04-15-2008, 12:08 AM
My wife suggested I go to the doctor and get checked out. I suggested she go shopping and keep herself occupied and stop making recommendations as to what I should be doing.
I had just finished scouring the basement shelves for the umpteenth time, hoping to find a particular spinning reel I had put away. After 20 minutes I decided it was an exercise in futility.
Cleaning reels, tying flies, checking rod guides for rough spots and re-spooling boxes of casting and spinning reels is no substitute for running a topwater bait along a patch of lily pads.
Ice fishing used to help satiate the burning desire to mingle with my friends while catching some fish. But alas, all of that peripheral activity is not really an adequate substitute for the real McCoy.
I am a nosy chap. I stopped and eavesdropped on a conversation going on between three anglers attending the recent Rosemont Outdoor Show. I heard one fellow complaining he was going nuts having to contend with the terrible weather and heavy snowfalls. It was almost the exact same discussion in the next hall to the north coming from a group of six men, all holding bags of tackle and rods.
One guy said if he can't be out there he was going to drop some "heavy money" on "new toys."
This is typical wintertime behavior in these parts, especially with the kind of season that has been the norm instead of the exception.
I gave up on finding the reel and decided to drag out some maps for possible trips in the spring and summer.
There were pictures of me holding some big striped bass I caught on the Tennessee River, just the other side of the Illinois-Kentucky state line. Further digging led me to a map of Lake Kincaid in southern Illinois marked with potential muskie spots. My mind raced back to that wonderful day down there. And then there was some notes and pictures from a carp foray on Indiana's St. Joseph River in South Bend.
On one of my Manitoba trips in the 70s I met a suburban angler named Ev Cohen. He suggested we fish for jumbo carp together on the St. Joe. We caught well over 30 fish running 20-30 pounds, and by day's end we were both exhausted from the action.
And then of course are those wonderful memory joggers from Bangs Lake, where Roger Pulkka and I braved an electrical storm to catch dozens of chunky largemouth bass.
I had to take a couple of aspirin because just thinking about what lies ahead and knowing there are just so many hours of daylight, the cabin fever headaches have started rearing their ugly heads.
Anyway, I've made a very important decision. This will be my year for big smallmouth. They'll come from the rocks of Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Little Sturgeon Bay, the Menomonee River, the Peshtigo River and the DuPage River. The anticipation flows over me like warm ocean water applying its soothing and healing magic.
I never know what awaits when I slip into a stream. But one thing for sure, I've promised myself I will make every minute count, even if I don't catch anything.
Gresham's gone: Claude Hamilton "Grits" Gresham Jr., noted outdoorsman, writer, author, and television personality, died Monday in his hometown of Natchitoches, La., at the age of 85.
Gresham served as field host and producer for "The American Sportsman" television series on the ABC network, and was host of "Shooting Sports America" on ESPN. He was also shooting editor of Sports Afield magazine for 26 years, and was published in such wide-ranging magazines as Sports Illustrated and Gentleman's Quarterly.
Gresham authored eight books on fishing and firearms.
Go figure: I guess crime does pay in the long run. A convicted Quebec poacher who wound up paying the courts $48,000 for his misdeeds is now under contract with the government there to come up with a moose count for the province. In fact, the government is handing over more than $320,000 to Andre Martel to count deer as well as moose. He apparently was the lowest bidder on the contracts.
Fishing report:
Fox Chain: Mid-evening walleye fishing on Petite Lake is proving a boon for anglers willing to brave the cold weather. Fish are being taken in 18 feet of water through about 10 inches of ice. Lake Marie crappie and white bass doing well in 10 feet of water. Channel Lake pike have become active in 8 feet.
Lake Michigan: It's windy and cold, but the brave of heart are taking some perch at Montrose and Belmont Harbors.
In Waukegan there's been a slight improvement in the perch action in the harbor.
I had just finished scouring the basement shelves for the umpteenth time, hoping to find a particular spinning reel I had put away. After 20 minutes I decided it was an exercise in futility.
Cleaning reels, tying flies, checking rod guides for rough spots and re-spooling boxes of casting and spinning reels is no substitute for running a topwater bait along a patch of lily pads.
Ice fishing used to help satiate the burning desire to mingle with my friends while catching some fish. But alas, all of that peripheral activity is not really an adequate substitute for the real McCoy.
I am a nosy chap. I stopped and eavesdropped on a conversation going on between three anglers attending the recent Rosemont Outdoor Show. I heard one fellow complaining he was going nuts having to contend with the terrible weather and heavy snowfalls. It was almost the exact same discussion in the next hall to the north coming from a group of six men, all holding bags of tackle and rods.
One guy said if he can't be out there he was going to drop some "heavy money" on "new toys."
This is typical wintertime behavior in these parts, especially with the kind of season that has been the norm instead of the exception.
I gave up on finding the reel and decided to drag out some maps for possible trips in the spring and summer.
There were pictures of me holding some big striped bass I caught on the Tennessee River, just the other side of the Illinois-Kentucky state line. Further digging led me to a map of Lake Kincaid in southern Illinois marked with potential muskie spots. My mind raced back to that wonderful day down there. And then there was some notes and pictures from a carp foray on Indiana's St. Joseph River in South Bend.
On one of my Manitoba trips in the 70s I met a suburban angler named Ev Cohen. He suggested we fish for jumbo carp together on the St. Joe. We caught well over 30 fish running 20-30 pounds, and by day's end we were both exhausted from the action.
And then of course are those wonderful memory joggers from Bangs Lake, where Roger Pulkka and I braved an electrical storm to catch dozens of chunky largemouth bass.
I had to take a couple of aspirin because just thinking about what lies ahead and knowing there are just so many hours of daylight, the cabin fever headaches have started rearing their ugly heads.
Anyway, I've made a very important decision. This will be my year for big smallmouth. They'll come from the rocks of Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Little Sturgeon Bay, the Menomonee River, the Peshtigo River and the DuPage River. The anticipation flows over me like warm ocean water applying its soothing and healing magic.
I never know what awaits when I slip into a stream. But one thing for sure, I've promised myself I will make every minute count, even if I don't catch anything.
Gresham's gone: Claude Hamilton "Grits" Gresham Jr., noted outdoorsman, writer, author, and television personality, died Monday in his hometown of Natchitoches, La., at the age of 85.
Gresham served as field host and producer for "The American Sportsman" television series on the ABC network, and was host of "Shooting Sports America" on ESPN. He was also shooting editor of Sports Afield magazine for 26 years, and was published in such wide-ranging magazines as Sports Illustrated and Gentleman's Quarterly.
Gresham authored eight books on fishing and firearms.
Go figure: I guess crime does pay in the long run. A convicted Quebec poacher who wound up paying the courts $48,000 for his misdeeds is now under contract with the government there to come up with a moose count for the province. In fact, the government is handing over more than $320,000 to Andre Martel to count deer as well as moose. He apparently was the lowest bidder on the contracts.
Fishing report:
Fox Chain: Mid-evening walleye fishing on Petite Lake is proving a boon for anglers willing to brave the cold weather. Fish are being taken in 18 feet of water through about 10 inches of ice. Lake Marie crappie and white bass doing well in 10 feet of water. Channel Lake pike have become active in 8 feet.
Lake Michigan: It's windy and cold, but the brave of heart are taking some perch at Montrose and Belmont Harbors.
In Waukegan there's been a slight improvement in the perch action in the harbor.