6-24-03 - This is ONE BLOCK from my home. Baitfish and PERCH were everywhere.

Moving over to Gillson Park, this was my favorite catch of the day. This little rainbow had simply STUNNING colors for a fish of only 6" at most!

Now that's what I call a sunset!

6-24-03 - Hit that skunk, and while it's down kick it in the teeth! It's out for the count!

Waters Fished: Lake Michigan (Wilmette Harbor, IL and literally 1/2 block from my HOME!)
Fish Caught: 4 by me, a few others by Bart
Outing Date: 6-24-03
Weather: Sunny winds from the south
Air Temp: 90's
Water Temp: N/A - just below 60F according to satellite data
Water Level: Normal
Water Color: Clear & Blue
Fish Species: Coho, Perch, Rainbow Trout, Rock Bass
Pattern Fished: Whitlock's Hare Scuplin, MP's Perch Bait (maybe I'll put up the recipe...), Crazy Orange Rubber Legs, MP's Antron in Brown
Pattern Color: Black for the Sculpin, Perch Bait is basically a white
Fishing Quality: Enjoyably Fair

First, let me say I've BROKEN THE SKUNK! Ok, things can't go wrong two days in a row on the lake, right? At 6:15 PM I was on the water; Bart was slowly making his way towards the Evanston area...I decided it'd be a good idea to check by my house and see what was going on before we headed to Gillson Park.

Eureka! FISH EVERYWHERE! I told Bart to screw Gillson, I was fishing HOME! And I wasn't let down...I got numerous hits on a black Whitlock's Hare Sculpin...the problem was they were hitting it from the SIDE and thus not getting hooked! After a rotation through a few flies, I found that a newly devised Baitfish Pattern size 6 was ideal...on the first toss I pulled out a nice 12" perch!

Bart and M hooked into a couple and added to my perch fund (I intend to cook up one nice perch dinner for my folks to convince my dad that freshwater fish CAN taste good and NOT fishy!). Bart also landed a fair sized Rock Bass on a silver spoon.

But the big hoopla was the large salmon, probably a coho that was circling the area like a shark. I tried tossing the "Crazy Orange Rubber Legs" (see the Ganaraska Resolution swap), and he approached it not once, not twice, but THREE times. Took very tentative slashing hits but never actually TOOK the fly. Bart was shouting "Dude You have him" and I'd say "No, I don't" and then he'd say it again, and well this went on until the salmon lost interest in the fly. DAMN!!!!!!! Everyone around us was watching by this point (after the first perch, a sizable crowd started to develop). Then we saw an entire school of smaller Salmon (definitely coho) cruising as well...probably yearlings based on the size. They were chasing the bait all over.

By this point though the crowds were getting to us; imagine trying to fly cast with people on every side of you...NOPE..not gonna happen. So we went to Gillson. Unfortunately the fish weren't THERE! I did manage a Rock Bass, a small Salmon smolt, and a Rainbow, all on MP's Antron. Then another LARGE salmonid showed up, and both Bart and I tried, but we got NO interest.

After that I was heading back home; two perch and a rock bass don't make a good dinner. It was 8:30 by this point and well, let's just say by 9:30 I left; no more fish, no more hits. Darn!

  MP