Jonn Graham

Those on the left are the Bronze Goddess. A pattern by Mike Jacobs. The hook is a TMC 9395 in size 2 or 4...........not for sure which one. Either size would work.

While muskie fly fishing is in my immediate future, I broke away from the muskie flies for awhile and have been getting some new smallie streamers ready for the season.

I love to fly fish but I sure have met a lot of fly anglers I could do without!! From a guy that has and still works on both side of the fence (fly and spin), fly anglers are an interesting bunch. Hard to figure out...................... there are quite a few out there that I would never fish with

The most popular color was my AP Gill. It was the most popular color last year as well. Got a lot of work now to get ready for the next show............

The show was good. My sales were only down a touch from 2014. Talked to many folks about guide trips as well.

yes I do. Starting from the top:

Bucketmouth Delight

Money

Super Shad

Suntan Craw

AP gill

Bullgill

three basic sizes are 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2. We do have the capabilities of also making an 1/8 and 3/16 oz models, though I would not suggest those smaller sizes when fishing in current as the lighter weighted models are harder to keep down in the current.

I will have a booth at the Tinley Park show. I will have information concerning my 2015 Camp Smallmouth River Guiding Service along with over 200 swim jigs:

$4 each or a dozen for $44. If you get there early, I will have Big Hammer trailers to go along with the jigs that you buy at no charge (while supplies last)

I will also have a limited number of float n fly jigs for sale - $2.50

Lastly, I will have a few select muskie flies that I have been working on the past few months. I know there are not too many musky on the fly guys here in the club, but if you have thought about starting your quest for the muskie, then I will have a few choice flies to get you started:

Prices for flies will be model dependent. Just stop by the booth and have a chat. Looking forward to seeing some new and old faces.................

Those are my style of flies................big and meaty. They would push tons of water and draw the attention from smallies for sure. I may try to adapt them and make a few into muskie size offerings....................thanks for sharing

Go to www.rusperfly.com and click on Cohen's Creatures. YOu can see what he produces and you can also see that you can buy sheets of the material.

Have you guys tried Ultra Suede? I have some muskie flies with Cohen's Attractor Tails out the back. Pat Cohen has a whole line of stuff cut out of ultra suede. I can tell you the twister tails are AWESOME!! You can buy sheets of ultra suede from Pat at www.rusuperfly.com. I know silicone as I make my swim jigs from silicone and I wonder if ultra suede would have more action on a fly than a hunk of silicone.................but who knows

I have a 10 weight, Redington Predator rod I wish to sell. Used but not abused. It is the 8'3" model. I have the rod sock and the tube for the rod. About 3 years old. Asking $100 if picked up or $110 to ship. If anyone is truly interested, I can post pics of the rod.

By the way, I have kept every single newsletter I ever received. Even the ones way back when they were just six sheets of paper stapled together. I have them in many, many 3 Ring binders. But, don't ask me to find all those binders. They are somewhere though.

I can go way back. When I joined there were about 30 members. 1993 or 94. Went to a meeting at Starved Rock with a bunch of guys I had never met. Pete P. was one of them and Bill Calhoon was another. They were having officer elections and, without me having any idea at all, they nominated me to be president................WHAT??? Totally caught me off guard. My dad was there with me and he told me to go for it...................so I did. Great times. This club has allowed me to meet and fish with some of the greatest anglers ever. And some of the greatest people you will ever meet. That is what makes our club so outstanding..................great humans.

Sad, but not unexpected news. I am sure you will be keeping a close eye on them.

Quality baits made by a quality guy. He is also a supporter of the ISA. Stop by his booth and check out his creations...............

Rob:

If you google search river sucker you will see what I was baseing my colors on. You may have a redhorse sucker in your picture (I am no sucker expert). After talking with my buddy who spends most of his time fishing up in WI, the colors vary depending on water clarity and tannin levels. Just like most fish, color vary depending on season, water clairity, and geographical location.

The purchaser of the sucker fly wants me to add a little red and orange. After some searching it looks like redhorse suckers get red/orange tails when they are spawning. Redhorse do seem to be lighter color than the common river sucker, but, once again, I have seen redhorse that are dark brown as well. I have one picture of a sucker from the Wisconsin River that was quite dark.

Starting to play around with creating a good representation of a river sucker for muskie fly fishing. I have a buddy who fishes a bunch in WI and buys a few muskie flies from me every year. He is always looking for a good sucker imitation. I started playing around yesterday with looking at pictures on the internet and then seeing what I had in my materials stash. Here is my first creation:

I know that this fly is relatively small as muskie flies go. It is only 7 inches long. I did not want to waste two hooks (articulated) until I got the exact colors dialed in. Maybe a 7 inch fly would be good for the early spring. The anglers in the know tell me they use smaller flies in the early spring. My buddy likes it, but wants a little red inserted in the fly to mimic the redness of a redhorse sucker. In addition, I am not sold on the material I used for the tail..........it is all I had. I will have to water test it to see how the tail material flows out the back. I used ice fur for the tail as, like I said, it was the only material I had that had the length I needed. Right now with xmas coming, I cannot buy all the materials I want to purchase. May try some Wampa Hair from Lund's fly shop up in WI. I do know the Laser Dub head is exactly what I envisioned before I started. Also, need one size larger eyes.

Comments/critiques?

thanks

I was always told by the DNR that it takes five years to reach 12 inches in most rivers. I am sure there is some variance there depending on the type of river and harshness of the seasons. Ten years to grow a 4 pounder............

Good to know. I will keep an eye on my rio pike/muskie line.

Hmmmmmmmmmm. That is weird. I would say that the Rio pike/muskie line has been some of the least tangling line I have ever used. Do you have the floating or the intermediate?

When you say "fell apart" what do you mean?

Wow! That is a full 100 grains more than I am throwing right now. Hmmmmm. May have to try it. Starting to get more lines than I have rods and spare spools. I have the Outbound short floating, Rio Pike/Muskie line (intermediate), and the 350 grain sinking.

Just spent 5 hours in a boat casting for muskies. With more practice with my new echo rod I think I will keep it. Got the feel for it with the 350 grain line and I was shooting line quite fine. No muskies to report...................not even a follow............ready to pull the remaining two hairs from the top of my head.

Thanks. Good to know someone else thinks the Edge is stiff. Maybe I need to get a heavier grain sinking line for that rod??? Is that what you would do? I am using 350 grain right now.