Galway Bass - Part 1

After a couple of evenings scouting and fishing, and after much treking I came upon an ideal looking spot. After an hour of casting, the lure was hit by a solid fish right where I would expect to find one, things were about to get interesting.. As the fish was getting closer I had to get down off the boulder I was casting from to tackle the fish in four feet of lively surf over a field of smaller boulders so typical of the Galway shoreline. As the fish came to me it was pushed towards a handily placed boulder and I managed to gently pin it to the side of the boulder with my left hand, rod in the right hand, I then realised I was stuck for my next move? This was a fish I was determined to land, my first Galway Bass and not a common thing according to local knowledge. The only thing to do was abandon my expensive rod and reel to the surf giving me a free hand to complete the capture which I duly did, getting a good soaking in the process.
The fish weighed in at a fraction under 6lbs and was humanely dispatched for the table, well P&T's table to be precise, and then it was off to locate rod and reel. After ten minutes of wading and searching things were not looking good and I was starting to feel more than a little foolish when, finally I spotted the the lure and hoped the rod was not too far away, the braided line had snagged on the very last growth of Bladderwrack before deep water and certain loss, a narrow escape.

All's well that ends well.

To be continued..........

Galway Bass.

Great action, report to follow.........

Interesting and Large Bass Experiment

If I had a top ten list of favorite things, I would have a tuff choice in the middle of the pack choosing between Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and a new Fish stocking experiment! I just can't ever seem to get my fill of either.

Anyhow, enough of the nonsense as I try to make it through the rest of this yet another rainy day. This interesting pond that we electrofished for Pat Mcsherry last week was not necassarily meant to be a fish stocking experiment by design, but falls into that category by default. I have been researching and fooling around with different stocking combinations of low density predators with high density forage and Pat's pond just fit the bill perfectly.

Based on a foggy memory and some observations we estimated that the pond had a huge fish kill about 4 winters ago. The pond is very fertile and simply produced more fish biomass that summer than it could support through a harsh winter and the biggest fish simply suffocated to death. As the fish started dying, their decaying bodies only used up more and more of the available oxygen under the ice and pretty much all the fish died. Well to make a long story even a bit longer, all of the smallest fish in the pond found enough oxygen to survive the rest of the winter.

There were 1000's of small fish that survived the winter kill and absolutely no large predators to eat them. So many that the fish became instantly stunted, as they all competed for the same tiny peices of available food. That basically set the stage for a very low density predator/high density forage situation. When we electrofished this pond, it was completely full of tens of thousands of small crappie, tiny bluegill and little bullheads. The problem was they were all adult fish with huge eyes like this one.
>

While there definitely was not a natural balanced fishery at hand, what we did find was just about what I told Pat to expect, I kept telling him that we were going to come across a handful of nice big bass as we were dialing up scores of adult midget fish. Small bass would survive the fish kill as well, and a few of them would make it big enough fast enough to avoid the huge stuntedization of the rest of the population. Then they simply would have as much to eat as they could ever desire! When we did start to find some bass, I didnt expect them to be quite like this: morbidly obese! Look at the size of their mouths in relationship to their bodies.

The average bass in this pond is 18.8 inches long with a relative weight average for the lake of 125%! The biggest bass we sampled was 20.5" and weighed 108 oz. with a 138% relative weight. A typical 20.5" LMB should weigh 78 oz.

You can actually learn quite a bit about LMB by observing this sort of scenario. I have electrofished and analyzed well more than 100 lakes and ponds across the midwest this year and can tell you this- If you want to truly grow big bass, you can do that much easier and faster by stocking just a few per acre and harvest them like crazy if they even think about making babies!

This may sound strange to many, but the average ADULT bass in Illinois is 12 inches long. If you wait until next year it will still be 12 inches long and if you let it grow up the year after that, its still going to be 12 inches! Many lakes and ponds will grow their original stocked fish well past 12 inches due to limited competition, and the first year class after that may hit 14-15 inches, but the large majority of their offspring will not grow much past 12 inches due to the increased and compounding competition, unless they are harvested, preyed upon, or naturally thinned down.

