John Gillio

Found them at Hobby Lobby.

Eyes are a feature that I have always liked to incorporate into a fly. This is especially the case with poppers. A young lady (about age 11) was checking out some poppers I had tied. I asked here if she felt that any of them had more potential than the others. She immediately pointed this one out.

I don't know how the quarry got the land. I do know a lot of people in the area were upset about it. Thank you for bringing back the memory.

Manny, I found this photo which I believe is one of the two larger ponds that were along Danny Bs property. There were about 6 ponds varying in size. Traveling between them was rather easy. The small pond farthest to the west had some huge smallies in it.. A road ran along the ponds by Danny's property. If I recall properly it swung down to Tiger hole and then down to the second island to about where the pump is now. The one closest to the river was a good largemouth pond. Some of the ponds held some nice channel cats and crappie. All had bluegill. It was sad to see them go.

I've been known to hammer a Coors on occasion too.

I'LL GO THROUGH SOME OLD PHOTOS TO SEE. I'M NOT EVEN SURE I HAD A CAMERA BACK THEN.

Thank you for the kind words guys. I worked part time at a rec center. I was allowed to use the indoor pool to test the lures getting them to run true. Dating myself again, I do remember green stamps.

And to think, I used to fish in the ponds that were where that massive hole is in the second photo. My first 18" Smallie came from one. It hit a soft plastic worm. Very cool!

I like it Mike ! It seems to me that there was a certain someone that had a St. Louis Cardinals popper that was quite cool. Maybe we could have that posted here. These are not fly poppers, but they are poppers and plugs made from scrap basswood. I used a hand cranked grinder and files to create these when I was in my late 20s, which seems like another life ago. They were spray painted and covered with a spray urethane. Each one caught fish before they were retired to this box.

Rob, I new that semi- retirement thing would work out just fine for you. These aren't as fancy as Jon's but were fun messing with and are light enough to cast with a 7wt fly rod and heavy enough for a light spinning rod. They have worked quite well on area largemouths. The one pictured is a synthetic stopper from a wine bottle. They come in purple, yellow, red, green, etc. and are a nice bonus if you enjoy an occasional glass of wine. I have a nice stock of them as well as corks . If there is a winery in your area you may be able to get a deal on the stoppers as they surely order bulk.

Nice crayfish Rob. They may be the secret for the drum in your streams. Speaking of drum, you may want to give my crayfish another shot at them. Instead of tying it with claws, just go with some long antenae. There may be something to the claw thing.

Stories like Rob's make my stomach turn.

Very nice Rob. I'm especially liking the pink/white.

Nicely done!

Rob, I'm sure I would enjoy the Bloomington sessions. Someday I WILL make it down to learn from you. Seems like the unforeseen always messes up my plan. Mike, that is a deadly lineup.

Yes, the stealth looks very interesting. Rob, I was hoping to see you this Sunday, but once again things have come up.

Very nice !

Ben, what size and color of mop flus do you use on the driftless streams, and have they produced for you?

I was planning ahead. I knew he would one day inherit this riverside property .

I have never fished thae stretch by kish. Every year I think about hitting it with the yak but it doesn't happen. Jamie was a former student of mine. He said anytime he would gladly shuttle me upstream. We should get together and float it this season, or even just wade it if that's possible.

Manny, I believe that the crappie candy I drifted under an indicator was also a blue and white (light blue), with a flash lateral line. The only time I used it in cold water (December no ice on the river) I caught a few fish. That was in one of the pools a bit upstream from you.

I actually found a crayfish behind the washer once. They have also popped up in a few other places to my wife's chagrin.

That could produce some cool footage.

Have you ever seen or heard the ice break on the river. Sometimes the wall of ice is unbelievable. One spring the front half of the old mill pumphouse fell forward and almost blocked the flow. When the ice broke in the spring it pushed the front of the building right back in place. I was shocked when I saw what had happened. The power of ice, water, and current are amazing.

That should catch fish. You should be able to tie a few more patterns before any open water in that stream is safe to fish.