Over 1200 hours logged underway in 2018. The ever-changing scene of this wild fishery continues to induce kid-like amazement.
Water tinges from lightly-steeped green tea to chocolate milk to gin-clear on the big river have kept me intrigued, sometimes frustrated and ultimately at the mercy of the river gods. I'm both impressed and humbled by the range of conditions that I experience each year on the Kankakee.
Springtime, although late on warmth, gave way to surges in heat, bringing the river ecosystem quickly to peak life and activity. While streamer fishing remained a staple through the year, top water fishing became effective by May. Many days were spent drifting cork poppers or chugging frogs along riparian willow banks while contending with prolific hatches of mayflies and caddis.
Clearer and lower than recent years, visual subsurface observations and weary smallmouth, requiring
quick, long casts were a theme from mid-summer through early fall. Shooting controlled casts at smallies tucked against slivers of rock, bedding plain ledges, under strands of river grass and sunken wood structure was key to summer fishing.
Low water levels through October created ideal fall fishing to schooled smallies that charged at swung flies at the ends of mid-river pools and ate stripped flies along deep bank lines.
The river experience, for me, has been a culmination of thousands of small interactions with moving water, its backdrop and countless native species within. Averaging ten miles a day, I've found that moving down river, poised by long oars on a drift boat, without the propulsion or sound of a motor, is the optimal way to deliver this experience.
I'm accepting reservations for dates beginning in March 2019. Email me
willwinans@bigriverfly.com to reserve your date. Join me on the river.
Capt. Will Winans
