Provided
Oliver Byrnes, 9, caught a 2-pound, 3-ounce bluegill Sunday on a night crawler from a pond in Aurora.
“It measured 12 inches and was by far the biggest bluegill I’ve ever seen!” his father
David emailed.
Closeup of Oliver Byrnes weighing his really big bluegill.
Provided
In case you are wondering, the Illinois-record bluegill (3-8) was caught May 10, 1987 by Darren May from a farm pond in Jasper County.
For perspective, here is a full length view of Byrnes’ big bluegill.
Full length view of Oliver Byrnes weighing his really big bluegill.
Provided
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
Nisa partners reaping rewards of refits Print
Nisa is reporting a record number of its partners are undergoing development programmes at their stores.
More than 50 shops belonging to Nisa partners have been refurbished by the symbol group’s format and development team already this year and more are lined up ready to start work. Nisa is offering partners a 10% saving on all new refits until the end of the year.
In total 53 stores were developed between January and April this year of which 27 were new to Nisa and 26 converted from an existing fascia – either older Nisa branding or independent fascias. Nisa’s Evolution store format and fascia has been an increasingly popular choice for partners, the symbol group reports, making up 45 of the 53 installations this year.
Recruiting retailers is a competitive game. And one that generally plays out best in a face-to-face environment.
But coronavirus put an end to all that. No longer could the big symbol and franchise groups rely on trade shows, store visits and face-to-face meetings to tempt new members. Suddenly, operators had to adapt their recruitment plans to an online world.
Replacing the power of annual trade shows, which typically attract thousands of visitors, was no mean feat. Yet nine of the leading 14 fascias managed to hold onto or expand their numbers last year.
The most impressive figures came in from Booker’s Premier and Parfetts Go Local – both of which grew store numbers by 150 – while Londis was also up by more than 100 stores. Meanwhile, Nisa signed up 73 more stores in 2020 than it did the previous year despite the challenges created by the pandemic.