AJ Hauser

Hey all, I recently had a run in with a property owner in Illinois that wasn't pleasant. I was hoping to hit several creeks this coming year, but I'm not sure what is legal. Do any of you know of any creeks in northern Illinois that have public access that can be waded and fished legally? I am doing my best to learn more about the law and I don't want to cause trouble, but if any of you know of some creeks that can be fished legally, that would be a great help. Thanks much - talk soon!

@Scott F, @TnRiver46, @PaulVE64 and @A-Jay these are all helpful tips - thank you! The creek is way, way colder than the river based on my thermometer. AKA my feet. It dies connect to a very large river though, so I bet they went out... I haven't been able to find any deep holes with fish in them over a 3 mile stretch. Thoughts on when they might move back in the creek? Thanks!

Thanks much - talk soon!

Hey all, Wondering if you could help me get the exact specifics on non-navigable waterways? I was in a creek a few weeks back and a property owner said he was going to shoot me. I entered the creek from the river with public access. I was respectful and left (and went to his house to meet him after a few days passed - we're cool now) but he kept screaming this is a non-navigable waterway! I was in a kayak, but I had stepped out into the shallows to cast. It seems like in Illinois, the property owners own the creek bed, but even my new friend said that as long as I stay in my kayak... I'm legal, because they can't own the water. The kayak can float in like 6 inches of water so I'm good until I hit a patch of riffles, which require me to hop out to pass through. Does anyone have a bit more insight into this? I'm not looking to argue or fight with anyone but I would like to know a bit more before next season, because there are smallmouth in them thar creeks... Thanks!

Hey fellas, I've been fishing several local creeks that flow into the rivers near me this year and been having great luck on smallmouth bass. They tend to roam all over but definitely like to stack up on the outside bends with big chunk rock. 10 days ago we got about 3-4" of rain here in Illinois and the nighttime temperatures have dropped into the low 30's. The water level within the creeks has risen quite a bit and washed out a bunch of the timber and shoreline, and the temperature has dropped dramatically. I went back yesterday after waiting for the current to slow, and I came across just 1 smallmouth bass near the back of a pool in a 4 hour walk & fish session. I was using small swimbaits, then dragging a small plastic worm. Where did they go? We're talking hundreds of smallmouth all around on a warm summer morning, and now I can't find them in the holes that have been productive or anywhere else for that matter. The further up the creek I go the more current there is, but do they empty out into the river for the winter? If that is the case... do they return to spawn in the spring, and what triggers that? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I think I have to hang it up for the year but I want to start planning for next. This was such a fun way to fish and I have had many great conversations about creek fishing with my grandpa that we both enjoy as a bonus. Thanks all, talk soon.

10-4 - I think after digging through what you sent me I have a pretty good idea on what things are doing - thank you co much for the help!

Excellent - thank you - I'll check that out now as a secondary place to look. Much appreciated! Perfect - I'll check this out and see how accurate it is. Really appreciate the help! Do you guys know if there is any information on say, the overall water table in an area? I wonder if I'm even using that term correctly. I can find the river level which will be helpful but what say you on the water table? Thanks!

Hey thanks brother - I was hoping you'd chime in I found this, looks somewhat helpful even though none of the gauges are super close - is this what you meant? https://il.water.usgs.gov/gmaps/precip/

Hey guys - sorry to revive an old topic but I'm struggling with this a bit. I have several questions that I'm really hoping you can help me with a bit - because I went out to a creek last week to fish and it had gone from a low slow moving honey hole to RAGING RAPIDS! It was unbelievable. I made it a mile up the creek pulling my kayak before I had to admit defeat... So question #1: Is there a way that I can look up the recorded rainfall in inches over the past 3, 5 or 7 days?

Got it - thank you @gunsinger - I appreciate your input on this very much. This is an AWESOME idea! Thank you - one of the major issues I had with the Crickhopper was that every 3rd cast or so it would hit the water and the lip wouldn't pull it under until it was about 75% back to me - it was just rolling and flopping on the surface. This is worth playing with - much appreciated. Thanks @Bluebasser86, I hear ya. As far as technique goes it's far from perfect so hopefully as I get a bit better I land a few more. I have said many, many, many swears this summer... Thanks all - I have more work to do!

Thanks @papajoe222... I'm going to have to revisit that size line... what length and weight of rod would you be using for say smallmouth versus panfish versus trout? Maybe that deserves it's own separate thread... thanks!

Son of a gun... @J Francho and @Scott F I had not even considered current because it appeared to be slow - but now that you mention it, the bait was swinging wide when I would cast to the opposite bank and try to reel it straight back to me. I'm going to have to take both of these to a lake and see if I have the same issues. @WRB it sounds like I better work on my hooksets too... I have often wondered about the proper technique for different baits but always end up shaking the rod violently like a lunatic instead of setting with an intentional method... so for cranks you reel down to the fish to load up the rod, then sweep - as opposed to snapping? Do you keep steady pressure on the fish when they jump or play them differently with a crank as opposed to say a jigworm? @John6.47 I know exactly what you mean. I was also seeing the trebles getting stuck together even though I feel like this could be avoided by spacing out where the hooks are placed by just a tiny bit more space. Half the time the bait was working well (in spite of my inexperience), and the other half it was snarled up and rolling on top of the water as I reeled it back in. @gunsinger it did seem like there was a happy-medium when it came to speed, and I wasn't factoring the current in at all, which was probably why I couldn't find a consistent speed that was working (I was moving between runs and close to riffles so or pools so the current would vary). The bait may have been flipping over when it was fighting the current. Thank you guys so much, I think I have a few more things to practice with...

