Nano Light Fishing 2024

Nano Light Fishing is the new tactical fishing system that catches more fish and more trophy fish. I am getting psyched for spring fishing. I am introducing a brand new fishing system and I have been practicing it for nearly 20 years. Time to whip it out. Here is a little back story and more information.

I own THE Mick Thill float (he hated the word bobber) sales kit – which is the biggest collection of American floats, at the height of float fishing in the US. We have gone backwards since then. He was my teacher/coach on the USA Fishing Team. There are many floats he designed and the big round ones carry his name, but they are NOT bobbers he would fish. HE also hated the term “bobber” and pronounced it “bahhhhhhhber” with a Chicago accent thrown in on top of his English accent. He was born in the US and then grew up in London where he fished and won national championships. He returned to the US and revolutionized the bobber industry. What is on the shelves today, that many buy and fish, are not sensitive enough to see the fish bite. I will do a BUNCH of ultra-light videos and promote my new system – Nano Light fishing.

Nano Light Fishing System

Nano Light Fishing is advanced leaving “Ultra-Light Fishing” in the dust. The term Ultra-Light has been used be people to describe rods, 10 lb. lines and even musky equipment. Ultra Light Muskie tackle? It is time for a reset. Look for some insight into what this great light style of fishing can produce fishing everywhere!

Fish Caught with Nano Light Fishing System
Johnny With a fish caught on Nano Light Fishing System – battled this 5 lb. inland stocked trout on the light system – another trophy personal best on Nano Light.

With Nano Light Fishing I will be fishing 3 lb. leader and lighter. Nothing over 3 lb. will be include in this. There are specialty waters where I will fish a 4 lb. leader (when weeds or submerged trees come into play). This entire spring and summer I will be doing how-to videos to introduce many to the tricks and tips of fishing truly light. Lighter than Ultra-Light, and it very much does matter. The system delivers the bait in the most natural mechanic possible. Presenting the bait in the same way that fish see their food in nature – directly results in more bites.

I recently watched some In-Fisherman videos featuring my coach Mick, and I know see where concepts were not properly covered. This really got me fired up and excited for the season. In the video the editor of In-Fishermen was fishing tactics and made some errors in fishing floats. Also in the video, Mick Thill is introduced as European champion. This was a shame as he was from Skokie, Illinois and was an American champion, fishing in World Championships for the United States. His methods were NOT European, they were developed for fishing around the Midwest and down South. When he wanted to, he did a killer Chicago accent.

European Style Fishing

Europe doesn’t have bluegills and crappie – the gear is vastly different. This classic In-Fisherman video gave me a glimpse into the fishing publication because I am an expert on the subject, more so than the editor of the biggest magazine. He fishes multi-style and equipment. I fish one way 95% of the time. Another example is the illustrations in the Fishing Encyclopedia and on the back of Eagle Claw Hooks are incorrect and if you follow them, your fishing rig will be off!! You will catch less fish. The internet – well, that is filled with people who copy information and many times poorly. I see many writing article using AI to form most of their sentences. These people try to teach you in articles that are based off of social media. Hilarious, and deadly. I saw a person do an AI article on ice fishing and it might literally cost someone their life. He left out basic safety equipment and even posted a really unsafe picture because he did not know the subject well. His goal was to get clicks and he “borrowed” information and made it look like his own article. Just so you know, your “experts” and “articles” are not always up to par – or worse.

It is time to get some proper, detailed information on ultra-light fishing out there on our waters. One time when I got back from a World Championships, I was a little tired and was fishing a regional competition. Mick Thill was not competing because he was also tired. However, he loved watching and seeing competitions in person. He showed up behind me.

Mick Thill USA Fishing Team Captain and American Fishing Legend - made float fishing rise to popularity during the 1990s. He lived just outside of Chicago.
Mick Thill was one of the best fishermen to fish US Competitions and around the world. His methods were tops for fish in North America. Here is a picture I took in a competition where he again finished higher than many mastering 7 species of fish. He dominated small, medium and large fish in this 4 hour fishing period in an urban pond at Downers Grove, IL outside of Chicago. This is a massive bag of fish.

Being lazy and tired, I was fishing my rigs from the World Championships on a bluegill / carp lake. Well, my coach loved the opportunity to come by and observe. He saw me using actual European rigs to fish bluegill. Man, did I get.a tongue-lashing. I was playing every bluegill for a minute or so because my gear was under-powered. The gear was .75 main line and the hooks were also a little small. What this meant was that if I horsed the bluegills in, I would snap that line. Well, that meant lost time in a 4-hour session every fish I caught. Coach quickly made fun of this approach and was correct – I was wasting my time. I had won the US Open on day one on this lake with a massive bag of bluegill so I knew better. I was just too tired to do my bench work and prepare a fresh rig. I grabbed some float rigs from the World Championships, which ended up not being a time-saver. Mick Thill made me stop fishing and tie up a proper bluegill rig and float and then I started smashing gills with speed.

One method I will demonstrate is Johnny’s  SpeedFishing™ which some of you will love. I will be making an easy-to-fish speed rig so you can literally set it up in one minute and slay fish. Look for action videos, rigging videos as well as timed fishing events so you can see how many fish you can catch. By the way, there is a way to attract fish and get them more active with the wave of your hand- BOOM Fish Attractant Mix. I’ll show some of that – even my tournament mix where I can get a water active and up the catch rate by 600% – the methods are many times more weight than Bassmasters or regional bass tournaments. For Ultralight fishing fans – this is going to be the đź’© (cool stuff). So excited after watching that video from 1995 and seeing how this system got off on the wrong foot.  I will cover telescopic pole (cane pole) fishing as well as spin casting floats from start to fishing situations. 

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb1sEaL3BPsjEgSyIOiCM9Q ChicagoFishing YouTube and get notifications of these videos as I post them. Starting indoors next week and amping up into warmer water, tips videos will be posted that should help everyone to catch more an dlarger fish. Including trout, bluegill, crappie, catfish, bass, perch and carp. I ended the season with two personal best inland stocked trout. Keep in mind, these are stocked in heavily-populated Cook County so nearly 5.3 million people in my county so there are literally a million fishermen around me. I look forward to the adventure coming up and sharing it with you. I am so excited to be starting this adventure this year. Give me a follow on YouTube and on Facebook for updates – Johnny Wilkins 

PS – here’s to you Mick Thill – wherever you are fishing in the great beyond today!

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