Drift-control bait gets a vote

The area's rivers are late-summer wadeable.

Here's a tip from Geno Altiery.

The writer and Kankakee River guide operates out of the Dam BaitShop in Wilmington.

He calls it the drift-control method, which means presenting thebait on a hook with no weight at the speed of the current.

"The bait is going the exact speed as the current," Altierysaid. "Fish will always hit live bait better if it is going the samespeed as the current."

When Altiery guides fishermen, he also teaches them how to readwater and how to practice selective catch-and-release.

TIP 2: "Ed Mullady's Illinois Kankakee River Fisherman's Atlas"is available for $7.95 plus $2 in handling. Order from SportsmanLetter, 726 S. Elm, Kankakee, IL 60901. A detailed atlas for theIndiana side also is available. For more information, call (815)932-7285.

NO SMALL MATTER: The Illinois Department of Natural Resources isholding a series of meetings about regulating smallmouth bass.Currently, six smallmouth of any size may be caught. As we notedlast week, there has been a call for a 10-inch limit on LakeMichigan.

Two meetings will be held in the area: from 5-8 p.m. on Tuesdayin Aurora at the Fox Valley Park District's Prisco Community Center,150 W. Illinois Ave. and from 7-9 p.m. on Sept. 5 at Lyons VillageHall, 7801 W. Ogden Ave. Any regulation changes would be for nextyear.

BIG FISH: It was a good week for big ones on the lakefront.Larry Brooks of Mundelein caught a 14-pound rainbow on captain MikeOkie's Sagittarius boat out of Diversey Harbor. A nine-pound brownwas pulled in by Will Mulchrone of Chicago on Bill Kelly's Leprechaunout of Diversey Harbor. Dave Zapata of Chicago caught a 20-poundlake trout on the Leprechaun. Dennis Burns of Alsip caught a20-pound chinook salmon on Ed Landmichel's Salmon Seeker from BurnhamHarbor. Gary Karysect of Chicago caught a 9 1/2-pound coho salmon onBob White's King Fisherman out of Diversey.

ONE SECRET LEFT: USA Today ran a front-page story on fishing inthe big cities yesterday. After that article, the secret is out onfishing Lake Michigan in Chicago.

Well, almost. There was no mention of the perch fishing.Captain Gary Zilian's Lamprey boat was featured in the main picture.

FISH TALE: We love fish stories. Always have.

Bill Nichols of The Curve Bait Shop in Rockford lost his rodSunday night. Or rather a flathead catfish is swimming around withit.

"It just flipped right off the dock," Nichols said. "It wasfun. We cast for it for three hours and never did find it."

What people have been finding on the Rock River is flatheads inthe 25- to 31-pound range. Shiners and suckers have been working thebest.

E-mail: outdoordb@aol.com