Great Trip

Sure had a good trip your way over Newyears.Stayed in river falls. Sure is buitifull up thier! You guys are lucky to have such a nice area to fish. that lake Pipen is big water,and I bet that lock#3 has a lot of fish. I checked Everts resort, that manager sure is ugly, but that young lady is nice. I will surely be back with boat.,which brings up my next question. I have a 14ft jon boat. The thing is 6ft wide and 2ft deep and is rated for 85hp. At least thats what the plate says. Do you think I can get by with a 15hp 4 stroke.I had a 15hp once and someone took it. What make is best? Do you need to mix gas and oil in 4 stroke

hi Ranger, welcome to MN, yes the ol Miss R. is an awesome fishery and we are very lucky to be able to hunt for it’s treasures often. Pool 4 is probably the best on the river considering the entire year and all the species in quality and quantity. the 15 horse should be just fine on the John boat, no speed burner, but a good river rig. NO you do not mix oil in 4 strokes. your car is a 4 stroke. 4 stroke outboards have a crankcase with motor oil and an oil filter, and burns straight gas (again not mixed). they are very quiet and are reliable. 2 stroke engines do require oil mixing in gas, that is how they get their lubrication when running. different 2 stroke model engines mix their oil thru an oil injection system from an oil tank, or you mix it yourself right in the gas tank. good luck and let us know when you are back in town. Jack.

Thanks for the information! I like fishing a river lots to see and not many jet ski,s. I live on the Fox river in St. Charles Ill. and it is very shallow, deepest hole is 12ft., and does,nt compair with what you have,but it,s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick,so I better shut my mouth.The older I get the more I just like to look at nature, Don,t get me wrong I like to catch fish,but it used to be competition wiht other fisherman more than eating them. Now I throw every thing back over 15in.,never take home to freeze nothing better than fresh from river to mouth. It was my generation and my fathers(depression) generation that spoiled fishing for years we did,nt think the supply would run out. Know some off the resort owners are worried that lower limits will hurt the industry.I for one would like to see that every thing 17in or over thrown back!

Hi Ranger, I enjoyed your post, and you are right on with your catch and release ethic. Responsible fishing, and occasionally keep a few smaller fish. fish are tasty and are good for you. we really appreciate it. By the way I used to live in Aurora, IL many years ago from 1975-78. the Fox at time was not in real good condition, but it was improving. there were good numbers of SMB mostly small and a few Walleyes back then. that was almost 20 years ago, HOW have things been shaping up lately, did the Smallies get established in numbers and size between Elgin and Aurora ?

if you want to email me, that’d be great. [email protected]

March is a good month on pool 4, before the river levels get high and dirty. keep in touch. Jack.

Hi Jack ! The fishing is getting quit well. The fishing for SMB is very good. The DNR have made a catch and release only from S.Elgin to N. Aurora and the month of june and september are great. 1/16 jig and 3in white twister tall. Fishing is real good by Batavia. Also wallys doing better, when they put the riverboat in at Elgin they dug it out and DNR put 100,000 walleyes in they are going down stream and reproducing, not overfished because you cant boat a lot of places. Thanks on the tip about march,Although I retired from Elgin PD and forest police ,I got bored and work full time with speacial kids in Des Plains IL. So I probably won,t make it up untill march anyway,I,ll probably take a sick day. DON,T I SOUND SICK TO YOU COUGH!COUGH!