Dupage 8/11

[smallmouthfisher]

I went to an evening wade tonight from rt52 in shore wood all the way down to river road. I didnt have my camera but the water is a foot higher then last week. The weeds are covered by water and topwater was hot. I would toss poppers and mickey finns and the action was constant. I must of landed over 30 or 40 smallies all dinks of the ones I caught a 16 incher an 18 incher but the most were 8-12 inches. I did manage to watch a few bucket heads clean out a section of rock bass. They said they smoke them???? but what ever they asked how can they catch smallies I told them use cheese on a bobber.. and I think they bought it. lol any who it was a good night on the river. I did manage to catch a few frogs on poppers?

[Ed79]

From what I hear, rock bass are quite tasty. You couldn't put a dent in the rock bass population in the Dupage, even if you took 20-30 fish every time out. They are literally EVERYWHERE. So no harm really. Just think of all those dink smallies, and how much fun you'll have in 3-4 years if the river stays clean and healthy. The Dupage is really exploding as far as smallmouth are concerned. There is SO much forage in that river for them, especially with the clear water. Crawdad heaven. In certain areas, I saw hundreds of crawdads scattering in the rocks. It's a PERFECT habitat for smallies now that it has cleaned up. Especially young smallies, seeing as most of the crawdads I saw were 1-2 inches tops. The Dupage is definitely on the rise.