Few gills today.

[Illinoisgiller]

The wife convinced me we should have a go at the gills for a bit today. We traveled as far as our fuel budget would allow and ended up about 2 miles from home.:rolleyes:
We both used a little fly-jig I tied on a 1/124th oz jig and is designed for the early cold bite, It seemed to work today and earned it's keep. The one shown is a bit tattered after bringing in 65 of the 75 we brought home.
There was no size to them which is quite normal for the lower Hennipin Canal.
It was still an enjoyable 3 hrs fishing, and we will enjoy the 3 1/2 lbs of bluegill chips.:cool:
Get out there and wet a line. If I can get a few most anyone can. ;) Mike

[Timotha7]

WTG Mike! Even got a speck or 2 in there as well huh?

That is a great looking mess of fish and I bet there were tastey
water still has nuff of a chill to it to make them extra good

Tim

[Sharon]

HOLY FISH FRY Batman.... theres some good eatin in that pile.. Way to go Giller and Mrs Giller!!!! :D

[gofish]

way ta go giller.been waitin for ya to git some.

[Stump Bumper]

WOW! That's a good mess of fish you got there Mike. Hope you and your wife enjoy the fish fry....Ray

[Schoe]

Nice one Mike, almost makes you think of Wis. don't it. Schoe

[Schoe]

Today I had the pleasure of going with Illinoisgiller, (Mike Serle) to the local Hennepin Canal close to where mike lives.

We were trying out a couple of buggy whip Crappie poles that I thought would work real good on Bluegills.

Using one of Mike's hand tied "micro" jigs tipped with a Wax Worm my first cast toward the opposite bank no more than hit the water and the float took off sideways and I set the hook on a nice size Gill that is typical for that area. The fact of the matter is that those little fish think they are no less than a pound apiece and it looks like it the way they bent the buggy whip poles we were using. That kind of action kept on for both of us for the next hour and a half.

Once during this time Mike let out a whoop that got my attention when his rod was bent almost double. Thinking it could have been a Bass he took his time and played that fish very expertly having only 6 lb. line on that reel. The fight lasted five minutes or so and finally we could see that the fish was a large Carp in the 8-10 Lb class. Mike did manage to land the fish and hold on to him long enough to get a picture taken before releasing him back to the Canal.

Our total take home was 62 Bluegills and one Crappie and we threw back at least 25-30 Gills. This made for a very enjoyable afternoon for both of us and the fillets will make even a more enjoyable dinner tomorrow.

Here's a few pics of today's outing, Schoe

[Catbird]

Congrats on a fine day of fishing you two. I'm holding out till this weekend before I can fish again. See ya down there.

[Timotha7]

Great rod work Mike, big carp like that would make your day on that light
rig

Sounds like you all will be eating lots of gill chips again

[Stump Bumper]

Look's like alot of fun, glad ya'll were able to get some nice bream....Thank's for sharing the pictures with us....Ray

[Illinoisgiller]

It always seems to work out to a good time when I get the chance to slip off and wet a line for a bit with Schoe.:cool: Time to quit messing around and get ready for playing on the edges the Kentucky Ocean. :rolleyes:

[capt.kirk]

Sure glad you guys had a nice day of catching,man i like the looks of that
ditch you were fishin in,good job on the carp Mike had to be a handful.:D

[Sharon]

maybe I missed it, but what kind of rod was that Schoe? Looks like the tip is missing :confused:
Mike, great catch... I bet that was a rush to pull that baby in!! :D

[Illinoisgiller]

Sharon, If you are speaking of the rod I was using, it is not broken. That pole is a gift from a friend and my new favorite rod.:cool: It is a 9' IM6 Shakespear "Crappie Hunter" rod. It is just limber enough to make those smallish gills feel good and still cast good. They should have named it the Hennipin Canal Special.:p We purttied it up with gill slime for the first time yesterday:D :D
I and the wife slipped out to the canal again today for the maiden voyage in my new yaller water bug. We got carried away and forgot NOT to do any fishing. The wind was rough, but the tube handled fine.
The attached pictures reminded me that I will have to get plumb serious about pairing off some weight AFTER the Kentucky get together .:rolleyes:
I am expermenting with adding a pole holder and Eagle Fisheasy 320C fish finder. The depth finder was showing the canal depth to be 3'-4' and surface temp due to shallowness is 60 to 62.4 .The last canal pic. is looking on East from where we were. We only kept 18 of the largest today. Mike

[Sharon]

nope, was talking about Schoes rod, but now that I look at it again, I think the tip just got cut out of the picture.. sorry :rolleyes:
nice rig, but you wouldnt catch me in one of those down here, we got them GIANT lizards here LOL
AKA Gators!

[Mutt]

but you wouldnt catch me in one of those down here, we got them GIANT lizards here LOL
AKA Gators!

Chicken bok bok bok bok bok bok

[Sharon]

Chicken bok bok bok bok bok bok

Damn RIGHT I am!!!! :p

[Mutt]

heh who ya gonna call giant lizard busters ROFLMAO like that yeller thingy they are cool but not for me lol with my luk id capsize it lol.

[gofish]

schoe an giller,nice pics!!!!!! glad ya had fun,an gittin back in practice for ky,lol...............sharon ya mean we cant call ya "gator bait?"