Huge Fat Bass and Bluegill

Today was probably the last electrofishing survey of the year! A cold front is moving in, along with yet another 1"+ rain, and that will just about put an end to electrofishing. We still have 4 aeration systems and 5 windmills to install, about 10,000 walleye a few hundred muskies and northerns, and that will pretty much wrap up our entire season until the lakes freeze up enough to start drilling holes!!!!

We shocked Oberhelmans lake and Pat's pond yesterday. Check out these pictures!

Then today we squeezed Jared Obrien's new pond in at the last minute. His new pond is completely full of 9-10 inch bluegill that are absolutely beautiful! Not too shabby for picking up a property with an exising pond! I expect great things from that pond over the next couple years!!

Seeing the future and catching fish.

The other day I received a link to a site that gives you the best fishing days according to moon phase and tidal predictions. It said Sunday the 25th of October would be no good for fishing. Being my only day off to fish I decided it did not matter I was still going out. Sometimes you have to buck the trends.

The wind is blowing like hell (25-30) and the tide is starting to fall.

With Captain Charlie at the wheel and Rosie at the stern and myself on the bow, we start the routine of casting and retrieving.

It is not long before I hook up to the first fish. It gives a good accounting of itself and soon is in the boat for it's picture.

From Oct 25 Serua reef

It is hard to tell but it was a pig of a Bass. Very fat and strong.

Soon after Rosie hooks up on a Bass also. A little smaller but a nice fish none the less.

Sorry no picture of that one, she declined.

She then followed the bass up with a nice Bluefin Trevally.

From Oct 25 Serua reef

I then proceeded to get rocked by another big Bass. Although I managed to get my lure back it won its freedom.

Things go quiet for a little bit then I hook up on something different. This time on top of the reef. I see the flash of white and then my line pulls tight. As the beast shoots through the water I am still wondering what it is. Then it exits it's water home to show off its aerial prowess. Low and behold it is a Greater Barracuda. A big one at that. After a spectacular display out of the water Rosie leaders it into the boat for a nice photo session.

From Oct 25 Serua reef

With a smile like this you better watch your fingers.

From Oct 25 Serua reef

All in all we did 4 for 5 in a two hour session.

Not bad for a day that was supposed to be bad for fishing.

I don't think I will be going back to that website.

Tight lines

Two Unit streamers!

This past Tuesday I took a guy who fishes with JRFFA quite frequently,Robert Farnsworth and his friend, Stewart. It rained relentlessly all day. The guys were pretty committed to streamer fishing. The dam had two generators running all day. Our conditions where less than perfect water wise but our cloud cover was awesome. We had some technical difficulties with a broken rod and staying hung up. Finally, the guys got in the groove and waxed some browns. We probably caught 25 fish and 23 of them were brown trout! That's pretty sweet. We only saw one other boat on the river all day. I was amazed at how clear the river stayed with all of the rain. It was a pretty awesome day to be trout fishing on the Little Red River~!

Fall Fly Fishing Challenge is Saturday

If you're not doing anything Saturday and have the itch to fly fish, you might want to enter the fifth annual Fall Fly Fishing Challenge.
Rick Grassett, a Sarasota professional fishing guide, and I founded the event after agreeing that the area has a lot of talented fly anglers and offers good saltwater fishing.
The event has attracted an average of more than 40 anglers each year. Competition is tough, but it should be. Our goal was to pit the best fly anglers in the area against one another.
Two years ago, we added a second division to the event to attract more anglers. In addition to the Open Division (all licensed captains and guides must compete in the this division), we added the Angler Division. Only non-guides are allowed to fish in this division.
In the Open Division, snook, spotted seatrout and redfish are the eligible species. Overall champion will be the angler who has the highest total of inches for a single redfish, trout and snook. Also, prizes will be awarded to the anglers who have the most total inches of redfish, most total inches of snook or most total inches of trout.
This is a catch, photo and release event. Anglers will be allowed to turn in a maximum of 10 photos.
In the Angler Division. eligible species include redfish, spotted seatrout, snook, ladyfish, jack crevalle, flounder, pompano, permit, mangrove snapper and other species. Six places will be awarded.
The tournament is sponsored by the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers and Coastal Conservation Association Florida.
Captains' meeting is scheduled for 6 a.m. Saturday at the City Island boat ramp in Ken Thompson Park.
For information, call Rick Grassett at (941) 350-9790 or Steve Gibson at (941) 284-3406.