Interesting - thank you. It seems like sometimes it dives straight down and starts working perfectly, other times I have a hard time getting it started even though fluoro sinks and I was thinking that would help it get down faster. They're spitting the hooks when they jump, even small sticky trebles. Probably more user error but this led me to slightly larger fluoro so I could avoid the rubberband effect and I thought that the fact that it sinks would help get the smaller cranks a bit deeper faster. It is a very rocky creek though, so the abrasion resistance was a nice perk as well. Whaddya think? Great question - I just ran out to check and they both have small split rings.

Hey fellas! Quick question on technique for you... I recently started fishing creeks and I have been having great luck with small crankbaits. The tiny offerings by Rebel (Wee-Crawfish, Wake-R) have worked well so far without issue. I'm using them on spinning tackle with 8lb test fluorocarbon line. This is probably a bit heavy, but I've lost several smallmouth while using 6lb mono. Last week I tied on two baits that I did have trouble with: one was a small (maybe 2") jointed floating minnow, and the other was a Crickhopper. The jointed minnow didn't kick, it just spun in the water on the way back to me. The Crickhopper kind of worked, but it kept kicking out to the side and then it too would start to spin towards me, like the jointed minnow. The lip on both baits is rounded, not squared. Is my line to heavy? Am I reeling too fast? Not fast enough? Is the minnow defective? (It looks to be tuned straight...) For those of you that fish smaller cranks like this, are these common errors that you have seen and fixed yourself? Any suggestions would be very appreciated. The minnow was unusable but I caught fish on the Crickhopper, it was just very frustrating and I'm trying to figure out what I am doing wrong. Thanks!

Perfect - thank you @Log Catcher and @newbiedmv - I was able to find it following those steps, and this is good to know. Thank you again!

Thank you for the extra info - where do I find the "Rivers & Lakes" tab? I entered my town in the search bar and hit "go", it took me to a page with info but I'm having a hard time finding the water info - can you please help me, @Log Catcher?

Awesome, thank you so much @king fisher - very helpful!!! I am very excited to start mapping some lakes

10-4 @Log Catcher - thanks very much!

Thank you very much for the added information - this isn't what I thought (unfortunately), although I'm not too upset - I'll still put the unit to good use, but that seems odd to me that no lake contours at all are included? It does seem like I can download maps if they have already been created & shared? Still seems like a lot of bang for the buck considering I'm going to be fishing less popular lakes and ponds in my jon boat. What do you think, @king fisher? Thanks for your input - it's very appreciated! Best, - AJ

Interesting - thanks again guys, I really appreciate the help!! Have a great weekend.

Ok, that makes sense - so if I wanted to go to a new chain of lakes in Wisconsin I would only be able to prep with pre-drawn maps if someone else had created and uploaded their own contour map, then I download and sync with the unit? This seems like it would be fine since most of the lakes I'm hitting around here are off the grid, so to speak, little lakes that are not popular and in a few years we're headed to Bull Shoals so I would imagine a popular lake like that in Arkansas would have some maps uploaded - your thoughts, good sir?

Alright boys - not to beat a dead horse here - but @12poundbass and @MN Fisher it sure looks like this unit has everything I need: contour mapping, ability to transfer & store those maps, internal GPS and side imaging with a transducer in the box: https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/739043/pn/010-02554-00#overview I have it in my cart - but the only thing I can't figure out is the mapping. This unit doesn't accept a maps chip (maybe it doesn't need one?) or have a port for an SD card I don't think, but the Echomap does and it has some maps pre-loaded: U.S. LakeVü g3: Detailed mapping for lakes in the U.S. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/690363/pn/010-02523-01#specs Can you please let me know what the deal is with the maps and why there is a $500 difference in cost? I don't mind paying it if it's worth it but I'm having a difficult time differentiating between the two... if the Striker has GPS and maps and the ability to create contour maps... I might just be in business and I'll pull the trigger on this today. Any help would be appreciated - thanks so munh fellas!!!

Got it - thanks so much!

Well I'm in Illinois so it's pretty flat round these parts... hence my excitement regarding these small creeks that are tucked away in wooded areas. Ok one more question then I'll leave you alone... Seasonally, how does the water level typically behave? I know there are many variables that would play into the current level, but historically is August "low water" unless it's a particularly wet season? Is fall higher or lower water usually? Thanks so much again - this is extremely helpful!

@TnRiver46 holy smokes! Ok, so follow up question - in my county I see a few rivers and 1 creek, not the one I'm fishing. If you were in this situation, what would you look at to try to ballpark the creek level if it's not listed?