It was like the old days. Three days in a row of fishing. Haven't done that in about 3 years.

Friday at sunrise I was at Les Arends Forest Preserve. Had to park outside the gate and hike in. Hiked all the way up the channel on the west side, dropped down to river level and decided the hell with it. The water was still a little high and I just didn't feel like dealing with it.

Within the hour I was at a creek. Wound up covering a good mile or more of it. Nothing outstanding in the way of fishing in the creek itself, but a pond runs into the creek and I stopped there to see if anything was moving around.





Tied into some bedding bluegills that were easily the biggest ones I had ever caught in Illinois. If I had a stringer, about a dozen of them would have gone home with me. It's rare that I bother with ponds, but this made it worth it.

Saturday I was back at the same creek, only two other sections. This time I think I covered almost two miles of it. Again, the fishing was no big deal, but about 5 different species were caught. Some of this was new water to me. Apparently no one else has bothered going there either considering the lack of footsteps. But I think the biggest deterence to fishing here is the massive log jam. Took me forever to figure out how to get around it. The shore line was too high and steep and the jam had created some deep scour holes. Took awhile, but the while was worth it. A few more fish and one of the most beautiful stretches of this creek I had seen so far.





Sunday got me out for an adventure. Went to a creek I hadn't explored in years. Went to a section of it that I thought would be too narrow to bother with, but how you going to know unless you go.

Got to a forest preserve that was unmarked. I knew according to the map that this was the place, but you would never know it. Had to park on the side of the road because there was no entrance for cars. Luckily, hardly anyone used this road.



There was virtually no sign of anyone being there to do anything but cut some grass. Otherwise once you got to the woods, the only way to the creek was to bush whack in.





This was some of the toughest access I had ever gone through just to check out a creek. Especially not even knowing whether it would be worth it.



Definitely worth it. Creek was big enough with the typical small pools that hold a wide variety of fish. Nothing too big, but very hungry. I can't imagine, after what I went through to get here, that anyone had fished it. Possibly ever. It was stunningly beautiful to be down in this small creek valley as the day was ending.







Covered about a mile and ended at a couple of the deepest pools. One was small and the other was quite large. The large one only produced one smallie, but the smaller one produced seven of them. FIve of the smallies were 15 and 16 inches long. All in 15 minutes of fishing.





By then it was starting to get a little dark tucked down into the heavily wooded valley. I had to get going. I knew I had to head west to get out of there, but after that it was all guess work. The hike out was going to be brutal enough, I didn't see any point in making it more difficult by doing it in the dark.

You know how I like to give away my fishing spots? Well you can forget it on this one. And I also know, you'll never find it.

I know where I'll be out exploring quite a few times this year. The last big pool I fished led into even more nice looking pools further down stream. I may not get out fishing as much as I used to, but I do have a way of finding the best places to fish.

Nice report Ken and as always great read:)

Matt,
Updated with pictures as requested.
One of the benefits of naming my stories with dates and organizing pictures by date.
I can always go back and put the two together.

Nice post Ken!!

How does the river look? Was thinking of trying Montgomery area tomorrow pm. Any info on river conditions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Scott

Scott,
The water is high, flowing around 3000 cfs, so anywhere you go watch where you step.
Further down from the dam, just at the end of the islands by the treatment plant, there's some nice eddies and rocky shore all along the east side. Tight along those rocks and any eddies you find might be worth a try. The water is still cold, so go slow. That stretch has always been good for walleye and white bass if their around.

Good luck.

Beautiful pictures Ken, I need to make a point to do some creek exploring this year.

O wise one... Do you think with this warm rain were gettin that Smallies will be pushin up the creek mouths yet?? ty Sir

Ya know, I used to know.
I've caught smallies at the mouths of creeks this time of year. Theory is, they are staging there to wait for the spawning bell.

But then, I've caught the occasional one, just one, further up a creek this time of year. I always heard rumors that walleye and pike migrate up Mill Creek this time of year, but except for right at the mouth, I've never seen it.

April you can usually start tying into them. Just remember that it's all temperature related. And the carp and suckers spawn first, you pretty much have to wait for them to get out of the way.

Mill Creek is always a nice one to try this time of year. It probably has the deepest spot at the mouth of a creek on the whole river. Bring minnows.