Another Beautiful Fall day

Sunday morning the sunrise was amazing! The clouds were thick and I just knew it would be an awesome day for streamers! I took my friend Frank and Robb who works for Patagonia fishing. We wanted to boat some big pumpkin brown trout, so we got the big sticks and streamer flies ready. We started out getting lots of hits and lots of action. We lost some nice fish and missed some nice fish. We had about a full generator of water running, so the hook set becomes an art in itself when throwing the big rigs. The biggest fish we saw was probably twenty five inches or better! Robb hadn't done much big streamer fishing and was eaten up with it! Around noon our clouds left us and it became almost hot! Unfortunately, it messed us up for streamers. We picked up a few nymphs for the last hour or so and did awesome. It was another Beautiful Little Red River day!

Little Roger's Birthday

Saturday I took two guys who fish with me often. Roger and Roger Jr. The last time I took these guys, the water was muddy and low. We had a pretty tough day. Saturday we had a great window of low water down river for the morning, then in the afternoon we ran up river and fished the falling water. Starting with the first drift these guys pounded them! We caught fish every place we fished. We had a fantastic morning and probably caught 30 fish. Being the die hards these guys are, we crammed down a sandwich in the car on the way to a different ramp, refueled, and set out after them again. I'm not too sure the fishing wasn't even better in the high water that afternoon! Big Rodger caught 5 fish in 5 casts! It was pretty unreal! Little Roger's birthday was coming up Tuesday so the trip was his birthday present and all he wanted was a brown trout! Well, he sure got one on the last drift! It was a beautiful day jammed full of action and beautiful Little Red River Fish!

Rainy day streamers

Thursday it didn't rain in Heber Springs, it poured. I fished with Tom from St. Louis. Tom is a good angler and didn't let the rain scare him. We put in and ran up river with one thing on our mind, brown trout. We fished big streamers all day and turned lots of nice fish. The temperature was nice. It was rainy but at least it wasn't cold. We found refuge under a dock at lunch and ate a dry sandwich, which was nice. As the day went on, the water got more and more stained. We found a bright fly that the fish seemed to love and had action all day. It was a Blast!

Snook and spotted seatrout plentiful

I was after snook, spotted seatrout and redfish. Those are the eligible species for our Fall Fly Fishing Challenge on Saturday.

So, I launched my Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 and hit Bishop Harbor at about 7:15 this morning. No need to be on the water before dawn. Our captains' meeting is scheduled at 6:30 on Saturday and we can't leave for our destination until after it's over.

This morning was awesome. A heavy fog blanketed Bishop Harbor as I paddled to the northeast side. I had a mullet imitation tied on my 8-weight and a Super Hair Clouser on the 6. My plan was to cast for redfish and snook, then hit the trout.

I found a good snook early. The fish hit about 30 feet out from a mangrove island in about 18 inches of water. I knew it was a formidable fish. First thing it did was run for the mangroves, pulling me and the kayak with it.

I back-paddled to get the fish away from the trees and had the snook under control in just a few minutes. Turned out to be a large snook than I first thought. I estimated it at 30 inches as I was getting ready to release it. I later caught a smaller snook on the same fly.

Before I got out of Bishop Harbor, I found plenty of small seatrout around grass patches. I caught and released 15 or so, then headed out into Tampa Bay where I hoped to find a few redfish on sand bars.

Redfish were scarce. I caught several more trout and saw a few snook. But the reds eluded me.

Seems to always be that way in this tournament. I won the Trout Division one year and won the Snook Division twice. One year I did managed a slam (snook, trout and redfish), but the red was tiny. It's the only redfish I've taken in this event.

Maybe tomorrow I'll find a few hungry reds?

