Illinois River Closed?

What is with the water levels this year? The river has been flooded for at least a month or two now. I'm in Central Illinois and the Coast Guard officially closed the river for Memorial Day Weekend. They are saying if anyone is out boating, fishing, or whatever, they could be ticketed or possibly face jail time for breaking the laws. There are no launch ramps open, and this just sucks. I still have not been out yet this year due to housework and other stupid conflicts. This sucks. Is anyone else in a similar situation?

I hear ya on that part with the flooding. It def sux. I'm up in the LaSalle-Peru area and the River here has been at or above flood stage since the end of Feb. I will be heading over to the Ottawa area this Weekend. For some reason the water is always lower on this side of the dam. It is up a little bit, but not bad at all.
As far as I know it is not closed up this way.
If I were you I'd head down to Clinton Lake or Shelbyville.....
Oh and FYI don't get caught on the River when it's closed. You will be in big, big trouble.

Hey Wes, where you located at in Central IL?

I'm In the Peoria Area. I'm definantly not gonna try to break the law and ride on the river, especially with the ridiculous current. I was tryin to find out what Clinton and Shelbyville were like. Those are the two lakes we visit most often.

Shelbyville's flooded...but they're lettin out a crazy amount of water out of the dam...so hopefully it gets back to normal soon...I went out friday morning and there were logs, whole trees, and tons of sticks floating everywhere in the water...but since there were hundreds of boats out over the holiday weekend...i imagine it's all be pushed towards shore and to the dam which throws it into the river on the other side.

Travis, when would you say the lake would be back to "normal"? By that I mean, little debris, decent water conditions, places to anchor, etc.?

I'm thinking Shelbyville would be better than clinton right now. I know last time we were there last year, it was 12 feet above normal pool, but the high water ramps were open.

We actually hit an underwater soda machine last year while we were trying to dock our boat because we forgot they were there

I was at Clinton last thursday and there was no problems there at all water was high and I had to drop the tower to go under the bridge. No debris at all.

Sweet. I'm going to Shelbyville or Clinton in two weeks with our boat. Justin, Do you still own the Moomba? I was talking to a guy at The Liquid Edge and He said you bought an MC?

Wes, I'm going out tomorrow so I'll let you know how everything looks. I drove by it today and it's still flooded...but that doesn't stop me from going out. As long as there isn't to much debris I'll be out there. Hit me up on here anytime you come down and ride.

Wes, I sold the moomba in november and got a new X2 from Doug @ The Liquid Edge. The new one is orange and black so if you ever see me flag me down if you want a pull. We just added the fly high ballast so the wake is sick!!

Dude, thats great! I can't wait to see it. Doug is a cool guy. I met him at their open house two years ago and he knows alot about what he does. I will definantly see you out there this summer. Look for a yellow Regal I/O. That'll be me. I think the river may be open already also. I was driving by today and saw a big cruiser in the channel. If you ever need a third, I'll probably be available over the summer on most weekends and weekdays. PM me if you're interested.

It's been open north of Chilicothe. We went twice Mem weekend and put the boat in at Lacon by the hwy 17 bridge. Water is pretty much up into the parking lot so you lose all the slope in the ramp. Pretty much had to run the truck into the water to get the boat on/off.

Saturday we wound up w/ a fair bit of river water in my friend Chris' Dakota 2wd. It did not want to run, let alone pull the boat after that.

Sunday we towed w/ my F150, I had her up to the door seals on the driver side. Made me nervous as hell, but didn't have any problems.

Anyways, it sounds like the river will be open for business again at downtown P.

Wes if you see a white/orange X15 or a black X star come say what's up.

Bishop, you coming with Dave and Chris saturday? I think they're taking both boats, should be good time for sure.

I am in as long as the weather holds out, looks like there might be rain tomorrow night into saturday morning. I sent Chris an email to let me know where to meet. I went by Detweiller tonight and we have gone out of there when the water was a lot higher than it is now.

Dustin, I've seen that Orange X-15 before. Is it the same one that used to sit at Riverview Marine alot? Back when Jay worked at Riverview Marine, he said there was a guy who lived a good distance away, but left his boat there for the weekends. Is this the same one?

Also, I can not wait to get out on the water again! Unfortunately, we are getting ready for a huge graduation party this saturday, but next weekend it sounds like i'm going to Shelbyville or Clinton with my dad and brother, and we'll be taking our boat or possibly our two sea-doos. Call me if you want a ride . We could negotiate some sort of trade: A ride on an 03 GTX for a pull behind someone's boat?? just a thought.

I used to work for Riverview..... The one that sat there alot was probably the one for sale which is still for sale. It is all orange and the back part is white. It is currently sitting on a lift at Heritage Harbor over in Ottawa. I think they still want around like $70K for it.....
The one Dustin is talking about is all white and the back part is orange.
I made it out to Ottawa both Sat and Sun and the water was awesome !!! A few things here and there floating. Water was pretty much normal and water temp was right around 70...

Sounds like the same one.

I wish I could be out there. I might be out Sunday. But for this weekend, the plan so far is to study my butt off tonight and Saturday for my finals on Monday and Tuesday, and hopefully get out to the river.