My homie DanK asked if I wanted to fish, and I said, yes.
He asked where, and I said, I'm down for where ever.
DanK said, the Kishwaukee, it is!
He fished the "Kish" for the first time a weekend prior, and the smallies and pike kept him busy, so, he was eager to return. I, on the other hand, was simply excited to see some new waters.
Having done a bit of homework...I asked my buddy Kurt from "a Tight Loop" magazine about some intel on the river, and he gave me a quick run down of what to expect, and he mentioned 1 fly - a yellow and white clouser, tossed on a 5 wt.
Armed with my 5 wt, a freshly tied yellow/white clouser minnow, and my ultra light spinning rod, with a 1/16 jig and a white twisty tail grub, I was ready for the Kish.
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| The start of a great day. |
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| Check out that water clarity!!! |
The water was low and crystal clear. The day was started slow. There were quite a few places that we had to get out of our kayaks and drag them, because, the water was so low. In the areas the water was not low, you can betcha we caught some fish!!!!
The smallmouth just could not resist the freshly tied yellow/white clouser or the white jig that I tossed with my spinning rod. It was one of those days where you just couldn't wipe the smile of joy and excitement off of your face. Thanks, for the tip, KURT!!!
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| Tons of fun! |
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| REPPIN' THAT #PIGFARMPINKIE |
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| One of the bigger ones you'll find in this river. |
I just love floating the rivers in Fall. The change in colors just makes everything so scenic and beautiful. With the arrival of off the Fall season, there were a ton of leaves on the water, so, between the two of us, we caught well over a hundred leaf fish. High Five!
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| FALL. |
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| Fall on the Kishwaukee River. |
I wasn't the only one to hook up with some fishy friends. DanK found his fair share of smallies with a small jerk bait, and skirted jig. He caught the biggest smallie of the day on a jig, while I was fighting a 30 lb carp that was foul hooked with my 5 wt. The carp shook free after a 4 minute fight and sleigh ride. DanK was also able to find and hook up with 3 pike, and one even stole a hook from his lure, and he didn't even know. He had a pike hit his jerk bait 15 times without a hook up, and that's when I noticed he was missing one of the hooks from his lure. Ha.
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| Biggest Northern Musky of the day. |
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| Biggest smalljaw of the day. |
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| Solid fish. He's been after this one for years! |
Oh, I also, caught a chunky little largemouth bass. Check out those colors!
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| Love those predominant markings. |
It was a solid day of fishing, especially, on new water, and always a pleasure fishing with my boy DanK. Smallmouth bass galore and 40 minutes from the house, it's a no brainer...I'll be back (Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator voice).
Thanks, to SkiFish, for showing DanK the Kish, and to DanK, for passing the knowledge.
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| HAHA!!!! |
I don't see a PFD on you. Do younger guys float better than us Geezers? Nice day fishing.
ReplyDeleteI don't wear it usually, only if the weather turns bad or if I'm in a tournament that requires it to be worn. However, it is on my kayak within my reaching distance, just not pictured. It's the law to have it with you, and within reach here in IL. I'll always have it with me, I'll never leave it.
DeleteI am buoyant, though. lol
Looks like a fantastic time. Dude, you're killing me with all those river fish...make'n it hard for me to decide where next years road trip will be to...
ReplyDeleteThanks, man! Rivers have become my waters of choice over the past few years, there's just something with combination of floating, fishing, and changing scenery on the rivers that just draws me to them.
DeleteMan, I hope I can find a kayak cheap. You're living the dream buddy.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a bad back like my buddy Fat Gordo, you'll want one that you sit up high. The lower ones like DanK's will hurt your back on a medium to long outing.
DeleteI lived in Sycamore and Genoa for 7 years before moving back to Iowa. I fished the Kish a great deal, and its the first river I ever flyfished. In addition to the Smallies, there are some pretty large Rock Bass in there. I think I recognize the bridge in the first picture, That was my favorite place to put in and wet wade downstream. Thanks for the bringing back some great memories! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's really awesome, Dave! I'm glad I can get your memories stirred up in a positive manner. That was my first time fishing that river, and man, was it fun!!! I didn't see and rock bass in there, but we came across a plethora of smallmouth, largemouth, and had herds of quilback and carp swim underneath us in some stretches. I plan on doing a lot more exploring on that river next year. Good to know you have some knowledge of those waters!
DeleteI lived in Sycamore and Genoa for 7 years before moving back to Iowa. I fished the Kish a great deal, and its the first river I ever flyfished. In addition to the Smallies, there are some pretty large Rock Bass in there. I think I recognize the bridge in the first picture, That was my favorite place to put in and wet wade downstream. Thanks for the bringing back some great memories! :)
ReplyDeleteI just moved to Genoa. Any tips for the kish??
ReplyDeleteWhy type of fishing are you going to be doing Jordan?
DeleteThat was my first time on that river. The bass loved small presentations. I was tossing a size 6 white and yellow clouser on my fly rod, and a small jig with a white twisty tail on it on my ultra light spinning rod. The fish are very spooky, so, a decent cast will work in your advantage.