25/10/09 - Lands End - Speci Lake

Weight – 44lb 8oz (26lb – silvers)
Catch – 31 Perch, 8 Roach, 6 Chub, 4 Carp, 3 Bream, 1 F1, 1 Tench
Weather – Mostly sunny & windy – mild
Water Temp– 12.5c > 13.0c
Match – Open – 6th overall, 1st silvers

I had a decision to make this weekend, fish Saturday or Sunday. Saturdays weather forecast was for wind & rain, which I didn’t fancy much, whilst Sundays weather was much drier, but still windy. A quick call to Mike confirmed he had a match on Sunday, so I booked myself in.

At the draw there was a discussion whether to put all 15 of us on Match Lake or split it and put 4 on 1 bank of speci (25-32). Personally, wanted to include speci simply because I hadn’t fished it this year and needed some practice for the forthcoming winter league match in 2 weeks.

I found myself on peg 25, a sheltered corner on Speci Lake and when I arrived there was what I thought a big swirl at 16m – happy days. Then I noticed a pleasure angler on 39. The big swirl was in fact a method ball landing in my swim – oh great! I suggested he keep to his side of the lake, which to be fair to him he did, although he had to make a few visits to the margins in peg 40 when ever he over cast.

With peg 26 not in I had plenty of space and too many options. I could just about reach the island with 17m, I had plenty of open water and the margin down my left hand side. My opening gambit was to try 14.5m in open water straight in front and towards the island. After 20mins and no sign of carp, it was time to try down the LH edge on double caster. For the next hour I caught consistently, mostly 8oz perch plus a few small roach, whilst all the time flicking 4mms towards the island and 16m in open water.

The island swim did produce 1 carp, which came off as I was shipping back. I also had a few liners, so tried shallowing up with 3 maggots on the hook, but I still couldn’t get a proper bite and too be honest I’m not build well enough to fish 17m waiting for bites.

By the ½ way stage I had 12lb or so of silvers and needed to make a decision. Stick with silvers for the rest of the match or go chasing carp. Mike West on peg 29 already had a few and I was certain a few people would be catching on Match Lake, so I felt I was out of the running for a frame payout, so decided to stick with the silvers. With this in mind I felt a 2nd silvers swim would be required to rest my LH margin line and fed some micro pellet, a pinch of 4mms and a bit of corn at 11.5m for the skimmers.

As the session progressed bites from the margin swim weren’t as frequent, however the quality of the fish had increased, with bigger perch up 1¼lb, chub and few bonuses in the shape of a decent F1, tench as well as 3 carp.

My 11.5m line produced 3 skimmers & a carp on soft pellet, but I had to wait a while for a proper bite. I also had a couple of chub from under the bush immediately to my right.

Come the end of the match I thought I was in with a good shout of winning the silvers, but not knowing how Match Lake fished I would have to wait to find out. 26lb was slightly more than I expected and I would have been disappointed not to have picked up some coin.

In total I fed 1½pt of caster, mostly via a tosspot, mixed with some atomic cloud and had a really nice days fishing. In the end the I won the silvers quite convincingly, with Nicky Collier taking 17lb from peg 6, however he did win the match with 87lb.

A special mention for Nick Merry, who doesn’t know the venue that well, but has decided to fish the Winter League. His 1st match was on peg 31 on speci, a flyer, which he didn’t make the most of. Today he drew peg 32, had 73lb for 3rd overall, including a munter of 17lb 13oz. At least "Mr Angry" didn’t come out.

Flies catch fish and fund medical research

I met Stuart Patterson at the Federation of Fly Fishers Florida Conclave in Celebration.

Nice guy.

He watched as I tied a few of my Myakka Minnows.

We chatted as I finished about a half dozen flies.

During the conversation, I found out Patterson sells flies through his website: http://www.pattersonsaltwaterflies.com/.

Nothing out of the ordinary there. Lots of folks are trying to make an extra buck selling flies.

But Patterson is just a little different. He donates all of his profits to the American Syringolmyelia Alliance Project. Syringomyelia, often referred to as SM, is a chronic disorder of the spinal cord. It can lead to numbing and tingling, a loss of sensitivity to hot and cold, scoliosis, muscle weakness, paralysis and other symptoms.

