John Gillio

? I have always been a gentleman. Tried it....liked it. Trout, as Paul suggested. I personally return all smallies back to their homes after rudely interrupting their day. It does make me cringe a bit when I see people keep smallies from my home waters, but they are well within their rights if doing it legally. This trout was a stocked fish. A wild caught one would have been much tastier in my opinion. Some people may cringe at that. My neighbor cringes at the fact that I enjoy fishing in general. I was in that light crisp Totally Naked mood. Oh for some morels! Jim, you hit it on the head. It was nearly perfect for me on that particular late afternoon. All of the above have done it for me at one time or another, though I have not had the pleasure of a Lou Malnottis deep dish pizza. Sometimes even their lowly cousin the crayfish.

Still high and muddy. It is taking quite some time to clear up.

A couple more cool vids of the Vermilion R. on You Tube are " S-Turn wave on the Vermilion River in Il." and " Vermilion River at 12,000 CFS". Check them out.

Missing only the morels.

The eagle nest pictured at the beginning of this line was torn apart by a big storm last week. I dont know the fate of the young ones. I am not sure if they would be flying yet. My guess would be not.To this point I have only seen adults in the area of the nest.

Depends on my mood for the day. Some days D is just fine with me. Other days A,B, or a different fly all together. If time wasn't a factor C or E may be in order. Like I said........... depends.

No doubt, both fish are tanks. I could post a number of fish up to 22" and none would look as impressive as these.

That snake looks nice and hefty.

Agree, both good products for a great price.

I trust the performance of the Prestige, as I have been using it for years. I feel it has a better drag. I haven't fished the smaller WR2 yet so I cannot comment on it. I would pay the extra 10 clams if you are after bigger fish.

Last year I purchased this reel for the same price in the 5-6 weight and the 7-8 weight. I have not used the smaller one yet but landed some huge carp and some nice hybrid stripers with the 7-8 weight reel. The drag isn't as nice as the Prestige reels but I had no problems landing fish with it and have been taken deep into the backing on numerous occasions. So far a great reel for the price. I would guess the lighter reels would be just fine for pan fish, trout, and even smallies as they wouldn't be taking you into the backing at all. My first reel for a 7 wt. rod was a Prestige which I purchased when I first started fishing for salmon and steelhead about 15 yrs.back. It has served me well and has had a workout over the years, landing salmon close to 40 pounds. I have had no need for anything more than that. I bought a backup Prestige for the ridiculously low price of $14.00.

I am told ,but have not witnessed for myself, that the large boulder that had been causing some problems for canoes and kayaks at the head of the wildcats since a landslide a few years back has been pushed aside enough by the high strong flows as to not be the problem that it was.

A friend of mine got spooled by a goose. I hooked a beaver once. He popped free just before the line was gone.

Glad you are unharmed. Thanks for the reminder about the power of flowing water. Sorry about the lost gear.

Ryan, that fly looks great. It should be a winner.

Saw an eagle catch the first fish of the day while fishing in northern Wi a few years back. He gave us the same taunting look.

Nice Rob! It looks like he is giving you a greeting call.

Thanks, it was a nice day to be out. I hope you all had a chance to enjoy it.

More shots.

I took my honey out for a little fresh air this afternoon. We made a short trip to Matthiessen and Starved Rock State Parks. We hoped to see a few waterfalls but many of the trails were under repair from the recent heavy rains. We did an ice cream at the visitor center then I went to a nearby creek for my first wade and first smallie of the year. Here are a few shots from the day.

What Rob said.

Not the best shot but the best I could do with the little pocket camera. There had been 4 little ones. I understand that it would be unusual for all to survive. I could only spot 2 today.

The power of running water is truly amazing.

The flood pictures that I posted were taken at the same bridge as in the video. The river was running at about 40,000cfs. The water level was at about 14'. In the video the river was at about 4' and 3,500cfs. I'm not into white watering, but from what I'm told the river is at it's best between 1500cfs and 10,000cfs. This would be about 3'-8' of water. At about 3' the head of the wildcat is like a small waterfalls. I would guess the entire stretch would be a washout at anything above 8'. I prefer fishing it at under 2.5' or 500cfs. It's in a fairly narrow valley so levels can rise and fall at breakneck speeds. Crazy is a good word for it Eric.

Not to be tried in a Koosa.