gillage

..........that is a great story Chief @JSzymczyk

Ah a great trip none the less and you'll get'em next time.

I would bet it was a turtle that was shell hooked. I fish a Bluegill/Bass pond close to home and the turtles are like submarines with their scopes up at times. Checking around for stuff. I have hooked a turtle, not to have it budge, especially if it is a large one and then all of a sudden my line will move. Accidentally hooked a large soft shell here recently and had to call my son to help me get it unhooked and back in the water, he is our reptile/amphibian expert in residence. They are as endangered species here in Illinois. My money is on a TURTLE.

Great Story Happy Ending & Fish Doesn't hardly get better than that!

Philly, I/we call this a Red Ear around here in central Illinois. Nice fish what ever it is called.

So that brings me full circle to my tie and a materials list. Just in case someone else decides to tie a Byrd's Gillbuster, they will have my best guess. Byrd's Gillbuster Materials List: Hook: #10 3761 Thread: Danvile 6/0 Eyes: Lead nickle plated micro 7/64ths Tail: Black Rabbit micro-zonker strip Body: Black Danville Acetate Floss Thanks to everyone that participated in this thread. this is a great sharing, caring, learning environment. I even got a few new patterns to try in the process. Tight Lines. Rick

Well where do I start? I love fly fishing and even though I am nearly 70 and no rookie to fishing, fly fishing is another story. I've been hanging out on the Forum and have enjoyed my time here but don't really feel like I have contributed much to the knowledge base. Let me preface the backstory by saying, I love Bluegill fishing. If i see a carp fly mentioned and the person says he had a hard time keeping bluegills off of it, I need to know more. So that brings me to the rest of the story. I read a post about a fly called Byrd's Gillbuster. Well, with a name like that I am intrigued. A little more searching and someone mentions it in a post about "one flys". Whoa, now you have my full attention. More searching and more mentions but no definitive pictures or materials are listed. I post a question to the Forum and get some very helpful quick replies. Philly, Capt Bob LeMay, Bazzer69, richmce and others jump in to lend a hand. Philly posts a photo of what he has found. I eventually find that photo: but also come to realize that the tier says it's a modified byrds gillbuster recipe and used white zonker, pearl/white sparkle chenille for a body and white and black lead dumbell eyes. Hmmmm, so now I know what a modified gillbuster looks like but what does the original look like? More web searching by me finds an earlier photo. Ah now maybe I am getting closer. A photo with the name of the person that tied it but still no material list. I find a link to that person that brings me to an email that I am NOT even sure is still active. On a lark I send an email to the person that tied it. A day goes by and I get a response. His internet search pulls up the photo that Philly found and his respnse was, "The pics I find are not the fly I remember. The gill buster I remember was super simple. Black Rabbit fur tail, black uni stretch body, and dumbbell eyes. I sent him the above photo and he confirms that it is likely his tie and the fly. Well now we are on to something. A little more searching and I am introduced to what remains of Bill Byrd's now inactive website. From what I can tell, Bill Byrd like to fish with 1wt, 2 wt and 3wt max fly rods. From Bill Byrd's website: "Use your favorite subsurface flies. Use flies with lead eyes 1/100th, 1/50th, 1/36th, and even 1/24th ounce to get them down. Even light chain bead eyes work well on the slowly suspending sub-surface flies. Flies in sizes-8 to -12 work just fine on bass to thirteen pounds. Use slender profile subsurface flies in the size-10 and -12 range and you'll catch larger members of other sunfish species as well. Select or tie flies that emulate the available food."

I use 8/6/4 Fluoro. when I build mine. Can handle what I catch with the 3wt and 5wt. YMMV Tight lines, Rick

Nice job with the pics. Good to see.

Nice work Philly. Thanks for the input and the research. Much appreciated

Ah, good to know. thanks for the help

Thanks Capt. Bob I like that and will need to tie some up.

Not sure, read about them without a picture or materials list. Always on the lookout for a bluegill fly. I did a search and came up pretty empty handed. Thanks

Does anyone have a materials list and/or SBS for the Byrd's Gillbuster Fly Pattern? thanks in advance.

In the past I have found fringe beads on ebay.