[Sharon]

Nooooooo.... I dont like them Lizards LOL
I cant imagine using one of those down here, feet dangling is the dinner bell for gators, "Come and Get it!" :p

[gofish]

ill send ya some bright pink toe nail polish, thatll scare em so ya can dangle all ya want :p

[Sharon]

:mad: yea RIGHT!!!!! LOL :p

[T Bartels]

Great pictures guys!!!! Glad to see somebody's getting on 'em!! Thanks for sharing Mike and Schoe!!-Taylor

[Illinoisgiller]

Got a late start lake jumping with the wife for some gills and red ear today. We played from the banks on this trip. We stopped by Citizens Lake at the edge of Monmouth IL. and limited out on the smallish gills there. I made use of the strange fish cleaning set up there. They were painted white square posts. They were a little small to work on but they put them handily along all the lake sides at the edge of the road. lol
From there we moved on to Gladstone, IL Lake . The wind was howling a lot so we only got a few there and headed across the river to Lake Geode. We got a nice mess of both gills and red ear there using the experiance that we have picked up over many trips there.
Most all fish were taked on slip float 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 ft. deep. The time proven tiny Bill's Water Flea pattern of the 1/80 oz. Grizzly jig/wax worm combo ruled the day.

[jason454ci]

Good job Mike! Them is some funny looking cleaning stations up there. lol. I bet them will look good in some batter. I know they would look great with an 8/0 circle hook thru their back. Opps not supposed to tease you about that since you gave me a hands on about cleaning them. :D

[Sharon]

those were pretty! good eatin too I bet.. :)

[T Bartels]

Awesome Mike!!! Those are some sweet looking 'gills!!! I'm hoping to get out fishing tomorrow with one of my friends since we get out of school at 1:30!! Hopefully I can grab a few nightcrawlers tonight to use!! Keep the pictures comin'!!;)

[gofish]

aint no gills safe anywhere from ya are there? way ta go both of ya.remember ta put them lil ones back sos we have bait lol

[T Bartels]

Well went out for a few hours after school with my friend Jeff and hit a spot on the river (Mississippi) for a while. It was REALLY WINDY and the current was bad so we gave up on that and i thought of this little slough along our bike trail here in Clinton surrounded by trees so we gave that a try. It was 500 times better, hardly anything but a small breeze to keep ya cool. There was already quite a few people there which surprised me. Set up and watched one guy down the bank about a 100 yards pull in a decent 15-18 in. Largemouth and a few kids our age catch a few Carp. I had a few bites early on but nothing big. Jeff did hook up once fishing off of the bottom and got it about 5 feet away from the bank when his line broke. We figured it was a big perch (Drum). Soo we really didn't catch anything but it was a beautiful day and I had fun!! Hope somebody got on some!!:D

[Soupy_1us]

See Capt. I ain't the only one that ain't catchin'... Even Ole TB here is havin a "Soupy Day"!

[Illinoisgiller]

Taylor, Sounds like you had a trying day. That persistant wind was bad down here too.
Is that slough the pocket of water that can be seen just a bit down from the upper bridge? If so, it seems to hold water in low water times so must be some depth there at least. Mike

[gofish]

took my youngest boy "bait" fishin today an he was doin such a good job at it i started crappie fishin.biggest ones were round 13-14 inches,got nuff fer a couple meals.

[Illinoisgiller]

went up to the gas station and got a pop bottle full of gas this am and it got me far enough to pick up these gills. :rolleyes:

[Illinoisgiller]

Gofish-Joe is getting on some crappie and I'm getting a few gills.
Surely there is someone that is taking time to slip off to a panfish paradice.
The wife is out of town and I talked to her on the tellyphone. She is hankering to slip off to SE Iowa soon .:p :p

I went up the local canal a ways this am. The gill bite has been pretty fair and today was cursed with the dreaded EAST wind. Someone forgot to tell the gills though. :rolleyes: I only kept 31 as I am running short of fridge space. I even switched over to a 1/80 oz. Grizzly Jig that is light apple green head w/green dyed grizzled duck feathers. This jig has been a slow one overall for me but seemed to work fine today.
I'm looking forward to hearing from someone else out there.:cool: Mike

[Sharon]

had a few interested last night Mike... I was sure hoping to catch one for you .. but no luck.. ate the bait and ran :rolleyes:

[gofish]

got my limit (25) of crappie again yesterday,just goin on the beds here.goin to the wabash in the morn with "tangles" the 11 year old.

[T Bartels]

Mike, I'm not sure if you can see it from the North bridge or not...I'll have to look the next time i'm going over. Glad to see so me you guys are getting on 'em!!!:D Mike's got the 'gills and Joe's got the crappies, I'll be over in an hour!!!;) GOOD EATS....

[jason454ci]

I caught a few smaller ones yesterday Mike. But most met their demise on a big ole circle hook. Sorry had to have bait. Hope to get out to a pond soon and get some to try out them filleting skills that you thought me.

[gofish]

went to the wabash today after cats and ended up gittin some nice crappie out a brushpile lol

[calamity]

Looks like Stan and Ollie had a great day of fishing! Way to go, guys.

[gofish]

hey now i might resemble that!:D