John Gillio Posted August 12, 2013 Report Share Posted August 12, 2013 This summer and last I had two goals in mind. One was to fish with more members. The other was to fish new waters more often. Due to back to back extremely busy summers, both goals have only slightly been touched upon. The "busy" isn't coming to an end soon so I apologize to those whom I thought I might be able to get out with. Hopefully by fall my once sacred Saturday mornings will be sacred again, and I will be able to make some plans. Earlier this summer I was fortunate enough to get together with Rob G. one morning as he was passing through the area. We met at a local restaurant during a rain shower. After a nice chat over a small breakfast, the rain passed and we were able to get on the river for an hour or so. Conditions were far from the best but Rob managed to catch the only four bronzebacks of the day. My two fish were of the white variety. As I recall all fish were caught on twisters. Rob is a real class guy even though gar balls are a part of his diet. I hope to get together with him many more times in the future. Last summer I fished some sections of the Millstone R. in New Jersey and the Fox R. that were new to me with some success in both. This year I focused on the Delaware and Raritan Canal on my New Jersey trip. My wife works there for a week each summer. I go along to visit friends and spend the afternoons fishing while everyone else is at work. Due to conditions on the canal this year, I fished only with poppers. The main target was largemouth bass. I did surprisingly well for the middle of the afternoon landing quite a few small bass, some pickerel up to about 16", and some respectable red breasted sunfish. I also took advantage of a trip to the Quad Cities Airport to drop Sue off to catch a flight to New Orleans. Before heading home I spent three hours fishing the Rock river. The idea was to wade for smallies, but that changed when I noticed schools of white bass in casting distance from shore. It was a hot afternoon so I decided to stay on shore and out of my waders. The whites wouldn't touch my twisters or tiny tubes, so I switched to silver Mepps spinners and caught a crary number of them in my first hour on the river. They were lacking in size so I decided to fish the shoreline for smallies . I picked up 4 dinks on twisters and a crank. The shiny crank also took a couple larger whites. My final hour was spent fishing for sauger. I worked a deeper hole with a pearl tube on a 1/4 oz. jighead and took a couple nice whites and 4 nice sized sauger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick G Posted August 12, 2013 Report Share Posted August 12, 2013 John, It really is amazing how each fishing season blows by so fast. I also had hoped to get out more on new water and fish with more members. Often with river fishing the perfect time and place never seem to coincide with any frequency. The best intentions often go unfulfilled. This year I bought an Indiana license for the first time in 40 years, and have used it only one day. Even in retirement it is hard to get frequent fishing time when other family affairs, social activities and travel (all with non-fishing folks) pop up on the calendar. It takes a real effort for most of us to load up the fishing gear, a kayak or a canoe, gas up the car and head out on a road trip. But once out on the water with a smallmouth on the line, it all seems worth the effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted August 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2013 Dick, You are so right. I am very fortunate to have a few close-by areas that I can make a quick run to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 Well John, I can honestly say that our short morning of fishing and breakfast was a highlight of the year for me. Enjoyed the company more than anything and I can only hope we can fish together in the future. I still have two or three stretches of different streams that I have not made it to and yet I swore I was going to cover them finally this year. Hopefully I can get it done in the next two months. Just got back from a fine trip up north so at least I can check that one off my list but I'm dying to do it again so can I put it back on my "goals" list for next year as well ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted August 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Rob, it should go on the list. In my mind a fine trip should definitely be revisited. By the way, I just tonight talked to a fellow who said he was with a friend who snagged into and landed an Asian carp that was easily 100 pounds. He seemed to be an honest chap. I may have to revisit the Asian carp thing again being my best smallie so far this year was 14 inches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 John, this is a friend of mine, Darin Opel who took this bighead with his bow down around Alton, officially weighed in at 92 lbs. 8 oz, so they're out there. Btw, Darin is a big big boy, just to give you some perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted August 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 That is one huge carp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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