Rob G

55 degrees and sunny, so I strung up a rod and went to a nearby pond in order to see how a few of the new flies would work. That stealth bomber is going to kick some booty ! First hard strip, you get a nice gurgle and nice surface disturbance. Continue stripping hard and it will dive maybe up to a foot with a little shake, and then the beauty of when you stop stripping, it makes its way back to the top which will often illicit a strike. Numerous short pops will leave a bubble trail on the surface, so it can offer several enticing looks. Should be a greenie killer on the ponds and will see some action on the streams as well. Mike, how did you tie in the foam above?

John, Ron and I were supposed to fish together in MN come April. I never heard him mention the black nose dace but I'll definitely tie up a couple for up there. What do you think, on a size 8 or 10 streamer hook ? The first time we ever fished together, we got out of the car, I went downstream and he was going to go upstream. After a while I head back to the car and see that Ron hasn't moved very far at all and is catching trout after trout on dries. I walk up to him and exclaim that I hadn't seen anything hatch all afternoon and didn't even think about tying on a dry for that reason. He mentioned that he hadn't seen anything rising either but it was always worth a try, and lo and behold they couldn't help themselves. Ha Ron toasting a good day fishing

I know that one of Ron K's favorite smallie patterns was the Tequeely fly and though I haven't ever fished them, I decided to tie up a couple last night from the materials I had on hand and you can bet they'll see some fishing time this upcoming year. Hopefully I can land something that the man would have been proud of.

Wow, so very sad. We fished a couple times in the Driftless together and I always learned so much from the man and thoroughly enjoyed his company. He'll desperately be missed. Rob

John, I remember 25 years ago when that Zonker (especially in white) was the go-to smallmouth fly in all the magazines. It must have fooled a lot of fish and then some new girl probably entered the party and it got placed to the back, because it sure doesn't see the same affection that it used to., and yet you know it's still a fish catcher. What do you use the humpies for ?

Lookin' to mop up with these

Fred, the area is only a few miles NORTH of I 74

"But those ash ponds won't just sit next to the river but on elevated ground directly above the river itself" "What yous never seen water run uphill? Ahhh, fuhgeddaboudit "

That original Illinois Power coal powered plant has been shut down for many years and stripped of much of its important processing equipment. Because of its smaller size, it will never be used again. Well you know the story, Illinois Power becomes Ameren which becomes Dynegy and now looks to become Vistra. Nobody wants to assume ownership of these poorly constructed and potential liabilities and as I said, the clean up costs will be staggering. And so Dynegy heads off to Springfield on a regular basis in order to get rates raised enormously for just keeping other downstate power plants open, let alone for clean up costs such as this, that will derive no income.

Sunday is forecast to be mostly sunny with a high of 47. Maybe we could do some outdoors cast and compare rods as well? Everybody brings a couple rods and you can lawn cast other people's stuff. It's just an idea anyway.

If there's any chance on getting you down there, want do YOU want to tie or work on? We keep it casual and rarely are our plans set in stone. Lots of show and tell goes on these things, along with a lot of fish stories.

OK more "stuff" Tied up a bunch of hollow flies, mostly on size 2 Mustad C52 bln hooks, more smalll craws some poppers created out of cork stoppers, size 4 Mustad popper hooks, the larger yellow is a size 2 (reserved only for largemouth or the typical smallie that Johnny G tends to land) more stealth bombers (really stealthy in black)

Thought I would start its own topic rather than inadvertently continue to hijack a previous thread. A nice little video, about 6 minutes long that better illustrates the problem, and btw, there are NO smallmouth in this river of any size so don't even think about it, Ha Btw, you may have to turn the sound up as there is audio.

where did you come up with those eyes?

Central Illinois Fly Tying Gathering to be held: February 18th Sunday 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM Bloomington, IL at the firehouse 1911 Hamilton Rd. 61704. There is no cost to attend this event. The event runs from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM but afterwards the group will likely adjourn to a nearby watering hole for a sandwich and beverage. All are welcome, both ISA and Non ISA members alike, as well as beginning fly tiers. More information will be forthcoming in the near future, so stay tuned. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me here at the ISA forums. Rob G

LOL !!!!!

Mike, I'm afraid too many here wouldn't have a clue what a book of Green Stamps was all about.

Props to Mike for that cork lure. and yes, you win............for now : ) John, those are neat, I don't think you've ever shown those off before. I've never been that creative or good at wood working. My first Lazy Ike came when my mother had collected enough books of S&H Green stamps and she let me redeem them for a box of lures that contained an in-line spinner and a Lazy Ike. I was in heaven.

Hmmmm, do I smell a contest coming on? Create a popper from an old cork stopper and catch a fish on it and win a prize ! Do you think we could get a few to post their creations? Maybe not after Jon and john showing off their talents...... but think about it anyway.

jon, you can find them in several sizes at Lowes https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=cork+stoppers but I prefer to get them at this little old hardware store in Kingman, IN that somehow time forgot and still carries them by the drawer full : )

Agree with Mike. We never did the balsa wood thing but we did make use of the old cork stoppers that we used to get at the neighborhood hardware store. In fact, I'm thinking about doing that again here shortly. Ahh, this semi-retired thing really does have its perks. Ha

Not to hijack this thread but for those who live locally to the lower Vermilion River: Government Office Building, 6 N Vermilion St., Danville, IL 61832 There will be a meeting with the County Board on Tuesday, February 13, at 6pm. PLEASE SHARE this modification with others you know are interested or who had planned to attend. The Board remains interested in this update and has graciously agreed to the new date. Thanks!Join Pam and Lan Richart Tuesday, February 13 at 6pm to show support for removing coal ash from the floodplain of the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River. The County Board has asked for an update on Dynegy's plans. The Richarts will talk about:• Dynegy's summer tours. • EJC's response to those tours.• The accelerated rates of erosion next to the two oldest ash pits.• Complications associated with stabilizing riverbanks.• Dynegy's timeline and proposed alternatives for closing the ash pits.• EJC's plan to hold a public hearing in the coming months.Please share this event (and February date) with friends and colleagues. County Board members need to know their constituents want to see the National Scenic River protected without incurring costs or risks from Dynegy's preferred "cap and leave" solution.

Thanks John, I will give your excellent crawfish another shot. One of my main goals this coming year is to catch at least one nice drum. I know a couple pools where they stack up and so I plan to really go after them,. ........until I become too frustrated . Ha

Tom, I had never heard of a popcicle fly. It's neat when you adapt a fly that was originally designed for one species and make it work for another. Mike, nice poppers, I rarely tie in weed guards but I definitely should tie some in that fashion. I've only used stiff mono, what type of spring wire is that ? And finally, tying up some small craws. Was talking to a well sought after guide at the Indy Fly show a couple weeks ago and he was telling me that his go-to fly for warmwater days on the Muskegon is a small crayfish. He claimed like others I've heard say, to stay away from real large claws Good for what ails ya. I've had success with these on smallmouth, largemouth, rock bass, carp, and I'm told that they're even good for big drum (but can't vouch for that yet....Ha) Tied on a Mustad #4 3xl streamer hook.

Gordon, I'm no lover of the Trumpster, but our state is owned and controlled by the Democrats, this problem was actually first reported to authorities well before 2012, it's now over 6 years later and there still kicking the can around. Plenty of blame to go around for both parties.