Probably One Outdoors Show this Year
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 5:27 pm
This has been in the back of my head for a few years, but these are the reasons why I won't be going to any of the outdoors shows in the next couple of months:
1. Fox River and 10 of the tributary creeks that I have fished.
2. East, West and main branch of the DuPage River.
3. Kankakee River and Rock Creek.
4. Des Plaines River and its tributaries of Salt and Hickory Creek.
5. Aux Sable Creek.
6. Mazon River.
7. Vermilion River.
8. Little Vermilion River.
9. Kishwaukee River.
10. Apple River.
11. Green River, Plum, Galena, Pecatonica, Kyte and the multitude of little creeks and rivers that feed into the Rock River and any and all other rivers and creeks I may have missed.
All of these are somewhere between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, and pretty much near I-80 and north.
The best way to fish any of these it to either wade them, walk their shore lines or float them in a canoe. And the canoe is only for covering a little more water so you can get out and wade some more.
We are talking about hundreds of miles of rivers and creeks. The majority of these I can get to in about an hour and a half from my home in Yorkville. On the way home from work on a summers day I have the option of fishing for a couple of hours before the sun goes down. I can stop at Salt Creek, East-West or main branch of the DuPage, the Fox River or one of 5 of its tributaries. I get off work at 5 and can be on any of these some time between 5:30 and 6:30.
Fish till dark.
On weekends when I'm feeling adventurous, I'll travel up to 45 minutes and get to more stretches of rivers and creeks than I can cover in a years worth of fishing.
I checked all the show schedules and looked at all the speakers that are lined up.
Bob Long Jr. will be speaking on Northern Illinois Smallmouth Rivers at the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo at Pheasant Run in St. Charles on January 30th at 5:00 PM.
And that's it.
As far as I can tell there will not be another speaker anywhere talking about any of these close to home fishing opportunities.
In the past the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance would be given a time slot, but they will not mention any of the flowing waters mentioned above while in a public setting. For them to talk about access to any of this water is even more unlikely. Much like many of the speakers at many of the shows, all you will hear is generalities on techniques and equipment.
Useless information.
What people want to know is how to access all of this water. Where do you go to get maps of access points. What town, city and county websites have maps of all of there parks and forest preserves. Where on the IDNR site is the info on how to access this water through state parks. They also want to know what to expect when they get there. Is it safe, dangerous, a ditch, beautiful or a flowing mud hole.
Fishing rivers is probably one of the easiest things to learn. Takes about 10 minutes to get the basics down. After that just repeat what you learned endlessly and hope that the fish will cooperate that day.
Access becomes the key to applying this knowledge on as much flowing water as possible.
I used to go to many of the shows and over the years it has dwindled down to one, the Tinley Show. Matt Mullady was one of my favorites to go listen to. He hasn't been there in a few years. Going there became a reason to touch base with people I don't see that often. This year I won't bother.
With the economy being what it is, gas prices a little high and time being a premium for most people, why travel and wish for far away fishing adventures (knowing you probably won't be able to go) when you can stop on your way home from work. I know very few people that travel that much just to go fishing. If you can go 2, 3 or 4 times a month, even if for just a few hours, why wouldn't you do it.
But you need to know where.
I think a big disservice is being made when all this money and time is being spent to put together fishing shows in this area and then virtually none of them focus on what is available locally. Fishing opportunities that can be had for virtually nothing. There may be booths for some of the local businesses, but that doesn't help if no one is talking about the waters.
Someone with little or no experience with fishing will go to one of these shows and walk away thinking they will never get the chance to find out what it's like. They can't get to Canada-Michigan-Wisconsin, they don't own a boat and they just don't have that kind of time.
Until more speakers like Bob Long Jr. are lined up to speak at these shows, I'll just stay home.
1. Fox River and 10 of the tributary creeks that I have fished.
2. East, West and main branch of the DuPage River.
3. Kankakee River and Rock Creek.
4. Des Plaines River and its tributaries of Salt and Hickory Creek.
5. Aux Sable Creek.
6. Mazon River.
7. Vermilion River.
8. Little Vermilion River.
9. Kishwaukee River.
10. Apple River.
11. Green River, Plum, Galena, Pecatonica, Kyte and the multitude of little creeks and rivers that feed into the Rock River and any and all other rivers and creeks I may have missed.
All of these are somewhere between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, and pretty much near I-80 and north.
The best way to fish any of these it to either wade them, walk their shore lines or float them in a canoe. And the canoe is only for covering a little more water so you can get out and wade some more.
We are talking about hundreds of miles of rivers and creeks. The majority of these I can get to in about an hour and a half from my home in Yorkville. On the way home from work on a summers day I have the option of fishing for a couple of hours before the sun goes down. I can stop at Salt Creek, East-West or main branch of the DuPage, the Fox River or one of 5 of its tributaries. I get off work at 5 and can be on any of these some time between 5:30 and 6:30.
Fish till dark.
On weekends when I'm feeling adventurous, I'll travel up to 45 minutes and get to more stretches of rivers and creeks than I can cover in a years worth of fishing.
I checked all the show schedules and looked at all the speakers that are lined up.
Bob Long Jr. will be speaking on Northern Illinois Smallmouth Rivers at the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo at Pheasant Run in St. Charles on January 30th at 5:00 PM.
And that's it.
As far as I can tell there will not be another speaker anywhere talking about any of these close to home fishing opportunities.
In the past the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance would be given a time slot, but they will not mention any of the flowing waters mentioned above while in a public setting. For them to talk about access to any of this water is even more unlikely. Much like many of the speakers at many of the shows, all you will hear is generalities on techniques and equipment.
Useless information.
What people want to know is how to access all of this water. Where do you go to get maps of access points. What town, city and county websites have maps of all of there parks and forest preserves. Where on the IDNR site is the info on how to access this water through state parks. They also want to know what to expect when they get there. Is it safe, dangerous, a ditch, beautiful or a flowing mud hole.
Fishing rivers is probably one of the easiest things to learn. Takes about 10 minutes to get the basics down. After that just repeat what you learned endlessly and hope that the fish will cooperate that day.
Access becomes the key to applying this knowledge on as much flowing water as possible.
I used to go to many of the shows and over the years it has dwindled down to one, the Tinley Show. Matt Mullady was one of my favorites to go listen to. He hasn't been there in a few years. Going there became a reason to touch base with people I don't see that often. This year I won't bother.
With the economy being what it is, gas prices a little high and time being a premium for most people, why travel and wish for far away fishing adventures (knowing you probably won't be able to go) when you can stop on your way home from work. I know very few people that travel that much just to go fishing. If you can go 2, 3 or 4 times a month, even if for just a few hours, why wouldn't you do it.
But you need to know where.
I think a big disservice is being made when all this money and time is being spent to put together fishing shows in this area and then virtually none of them focus on what is available locally. Fishing opportunities that can be had for virtually nothing. There may be booths for some of the local businesses, but that doesn't help if no one is talking about the waters.
Someone with little or no experience with fishing will go to one of these shows and walk away thinking they will never get the chance to find out what it's like. They can't get to Canada-Michigan-Wisconsin, they don't own a boat and they just don't have that kind of time.
Until more speakers like Bob Long Jr. are lined up to speak at these shows, I'll just stay home.