Patterson's daughters, Hope and Holly, suffer a number of neurological disorders, including Syingomyelia, Chiari malformation, intrachranial hypertension and chronic pain.

Holly and Hope decided to raise money money to fund research. Their goal is to raise $40,000.

Patterson joined the effort when he began selling flies.

To date, the Patterson family has raised more than $20,000.

Patterson has patterns from some of the biggest names in Florida saltwater fly fishing, including Tim Borski, Rick Grassett, Aaron Adams, Norm Zeigler and others.

Not only are the flies great fish-catchers, but money collected from their sales go to fight crippling diseases.

If you are in need of flies, check out Stuart Patterson's website.

You'll be glad you did.

Back in Business.

After the storms of the previous few days the fish have returned, this six pounder fought hard in the dark and was returned safely, along with a few others..........

Grayling on the Wye with John Tyzack

I had booked in another session with the Stockport Guide John Tyzack for a session on the great Wye which i have become a member.
I had previously fished with him on my favourite Ellastone stretch of the Dove and he totally blasted the river showing me dry fly fishing at the top level..
I have not done any serious Grayling fishing and only fished the dry all season so was looking to see if this Grayling fishing folk love was to strike a chord for me?
I arrived around 10.30 to meet JT on the private car park at the pumping station, i arrived on my Honda CBR 900 fireblade which gets me there quite quickly from my house!! John had a laugh and we chatted about our plan for the day, he said we have three options?
1. fish siting and stalking
2. Small Grayling shoals with lots of fish
3. Chech nymphing deep fast runs for big Grayling

What did i choose? all three of them please John!!!?
We set of and made our way up the river...As John was my guest for the day i wanted him to fish himself as this proved great for me last time as i learnt more by watching him.. I asked John how we would keep the Trout out the way and he said that this is a method that needs to be taught, I wondered how this was possible?
John started to spot the Grayling and showed me the signs to look for, low in the river, forked black tail, dark black looking from above, slow movements ect, i started to get the gist and started to pick out the dark shapes ghosting around the bottom..
We selected a pattern and john dropped his nymph 2ft above the fish, dead drifted it, the Graylings fins fluttered and swam left and sipped the nymph in, rod lifted and a decent scrap ended with a nice pounder in the net.. A bit of a piss take really as it was his first cast.. 'Now its your turn' with JT on my shoulder.... Three casts later i repeated the lesson and hooked and landed a 1lb on a halfer!! Watching the fish take the nymph was great, it reminded me of rolling down a luncheon meat cube to a sighted barbel on the Dove, any movement other than a dead drift was a failed take....
The major problem was not to hook a trout, if a trout was in the zone we would move away, John showed me a technique to get the fly low down under any feeding trout and hit the Grayling we had seen, this was a great challenge and we started to sight fish and take most.. One occasion i had a trout dart in and take the nymph, john told me to leave it there and do nothing, to my amazement the fish mouthed the nymph and then spat it out and moved on!!
The river was very low indeed and stealth was needed in most situations..
Around dinner we moved to a nice dry fly run which we could see the telling sign of the bubble left from rises, Grayling on the dry!! A dry fly was selected and JT took a couple in this run...
We had a very good fish rising around a tree which was impossible to reach with with the dry, JT did the most insane cast i have ever seen, he cast his fly well up the river and let his fly line wrap itself around the tree causing to fly to land right around the corner into the feeding lane of the fish!!! The fish came up and sipped the fly down.... JT hooked it and it came off, the first time i ever saw him loose a fish ever...i could see the competition in him as he was right pissed off.....
The picture below shows the tree to his left where he did the cast!!! Top draw!

We then drove to various runs know to John where he showed me the cheq nymphing style, a deadly method which took us bags of Grayling, We were hitting shoals of them and then moving on to another..

This method is obviously harder with the no wading rule but JT showed me methods that worked no end, i struggled at times with this being new to me but something i will get from practise, i would be thrashing a swim with no fish and JT would come in and take my rod and have fish on the first cast!! presentation just like the dry.....

