Jonn Graham

I posted about this on my blog a few days ago. www.heartlandoutdoors.com

I will be working this Sunday noon to close and then the following Saturday as well.

Never seen a rod blank that color.

did the attendees buy from the vendors? As a vendor, there is a big difference between good, quality attendees and good, quality, attendees who actually buy from the vendors. I have been to many shows where folks just stop by the booth and "talk fishin'" and never buy a thing. Those folks are ok to have, but you need some folks who actually make a purchase. If you want to keep vendors coming back to your show or any show, the vendors have to make at least enough money to break even. I have been to many shows where the vendors just did not sell enough to make it worth it to them to come back the following year. I know you did not charge your vendors much money for booth space, but vendors often have other expenses. I am not trying to "rain on your parade". I think it is great that we now have a fly show in IL. I was just wondering as I only do a few shows a year and I try to go to the best shows with the most "bang" for my buck.

So how many customers came through the doors? Sorry I had to miss it.

Due to the weather, I won't be attending....

I plan on purchasing another one of your storage tubes. Look forward to seeing you.

I will have my fnf with me. Will not be displaying them, but I will have them under the table. Just ask me. Rich: I owe you some fnf jigs. You can stop by my table and pick out the ones you want.

If you stop by my table at the Fly Show on Saturday you will see three different flies that I will be displaying and selling. Here they are: BLOCKHEAD POPPER: The Blockhead is an outstanding bass popper. Not very large, but very loud. Can be thrown with as small as a five weight rod. GRAHAM'S GHOST: The Ghost is a fly that I designed and have caught many smallies on it. It is my answer to the Zoom Super Fluke. It is lightly weighted so it will almost suspend a few inches under the surface. WEDDING CRASHER: This is a new fly by a guy named Randy Hanner. Saw it on youtube and immediately fell in love with it. It is touted as a great bass and carp fly. Fairly simply to tie and it looks FABULOUS. I could see this fly catching any fish that swims. I plan to fish it on or near the bottom this upcoming season. I am also kicking around the idea of making one in white and using it like a clouser........who knows. Here is what it looks like: If you look up this fly on youtube, you will see that I changed a few materials, but have basically stuck with the same overall plan. I will be selling these flies for $4 apiece or 3 for $10. I will also have muskie/pike flies as well. Hope to see many familiar faces stop by my table......................see everyone on Saturday.

While I would like to see this section of river open again, I am getting tired of hearing about it. It was supposed to be re-opened last year..........what the hell happened! The DNR told us it would be re-open last year. Federal Law states that Buzzi CANNOT SHUT THE RIVER OFF!! Why don't any interested parties realize this. I went to meetings about this when it first happened. I told a legistlature to look into the federal law. I asked him if federal supercedes state law..............he said it did. Then federal law does not allow Buzzi to do this. In my opinion, Buzzi is breaking federal law. But, of course, big business wins again................I am sick of Illinois' crappy water rights laws. There, I said it and got it off my chest. Now I feel better.

good point about anchoring in swift water..........can get a little hairy.

My father in law is a taxedermist. He has done one skin mount from a Powerton smallie I caught many years ago. He mounted it in a glass case and the smallie is mounted to a rock/gravel pile with a crayfish crawling on the rocks...........very cool. After this many years, it still looks great. Recently, he finally decided to try a few replica mounts. He was able to get the forms for a smallmouth, walleye, bluegill, and crappie at a very good discounted rate. The forms are VERY expensive in my opinion. Replica mounts do look great and a replica takes away alot of the labor time it takes to mount a fish. But, replicas are normally much more expensive than a skin mount.

Dana: Clear your messages on the forum. Your messages are full and I cannot send you one.

6'3" medium power, extra fast action St. Croix Avid. In my humble opinion, it is the best all around spinning rod ever made for smallies.

Glad you are happy with them. Definitely don't put away your regular rods just yet. This warm up is going to push ice fishing back a few weeks.

I am planning to tie the Graham's ghost and the blockhead popper.

The reels I would part with are exactly what you already have.............cheaper, serviceable and black...........sorry. I will say that I have been very, very happy with the Sage 2000 series reel. I have the largest size for my seven through 10 weight rods and it is light, holds a ton of line and backing, and is pretty to look at. You might want to look into that one. Of course, there are a ton of good reels on the market.

How nice a reel are you looking for? I have some large arbor Redingtons.

That is jeff little's site. Jeff is a very, very accomplished river smallie chaser.

I ate breakfast with that guy a few times when I was down at the "hollow". His bobber idea is neat, but I doubt it would be much use in our relatively shallow rivers. His bobber idea was "spawned" from the idea that smallies come up from under the fly, suck it in and just "sit" with the fly or slightly rise after the take. Thus, if any tension is taken off the float, the float lays on its side to indicate a strike. I could see how this could really come in handy in deeper water. In my experiences, this rarely happens in my relatively shallow rivers. Usually, smallies take the float straight down.

Something that pretty would be tough to let get dirty.

sounds like you found some cool spots. Maybe they just were not biting when you were there. I have found that sometimes hitting the same wintering area twice in one day will allow for better fishing. Ofen, the first time you fish it you may blank, but come back in a few hours and you will not believe it is the same area you had fished.

Will cheap jigs work for the fnf? Sure they will. Do they work better or as good..............that is up for debate. For one thing, I know the type of jigs Norm is talking about. My question would be this concerning those types of jigs...............the hook that is used for those types of jigs is vastly inferior than any type of hook I or Brendan, or anyone else who hand-makes their own fnf jigs. Normally those cheap jigs have "crap" hooks. Sure crap hooks will and do catch fish, but when I hook into a big fish (fnf catches more than just smallmouths), I want a hook that will "stick" without bending or breaking. You will never convince me that the jigs Norm, Jeff, and Phil use are good quality hooks. If you prefer to fish with inferior hooks to save a few bucks...........that is fine with me. I really cannot believe that the price of good fnf jigs would be considered "expensive". I know Norm has tons of baits that are much more expensive than a few good fnf jigs. I also consider Norm, Jeff, and Phil quality anglers that I am sure do not skimp on other pieces of equipment. So the act of skimping on the fnf jigs baffles me, but many things about people baffle me. I don't want to start a pissing war. Fish whatever types of jigs that float your boat, but Please don't compare those $1 or less jigs to the jigs that I make or Brendan make. When it comes to components and craftmanship it is like comparing apples and oranges.

Nice picture ERic. Couple of things............anyone looking at this jig may notice that it does not have a weedguard. Just an FYI, I made Eric's jigs without a weedguard as that is what he prefers. Weedguards are standard on every jig unless asked to not install them. I prefer the use of the weedguard as it is only a soft, 12 fiber guard. In addition, the use of tinsel with the silicone skirt material is a "custom design" that I have done for a few of my jig clients. Jigs with tinsel cost just a little more. Third, just to be straight and honest, the hook is not an Owner, but a Mustad Ultra Point (5/0). The Mustad hook is plenty sharp as anyone will tell you. Owner does not make a swim jig hook yet. If anyone has any other questions, leave them here or PM me.

I have always heard that Asian Carp is very tasty. If we could ever get the US market to get over the "carp" stigma, we could have one helluva food source for the entire country. The amount of Mega 3 fatty acids is supposedly excellent for our bodies.