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John Gillio

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Everything posted by John Gillio

  1. I used 12# also. I’ve had good luck in the past with a small articulated seducer with the back hook cut off at the bend, unweighted, in shallow quiet pools or drifted slowly along shallow downed logs. The trombone is the first weighted articulated fly I’ve tied. It looks to be the same size as yours. I’m Interested in seeing how well it works.
  2. Fine looking fly. Looks very similar to the Rusty trombone I just tied a couple weeks back. I used the same colors for the most part. I used a glass bead and mono to articulate the fly. Wondering how you did yours?
  3. Just tied a few similar to the top one. The fellow that showed it too me called it a Muskie minnow. He has been using it as a surface fly over the past couple of years for smallies. He says it’s his favorite fly for smbass. He ties it on top of a 2.5-3” hook .
  4. Paul, I hope my story didn’t sound like I meant yours was a fabrication. I totally believe what you reported. You’ve had enough photos posted that you shouldn’t be doubted. Your post just brought back the Mepps related memory. The Mepps spinner has produced some great fishing memories for myself and many other anglers, such as yours and Scott’s story above.
  5. Paul, that sounds like an amazing weekend. It reminds me of a Saturday morning that I reportedly had, but didn’t, in a booklet about fishing the Illinois River and Hennepin Canal.. Long story shorter, the fellow who wrote the booklet was interviewing me about something totally different when he asked if I had ever caught fish and what kind they were, on a Mepps spinner. I told him it was, at the time, my most used lure and gave him a list of different fish species I had caught on a Mepps. Some time later a friend showed up on my porch with a sports periodical that had my picture in it and a story in it about this fantastic Saturday morning I had on the Illinois river with this amazing multi species catch of fish all taken on a Mepps spinner. It was a total fabrication. It later showed up in his published booklet. Mepps had a major advertisement in it. I guess he figured he needed to write a story about their product. It seems what I told him wasn’t good enough, so he did some major embellishing. I had no idea what he was up to when we talked. As I said he wanted to talk to me about a totally different subject.
  6. I don’t know Rich, but I do know that Mepps in-line spinners have taken a number of record fish. I just saw some fellow caught a state record striper/yellow bass hybrid (paradise bass) from theHennepin Canal with a # 4 Mepps Aglia spinner. Cool looking fish, Looks like a hibrid striper but yellow with darker stripes.
  7. On one side there was about a half inch of the bone in the upper corner of the mouth protruding out enough that after hitting the Mepps in-line spinner time and time again after a number of casts it caught in the corner enough to hook him.
  8. You are right, the fish looks the same, but I’m getting much better looking. 😂. Interesting fish tale. Another slow learner. The only time I have noticed anything like that is when I kept having a fish hit and miss my lure cast after cast. I finally hooked it. It was a 36” long, skinny as a rail, pike. Its upper jaw was missing from right in front of the eyes forward. It had healed over. I figured it had been lopped off by a boat prop.
  9. I wonder if fish have nightmares of being abducted and examined, over and over again, by alien creatures from above the surface film.
  10. I’ve had that happen too, and wondered if it was the same fish.
  11. That pike is definitely a slow learner. Or as you said, he was starving.
  12. The first fish shown was caught on Sept 19, 2022. It was approximately 42”. The second was caught in exactly the same place on Sept 20, 2023. It was approximately 45”. I believe they are the same fish. Both have a grainy looking pattern on the skin and both have the same shaped white mark on their heads between their barbels. What are your thoughts on the matter? I have had many instances similar to this with other fish species, seeming to catch the same memorable fish over and over again from the same spot or area over the course of days, weeks, or years. Anyone have some good stories of instances like this? or maybe the same fish miles away from where it was caught before?
  13. I agree. I haven’t dyed anything either, on purpose anyway 😔.
  14. Wow! Never thought of milkweed silk. It looks like it could be a good substitute for feather fluff or maribou. I imagine it could be dyed too. The acorn popper is 🧐 interesting.
  15. From what I’ve read and found to be the case, a slower action rod like a medium action compared to a fast or medium fast would make it easier to feel the rod load. Feeling the rod load is essential in making a good cast. I have not used any of the rods on the list but Rob and Timothy know their stuff so the TFO would probably be the way to go. I would also add that If the 5 wt RLS or Cascade are mediums also, you may want to see how they feel in your hand and see if there is a difference in how well you can feel the line load the rod. Not all medium action rods feel the same.
  16. That’s such a pretty river wherever you fish it. I’ve fished the lower stretches of the Vermilion, LaSalle county, for most my 67 yrs on this planet . It sounds like your stretch of river is fishing like the lower stretch fished before it was infested with all of the invasive carp species. Numbers downstream are much lower than they once were. I’ve talked with others who agree that there are areas with some big fish up by you, if you can find them. It sounds like you found them. I agree with all the above comments. I would go with Paul’s plan. The lower stretch fishes better with top waters when the water is on the low side. It looks like you may be able to find a good topwater bite. If not other larger baits should cut down on the number of smaller fish. I would stick with single hook soft plastics, like larger twisters and paddle tails. It’s amazing how many small fish will try to eat a large crankbait and manage to get stuck. Be sure to carry a bunch of softbaits with you, as the smaller fish are notorious for taking the tails off of them. I agree with the early and late in the day thing for the big boys too, that has produced my biggest fish from most bodies of water, unless I’m after carp. Those are some nice photos and fish. Enjoy the action and the scenery. The bigger ones will come. They are bigger because they have learned to be more elusive, but they have to eat too. 🙂
  17. I agree, a nice looking craw for sure.
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