We carried the afternoon taking fish to whatever the conditions needed, sighting, Dry fly fishing and Cech nymphing.. great sport..

Fishing for the Grayling is something quite new to me and i can now understand why so many people rave about it, the way a Grayling feeds in the river, its calm movements and its top looks.. I will be enjoying my sessions there this winter and have some real clunker spots up my sleeve!!

Nice one for another top day out John, i have still got ur manc accent in my head saying 'strike kid!'

Still 'Living the Dream'

Nice one

Glen

Week Review with Big Fish Pictures

This week has been tough, but were are still doing the best we can for all of our clients AND our family. Traveled east a couple hours for an electrofishing survey on Monday. Headed north of Chicago for an electrofishing survey Tuesday. Went to kickapoo wednesday and shocked a pond for a new client with an absolutely beautiful pond and property. Thursday we started a marathon of fish deliveries!

The lake we electro shocked on Tuesday is 147 acres and absolutely gorgeous. For some reason the owners dont want their name or location mentioned, and I cant imagine why perhaps one of the best fishing lakes in the state located near a heavily populated windy city wouldnt want people to know their name and location? Anyhow check out these pics, they will tell the tale of the lake:

Here are some pics from the 2 acre pond we electrofished on wednesday:

So back to thursday! We met the fish truck about 8:30 pm over near champaign and delivered 2000 nice channel catfish in the steady rain. Then Justin headed north with a load of feed trained bass, golden shiners, and fathead minnows. I jumped in with the fish guy and we headed west towards Norris, and we delivered quite a few feed trained bass and large hybrid bluegill along the way. About 5:30 am and we get all done delivering fish and head to sleep at the lake. I had to get up at 7:30 am to head into town for the funeral and was back delivering fish by about 1 pm. On my way to the last stop and I ran out of gas just 3 miles away! My client came up the hill with some gas and we were back on the road to finish up our fish delivery marathon!! I fell asleep on my parents couch about 6:30 pm and woke up at my house at 7 am??? Apparently Brook came over and got me, I just dont know how they lugged me into the car and into bed?

Saturday my dad and mom came with me to check the trapnets at a pond, take care of chores out at the lake, and then deliver a load of rainbow trout out to Otter Creek Preserve. Then saturday evening I cooked some dinner with Mae and Noah and we just hung out at home riding bikes and raking leaves. The week was so hectic, that the kids just needed some dad time, and that was just what the doctor ordered for me as well!

Tragic Accident, We are gonna miss Gabriel!

Early Sunday morning I got a call from my mother that there had been a bad accident in Haiti. My Aunt and Uncle and their 5 youngest children are missionaries over there. My Uncle Tim, 16 year old cousin Sara, and 5 year old Gabriel were in a horrible accident on their way to church. Tim has some head injuries, broken arm, and multiple open wounds, Sara's knee was torn open and her neck cut pretty bad, and Gabriel was thrown from the vehicle and died at the accident with head and lung injuries. The other driver just never saw them and he unfortunately fled the scene, even leaving his passenger behind.

Tim and Sara have along recovery ahead of them, but their bodies will be fine. The loss of Gabriel however, words cant even describe. 11 years ago Tim and Joan lost their first son Joshua to a tragic drowning accident while they were missionaries in Tennessee. I just try not to think about how unbelievably hard this would be to handle. Tim and Joan are very strong though. This definitely isnt easy, but they have plans of finishing their work in Haiti and just fully trust that God has a plan for even a tragedy such as this. It has been a long week for all of us, but we have tons of friends and family that have come together and are praying for and supporting Joan, Tim and their 5 daughters.

As I was looking at Gabriels little body today in the casket, Joan came up and as we hugged all she could say was "he was my little fishin buddy" And he was. At that moment I couldnt think of anything to say, the embrace and look of afirmation was all I could do, and really all that was needed. I dont know what this winter will bring or when they will be able to go back to Haiti, but I will definitely be headed there to help them out at some point.

Tragedies and death just dont seem to happen all that often in my little portion of the world, really the only funerals I have even been to is my grandfather a few years ago and Joshua's 11 years ago.


