Went for a paddle yesterday on the Illinois River with a group from Paddle net.    Ever had the water explode all around you with fish 3 ft long jumping 5 Ft in the air some landing on you.  Cooldoctor had a good report and pictures.
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  No one was taking pictures while the fish were jumping.  It did not last long enough and you were to busy defending your self.
MagicPaddler

Magic paddler,

I had a chance to run the Vermillion last Sept for the first time in quite a while.

I ran it alone, and was very glad not to get smacked in the head by one of those passing fish. The first stretch down from the Route 178 bridge was full of em....although not as bad as on the IL river.

MagicPaddler

The water levels around here have been a bit on the low side for the past several years, but after a good rain it may be possible to run the wildcat section on the vermillion, although the river stretches from the pontiac area up to the IL's I believe. The only section I have run is from the Rt 178 bridge down to the road near ogelsby. If you happen to know some people in a paddling club, that might be a good chance for someone to introduce you to the river. The vermillion is about the first place we started running rapids using an old aluminum canoe and my old fiberglass explorer.                                                        

The river contains several shallow and easy class 1-2 rapids with long stretches of flat water in-between, but also has a potentially dangerous dam with a fish ladder knocked into the river right side that contains re-bar in the river bottom. I dont like the dam area and would urge caution here anytime. Wildcat rapids is a constriction in the river going over a 5 foot waterfall with a couple waves at the bottom, and there is a narrows area with big haystacks when the river is running good. The narrows is a fun spot, but obviosly the character of the rest of the river changes with different water levels.

There is a pretty good potential for your boat to fill with water, and having floatation bags tied in as a minimum precaution would be a good choice. I always wear a life jacket and helmet running rapids in my ww boat as a habit.

There are also a couple creeks in the area that are running after a heavy rain, such as the little vermillion I have heard, if you need a greater challenge.

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