Really hungry bluegill: Likely last ice-fishing Fish of the Week

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Credit: For the Sun-Times

The Vilt family is known for their fishing skills, including Emily Vilt, then 8, now about to be married, catching the one-time Illinois-record longnose gar. But Ron Vilt Sr., her grandfather, went over the top during a Valentine’s Day outing on a Wilmington-area pond.

“They were biting so fast he had to bait his hook to keep the bluegill from jumping out of the hole,’’ Vilt claimed is how Ron Jr. emailed it.

Figured I better get an ice-fishing FOTW one last time.

FOTW, the celebration of big fish and good stories around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays on the Sun-Times’ outdoors page. Submit nominations on Facebook (Dale Bowman), on Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or by email (straycasts@sbcglobal.net).

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