Gabriel Joel Reinhard, 5, of Peoria died Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009 in Les Cayes, Haiti where his parents and family were involved with missionary work.
Gabriel was born March 12, 2004 in Pekin, IL, the son of Timothy and Joan Meister Reinhard.
Surviving are his parents; and five sisters, Kristin (Rodney)Menold of Peoria and Sarah, Bethany, Hannah, and Faith, all at home. Also surviving are his maternal grandmother; Rhoda Meister of Hanna City; his paternal grandparents, Dan (Delores)Reinhard of Remington, IN.; 17 aunts and uncles; and numerous cousins.
He was preceded in death by one brother; Joshua; and his maternal grandfather; Paul Meister:
Gabriel attended the Sheridan Road Apostolic Christian Church in Peoria. Gabriel loved being in Haiti with his family and enjoyed catching crabs on the beach and frogs and loved to go fishing. Gabriel was such a joy to our family. We thank God that he was a gift to us and that we had the chance to love and raise our son and brother:
Visitation will be held from 2 to 4p.m. and 6 to 9p.m. Thursday at the Apostolic Christian Fellowship Hall at 7329 W. Route 150 in Edwards, IL. Services will be held at 10:00a.m. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Apostolic Christian World Relief Haiti, restricted in Gabriel's name.
To send condolences to the family online, go to www.EndsleyFuneralHome.com.

Shocking Lakes and Ponds is oh so much fun!

We have been shocking and evaluating lakes and ponds across Illinois like madmen! Some real good fishing, and some not so much!! But they all have potential and that is where we enter the picture. Some lakes need just a bit of tweaking and some need well, a bit more. Turning a body of water into a productive fishery really is not hard and doesnt take long and doesnt even cost that much money, as long as you are in tune to what the lake is set up to produce. They are all different!




Gary Glovers 4 acre pond near lewiston just needs a bit of agricultural lime to sweeten up the water to help grow some aquatic vegetation. David Van Ackers pond in the Quad Cities had a fish kill last winter and he lost all of his BIG fish, the small bass that did survive however are growing at a RAPID pace with little competition. Hidden Lakes big lake is perhaps the worst fishing lake on the entire property, we filled the boat with small fish. Hidden Lakes new lake is perhaps the best trophy bass fishing lake in central Illinois, but it wont be for long if they dont harvest TONS of the 11-13" bass that are taking over.


Next week we do some traveling to Champaign, Kickapoo, and Northern Illinois along with some fish deliveries mixed in. Its gonna be hectic.

Gibby at FFF Florida Conclave

I will be tying flies and conducting a kayak fishing seminar Friday and Saturday at the Federation of Fly Fishers Florida Council Conclave at the Ramada Inn Resort in Celebration, Fla.
If you will be there, please top by and say hello or introduce yourself.
I will be tying the famous Mighty Myakka Minnow, a fly I designed five years ago that does nothing more than catch fish -- a lot of fish. It's my go-to fly for oscar and Mayan cichlid in The Everglades. It's easy to to -- if you know how. And that's what I'll show you at the Conclave.
I'll also demonstrate how to tie my variation of the D.T. Special, a fly I consider to be THE best beach snook fly ever created. I've been using it and catching snook along the beaches for the past 20 years. Many flies will take snook, but none like the D.T. Special Variation.
Capt. Matt Hoover, a guide in Naples, Fla., sent me a D.T. Special year ago. He told me it was the only beach snook fly I'd ever need.
He was right.
I've tweaked it a little over the years to suit my needs -- hence, the term "variation."
I sometimes get credited with developing the pattern. I did not. I have changed it somewhat and I think it's a better fly.
My seminar on freshwater kayak fishing is scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday in Room D of the Ramada Inn. I have what I think is a very interesting Power Point presentation. My seminar will last about an hour, with the last 15 minutes for questions. Of course, I'll be available throughout the Conclave to chat about fly fishing or fly tying.
The Ramada Inn is located at 6375 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway in Celebration. Phone number is (407) 390-5800.
For information on the Conclave, call Capt. Pete Greenan at (941) 232-2960.