Originally Posted by Easy 6 (Post 13528362)

I have searched abroad and researched the googles, and have found my ultimate fishing destination this year... gonna be checking it out for the first time this weekend

Its about 35 miles from my place, but is isolated as hell along the Illinois river

The nearest town is about 15 miles upriver, and currently has a population of 30 or so souls... some deft map reading has given me what I need to get to the perfect spot at the base of the river valley cliffs

Its really beautiful country for Illinois, the river valley hills remind me a LOT of Missouri... its pretty rugged, eagles flying around and shit... cant wait!

From there it will only be a short hike to the campsite I'm setting up, and since its all public land there will be no hassles... and thats IF anyone actually finds the camp, which I intend to make quite difficult

Gonna set one of these up, and finally once and for all, have my own little place to stay where the fishing pressure is non-existent... the river there should be about as pristine as its ever gonna be

It wont be nearly as fancy as what this 'ultimate woman' has put together since it'll be a summer hideaway, but you get the idea... already have the tarp, a hank of 550 cord, a few good nails and a hatchet to make it all happen

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aeN-ftbK_ro" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Originally Posted by SAUTO (Post 13547413)

Where abouts were you?

Originally Posted by Dartgod (Post 13547418)

Put in at Bucksaw. Caught half of them west of the U Hwy bridge and the rest up in Cedar creek.

Originally Posted by SAUTO (Post 13547424)

Spawn yet? I've been so busy I don't have a clue

Originally Posted by Dartgod (Post 13547406)

We tore up some crappie on Truman today. I was 2 shy of a limit. The first one I caught was a 15" monster. I also had a couple in the 13-14" range and my wife had a 14 incher as well (get your minds out of the gutter).

Easily the best day I've ever had there in regard to the quality of the fish. Great day.

Originally Posted by Dartgod (Post 13547427)

Yeah, they were all just a few feet off the bank. The best bite was on the steeper banks. We were using minnows about 2 feet below the bobber. I did get a couple on a jig under a bobber when we ran out of minnows.

More poor wife only put 5 in the livewell while I had 13. It was just my day. She caught a bunch, just more dinks than I did.

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo (Post 13544670)

Sounds like a badass spot. I hate people when going fishing.

Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin (Post 13545155)

Here' some moar ! Stripers galore. We cut the Rib cages and livers out for bait to catch the Cats in the earlier photo.

Originally Posted by Dunit35 (Post 13547592)

[IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/b4jes9.jpg[/IMG]

Took my five year old on her second boat trip last weekend. Our first try two years ago didn’t work out. She freaked out being on the boat. She said she was ready this time. Woke her up at 530am and off we went. She didn’t catch any fish on her little kids pole but almost mastered casting it.

I’d catch something and if it didn’t feel big I’d let her reel it in. She ended up reeling in six, four saugeye and two white bass. She went five hours on the boat and didn’t complain once. Pretty awesome day for me. Saugeye must have been spawning or finishing as we caught close to 15 mainly in the same flat area.

Originally Posted by Dunit35 (Post 13547592)

[IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/b4jes9.jpg[/IMG]

Took my five year old on her second boat trip last weekend. Our first try two years ago didn’t work out. She freaked out being on the boat. She said she was ready this time. Woke her up at 530am and off we went. She didn’t catch any fish on her little kids pole but almost mastered casting it.

I’d catch something and if it didn’t feel big I’d let her reel it in. She ended up reeling in six, four saugeye and two white bass. She went five hours on the boat and didn’t complain once. Pretty awesome day for me. Saugeye must have been spawning or finishing as we caught close to 15 mainly in the same flat area.