A good friend of mine from the UK is over here in St. Charles for two weeks on business and he really wants to fish either trout or smallmouth while he’s here. Unfortunately I’m just a few states too far away to help him out. I don’t know a thing about IL and the fishing that’s near St. Charles
I’m sure you guys are aware that while the UK has a lot of Holy Water like the Test and the Itchen, it comes at an unholy price of hundreds of bucks per day. So Brian was hoping to take advantage of good old American public water while he’s here.
So would any of you Illinois fly guys be willing to share a tip or two where he might find some trout action within a reasonable drive of St. Charles?
BTW, Brian has sworn The Sacred Oath of Fly Fishing Non Disclosure before he first fished with me. He understands and has developed an absolute inability to ever disclose (or even to remember) rivers and spots that are shared with him. So be assured, your tips will not be broadcast anywhere else. And you can PM me if you want to keep it more private.
Anything you guys could share to help a poor Scottish guy out?
Grouse,
I am about 25 miles directly North of St. Charles. There are NO trout streams in this area. The Fox River which flows through St. Charles has a variety of fish including Small Mouth but NO trout. The closest trout would be in the “Driftless Area” of SW Wisconsin, about a 3-4 hour Northwest of St. Charles. One of our members here ,Spinner, could give your friend very good advice about this area. I suggest you contact him. Judging by the pics Spinner posts here, your friend would not be disappointed.
Give us a ballpark of how far you are willing to drive.
If Bennet Spring, MO is within your driving distance I’d be happy to meet you there on Tuesday if you can make it. If the weather is even close to good I’m quite confident I can help you show him a day of fishing he won’t soon forget.
There are a few places in Southeastern Minnesota, but I know little about them.
Let me know if you’ll be able to make it and we’ll set it up for us to meet. I’ve got all the equipment you’ll need, heck, I might even bring my pipes and play a few tunes at the spring.
Just as note on southeastern Minnesota most of it is currently closed do to the floods that hit it a week or so ago. I fyou are thinking there I would call ahead to see what is open .
Tom
Yes, what Marco said. Their are links and pages a plenty on the driftless area of SW Wisconsin online. If he choses that as a destination, I am sure he could google until his heart is content for information, assuming a guide wasn’t what he was looking for. I am 2.5 hours away or would volunteer to meet him out there. I hope he has a fabulous time, either way
I’m in Minnesota and the problem is that Brian only has day off here and there, not two in a row because they’re working like dogs on this business trip.
I originally thought we might meet in the Driftless area of SW Wisconsin or in SE Minnesota, but those areas have been blown apart from the recent 13-inch rains down there so it’s going to be a long time before fishing is back to normal down there.
He tried the Fox River last night for a couple of hours and had one smallmouth. At least he thinks it was a smallmouth, he’s never actually seen one before.
Thunderthumbs, I’ll see how far he wants to drive and post again.
Thanks so far guys, at least I’ve confirmed that there’s no small stream trout action that he’s sitting right on top of and doesn’t know it.
There is a nice smallmouth river, the Kankakee, about an hour or so south of St. Charles. One More Cast fly shop in Countryside can set up a guide or provide directions to access. Here is a link to their website. http://www.onemorecast.com/
Bgreer thanks for correcting me. For some reason St. Charles MO was the first thing that came to my head. Actually I didn’t even know there was a St. Charles in Illinois.
Grouse, you’re not far from us. There’s a wonderful event in SW Wis this weekend where your friend could get plenty of advice, learn about the region’s fishing opportunities and much more. Go here:
Otherwise I second the motion on contacting Joseph at One More Cast.
p.s. there are streams in sw wi and se mn that are recovering nicely, but some towns in SE MN can still use folks willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work mucking them out. I have temporarily foregone fishing for volunteering.