish: 4 bluegills, 3 crappie and 1 baby smally. The carp eluded me again. It just makes me more addicted. I can't wait for the river to recede back to normal levels and I can get back in her quick. As usual good luck out there.

 

[theboz]

Last guy to use a chainsaw to improve his fishing won &100,000 on the FLW tour by cutting his way into to back arms of the lake he was competing in! Could be an omen of big carp to come!

 

[iaflyguy]

Was the water pretty muddy? What were you throwing (if you dont mind me asking)?

---------- Post added at 08:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:21 AM ----------

That's great that it worked out alright. Sometimes you just never know how the authorities are going to react.
If it were me, I would have done all that work only to be skunked.

 

[pkins44]

The water was just starting to clear a little but still very muddy. Although thge water was muddy, it was an extremely bright day and I opted to try my luck with a white zonker. I can't seem to get away from that pattern. Since the river was so high and muddy I focused most of my fishing at the mouth of a small creek that flowed much slower. Most of the fish I caught would probably considered bait fish but thats fine by me.

 

[iaflyguy]

I hear ya, this time of year when they still seem to be holding deep, I'm happy to be catching anything that wants to bite.
Ive been having some luck with a gray and black WB, but that's just catching smaller panfish. The general visibility in the water here is about a foot to two feet, so I may have to be brave and try the white colors and see how that does.
Yesterday I was doing great with the crappies on spin gear with a green grub with green flakes on a beetle spin, so last night I tied on a damsel pattern in green with red mono eyes to see if I can get the profile to translate.
I'm not sure if that's a wild goose chase or a new found technique. LOL

 

[pkins44]

I have been doing alot of experimenting with different colors and flys with the ever changing weather and water clarity. Once I get some of the data compiled I might have a little better idea on what to throw at these fish rather than bright fly on a bright day lol.

On a seperate note, is there anyone aware of fly fishing tournaments in the great lakes region or has anyone ever set one up? Just trying to get a few fly fisherman together for a friendly competion but wouldnt know how to organize it properly.[COLOR="Silv

 

[mbphotos54]

I design and build mountain bike trails at the same park I fish at, so this is a regular thing for me. all volenteer, either we do it and have trails to play on or not so my crew does a fair amount of the clearing atleast in the backwoods areas.

 

[iaflyguy]

On a seperate note, is there anyone aware of fly fishing tournaments in the great lakes region or has anyone ever set one up? Just trying to get a few fly fisherman together for a friendly competion but wouldnt know how to organize it properly.[COLOR="Silv[/QUOTE]

I'm not in the area, so I'm no help, but I would make a separate thread for that so you can get more people involved. Sounds like a good idea to me!

 

[pkins44]

Thanks for the motivation mbphotos. I'm gonna try to contact some people in charge of the parks. If I could get permission to make a couple of trails here a lot more beautiful fishing habitat would be much easier to get in and out.

Iaflyguy thanks for the suggestion to make up a separate thread for advice on setting up a tourney. Im tired up tripping over tvs and old tires and would like to somehow help work with someone who knows what they are doing to clean up the river. The Du page used to be very polluted and has come a very long way. but there is still so much garbage from hooligans throwing their garbage in there. On one stretch of the river there is an old 50's one ton truck in the river. I also want to let others know how amazing the fishery is and could be so much better. I have talked to people who live in the area and never knew there was good fishing in the river however that happens. Sounds like a visit to the DNR office may be in order.

 

[mbphotos54]

there is a down side to making those spots easier to get too.. keep that in mind. if you decide to build trial. I reccomend watching alot of the IMBA Trail Building videos on youtube. build it right the first time.

 

[pkins44]

Awesome. I'n gonna look into that shortly and also see if minor modifications to game trials to be a little harder for some to find. Thanks for steering me in the right direction.

 

[mbphotos54]

my crew works with landmanagers all the time, we just got the green light to start dirt work on a 4 mile trial we have beeing flagging for months..

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EZRnizUXJQ]IMBA - USFS - Building Mountain Bike Trails - 1 of 9 - YouTube[/ame]

watch the videos, itll give you some ideas. just because the goal is mtb trails the rules for making it last and fun works for foot paths also. means less work in the future. good luck!

 

[pkins44]

Awesome video MB. I'm gonna look for the rest tonight. Thanks for the guidance. Im gonna be doing a little bit of bushwacking to get to a new spot of the Dupage for me. Haven't been able to find it off a main trial but thanks to google maps I know its there.

 

[mbphotos54]

we use google ALOT

 

[pkins44]

Well got the motivation to get in contact with the local conservation group down here and will actually be volunteering this may, in the "dupage river sweep". It is an even where a bunch of volunteers in different municipalities organize a wade through the river removing trash. They also coordinate a "restoration" crew that works along the banks trying to remove invasive species and cleaning up trash.

 

[mbphotos54]

cool! good luck