Richard Gulli “has had a true passion for everything the outdoors has to offer,” his dad Dominic emailed. “He has caught trophy fish of all species, except one ... the elusive muskie!”
With cooling waters, the 10-year-old and his dad were on Lake Summerset to fill that gap.
“After slinging big baits all weekend, it finally paid off!!,” proud father emailed. “[At] 9 a.m. Monday, on his favorite top water bait, the Whopper Plopper, he got the surprise of his life when this fish of a lifetime exploded from the water below and ate!
“He kept his composure and handled business! I swooped in with the net and we landed this monster 46-inch tiger muskie!! . . . She hung out in the net while we gathered our composure and grabbed our camera and tape measure.”
After quick measurements and a photo, she was successfully released.
“A huge hug and woo-hooo followed!!,” proud dad concluded. “What a great moment he will remember forever!!”
FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories (the stories matter, as this one shows) around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the paper Sun-Times. The online posting here at https://chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors goes up at varied days of the week, depending on what is going on the wide world of the outdoors.
Submit nominations by message on Facebook (Dale Bowman), on Twitter (@BowmanOutside) and Instagram (@BowmanOutside) or email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com).
