Made a solo trek up to Buffalo Park this morning before work. Smallies were breaking the surface in slack current behind some downed timber. Threw tube jig, jig and twister and my Bomber A square lip. Bomber was the only thing they were interested in. Hooked up with two, only landed this guy.

Losing a fish sucks, but the dramatic way a smallie will jump and throw you also oddly satisfying.

It was a good morning.

I'll have to look into whether or not I can put an auto resize thing on here for you. No more scrolling to see the image.

It was a tough bite for me on Saturday. I think it's a real matter of luck and being in the right place lately.

Yeah I keep forgetting to resize stuff. Sorry about that. What is the ideal res for in here?

Also, considering how tenaciously active they were in the spot I was at, only hooking up with 2 in an hour or maybe 90 minutes is pretty sad.

Anthony Mikos wrote:Yeah I keep forgetting to resize stuff. Sorry about that.

I do all my images for forums at 6 X 8 inches and 72 ppi. Works perfectly.

Odd reports this week. Seems like the further north you go the better the fishing. Or I'm missing the prime times. Oswego down has been pretty bleak, but I haven't been able to get out at sunset.

Hey Ken-

Speaking for my experiences I'd say I'm catching decent numbers but the sizes are lacking. (Nothing approaching those fall numbers you were putting up last year.) It's not unusual to get a handful of fish in an hour. In these heavily pressured spots that's really a pretty good bite these days. Tons of dudes fishing St. Chuck from the dam to the walking path. On weekdays I can't go much further abroad.

Some days I skip it entirely. Not worth fishing picked-over water. If you can get there early enough you can occasionally have a stretch to yourself for an hour. When I can I get out there at about 4 on a Monday. I can't do it that often. Not much solitude up here these days. I've not seen this much traffic in years past.

I poke a few here and there on my lunch break but it's less consistent. And I don't get up early enough to hit the dawn bite.

I may start venturing down to Geneva, but last time I was there it was crowded too. Had to go south of the train bridge to get alone. That's a 20 minute drive each way for me. Cuts down on the water time. May be worth it though. I doubt South Elgin is any less crowded. I don't make that trip very often these days.

Jealous of you guys down south. Maybe just my perception, but seems like you get a lot less tourists.

-SB

Sam,
I also have this theory that the fish are more concentrated and easier to target the further north you go. At least this time of year. Dam to dam the distances are shorter up north.

My area, Monty to Yorkville is 10 miles. Now with the kayak chute, add another 26 miles. Pretty tough to target anything in that much water.

Remind me to mark up potential flathead spots for you. You'll have to travel, poor baby.

We'll start with Batavia. Now would be a good time. Look up Red Oak Nature Center. There are bluffs along the east side and good looking water. That's where I've got the most clean bite offs of anywhere on the river.

I can give you step by step wading directions if you go. There is one spot along that stretch where you can set up on shore, but you have to wade to it as far as I remember.

I did my first flathead wading last year. It's enjoyable. Nothing quite a relaxing as the river at night. I've already been out once this season. It's nice when you have access to a shallow spot where you can sit every so often.

I know that Red Oaks spot you're talking about. I haven't fished it for flats. We put a boat in south of there a few times a year. Not sure if we can get up that far without losing a lower unit. Haven't tried.

I've done it in a boat twice. You have to stay in the middle between the islands or follow the west shore. It will make sense when you do it. We launched a canoe with a 9.9 horse motor on it and made it with no problem. Put in at the spot on the west side just above the North Aurora dam.

You can always wander around at the mouth of Mill Creek. At night, I can't imagine anyone else being around. Other wise just follow the bluffs along the east shore along Red Oak. You'll see the spot where you can get out.

Took my brother to the Fox River Trail pedestrian bridge after a trip to Vulcan on Sunday morning. First time I had been there. There were a couple guys wading below the bridge fishing the turbulent water in between the pilings. My brother and I were casting from shore. I was hitting the timber and rocks in the slack, he was casting out into the current. He lost a smallmouth on a jump and had a northern bite through his line (according to guy wading). I didn't get crap. Had a couple more bites and Buffalo.

Caught another on my lunch break below the Elgin dam yesterday afternoon. Not sure if it has to do with the low levels, but the dam and the bridges, places where there is guaranteed flow, seem to be producing ok right now, based on what I have seen and heard. Every hook up my brother and I have had were on swimming baits, too. He had a beater tail shad, I was using a square lip. Haven't had luck on craws and tubes lately.