adventure sports outdoors magazine may 2008

May 2008Sports Outdoors

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Congrats to Bob Siler & DaveHerschelman… Nice Turkeys!

Dan Vinovich with some real beauties...

“Good hunt'n to you duringmushroom season!”

2 ADVENTURE SPORTS OUTDOORS “THE VOICE OF THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN” May 2008

May 2008 ADVENTURE SPORTS OUTDOORS “THE VOICE OF THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN” 3

son. Reports from all of thehunters I know say they allhave been getting theirbirds. Man is turkey huntingfun! If you haven’t done it yetget yourself a permit for the fallseason or at least apply for one nextspring. I love to hunt ducks but turkeyhunting has got to be the ultimate sport.Your heart will come out of your chest. Itis as fun as it gets.

Remember last month I was talkingabout $4 a gallon gas? Well it is on itsway. Between the demands for fuel tofight in the big sandbox, to 40 million il-legals that have come to this country inthe last 20 years, to the Chinese and Indi-ans who are discarding their bikes to buycars and a dozen other reasons we have nocontrol over. I’m afraid it’s going to gettotally outrageous. Driving may become aluxury. Were all in the same boat and itdoesn’t matter who is the President. I surehaven’t heard anything from the currentcandidates for a quick fix.

So hang in there for the long haul. It’sgoing to get worse before it gets better. Ifit’s any consolation England has been liv-ing with high gas for years and a gallonover there is around $8.00. But most ofthe vehicles get between 45 to 55 mpg.That may be the answer; better fuel econ-omy but that will take some time. It’s hardto part with those big trucks and SUV’s.The only way we can beat this problem isto buy economical cars and trucks.

I was looking at the April issue the onewith turkeys on the front, and was sur-prised to see on our masthead it was our137th issue. Time flies and we’ve beenpublishing now for almost 12 years. It hasbeen one heck of a ride. But with hardwork and perseverance we will be herefor a long time.

Please notice the format change withthis edition featuring full or spot color oneach page. This was an opportunity tomake ASO look its very best. The ASOstaff works hard with dedication, honesty,and a passion to make things happen. Wewill always strive to make this publicationthe best it can be.

If you have pictures or stories for us toprint please send them e-mail. We needWOW (women/ladies) pictures for June!

ASO has added a new sales person, andwants to welcome Liz Olsen of Pekin toour staff. Liz has already been a great helpto ASO and is a great addition to the ASOstaff.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom and to allthe other wonderful moms! God Speed toour Troops! Keep your worm wet andyour powder dry…


Canterbury Tales

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OUTDOORS

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MAY 2008 • ISSUE #138

By: Harry Canterbury

ON THE COVER:Dan Vinovich with a bunch ofmorels! See his story on pg. 80.

See him on Illinois Outdoor, WTVP Ch. 47. Go fishing with Dan!

You’ll have a blast! 309-267-8309 • [email protected]

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was a big hit with the kids. He felt sorryfor the little ones and tried to help them asmuch as he could. I have a picture ofsome of the kids Billy was holding and hewas glad to be able to help the little inno-cent ones who have nothing to do withthis tragedy we call war.

The Marines are known to be your bestfriend or your worst enemy. I am veryproud of his accomplishments and of allof our troops that have served in thisseemingly never ending conflict. SimperFidelis and may they all come home safe.

As of now I have not found a mush-room but hopefully when you get thismagazine they will be out. We had a tonof rain, then just this week it was in the70’s and that should bring those tasty lit-tle sponges out. You guys down southhave probably been getting schrooms fora week or so but here in central Illinois itis just about ready to start.

Last year wasn’t very good, but betterthan year before last. This year it lookslike the weather is just right for a binbuster crop. As far as recipes go there isonly one real way to cook them and thatis in real butter, cracker crumbs, eggs andcream. I have had them all sorts of waysand they are good. But that rich flavor ofreal butter is hard to beat. If you don’tsplurge at least once a year you are cheat-ing yourself out of that once a year treat.Good Hunting.

According to the powers to be that stu-pid idea of stopping released pheasanthunting in Illinois by the IDNR is still onhold. They have got to make a decisionreal quick or it will be too late. We willkeep you posted on this as soon as wehear something. I just wish we had a Gov-ernor from the real Illinois and not sometypical Chicago politician who thinks likeObama. When we get bitter we cling toguns and religion. I never knew that gunsand religion were one of the same. You gofigure.

Did you feel that Earth Quake we hadin April? I was sleeping and it woke meup. I thought at first it was the wind blow-ing the house but when it kept shaking. Iknew then that it was an earthquake. Itwas an experience I will never forget.

1968 was the last earthquake I was in.I was hunting ducks and did not even feelit. But it was an eye-opening event. Itkind of lets you know just how small weare in the big picture of life and MotherNature still rules no matter what we do.People are like fleas on a dog’s back andif Mother Nature wants to remind us justwho is boss, she will.

Turkey hunting is going pretty well, Ishot my bird on the second day of the sea-

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This is a greatmonth for ourfamily, our sonBilly will behome on May7th. He has beengone a long eightmonths. Duringthat time we as afamily have gonethrough an expe-

rience that I don’t wish on anyone to gothrough. But the nightmare is over for atleast a little while till he is deployed toAfghanistan next round. When you see aSoldier, Sailor or Marine tell them thanksthey do appreciate it. Cathy and I worriedabout his safety day and night. And areglad he will be home even if it is onlyleave for a few weeks.

The sacrifices that the families makeare under played and in my opinion unap-preciated by many. But there are alsosome true patriots who do all they can tohelp our fighting men and women. Wehad a lot of friends who couldn’t doenough and sent packages to Billy whilehe was deployed. I can’t mention all ofyou but you know who you are and Billydeeply appreciated everything that wassent to him. Thank you very much!

Billy said that the kids over there ap-preciate gifts of candy and jerky. He toldus they had soccer balls to give out and it


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GUIDE GUIDE TTO ASO O ASO WRITERSWRITERS7 ........Scott Leysath, Marinated Venison Appetizer/Sweet Mustard Sauce8 ........Bert Princen, Nature Watch: Birth of a New Year 9 ........Tricia Canterbury, Join Soldiers' Angels www.SoldiersAngels.org 10 ......Capt'n Rick, 2008 National Safe Boating Week May 17-2311 ......John C. Ackerman, Candidate for Tazewell County Board12 ......MaryJo Trimble, IFOR Director: Pheasant Propagation Program in Jeopardy 13 ......Richard Pearson, ISRA: Unsung Heroes 14 ......13th Annual IL State Morel Mushroom Hunting Championship Sat. May 3rd 16 ......Brandon Hovick, An Unexpected Surprise18 ......Kids Turkey Trophies19 ......Jerry Pabst, It's Coho Time on Lake Michigan 20 ......Bob Murray, Meandering Murray's: Attack of the *%#@&! 22 ......May 2008 Calendar of Events, From Outdoor Illinois Magazine23 ......Bob(Rob)Williams Southern IL News23 ......5th Air National Guard Family Support Open Buddy Bass Tournament 24 ......Babe Winkelman, May is American Wetlands Month; Policymakers Must Learn 26 ......Dave Shadow, New Crappie Regulations Proposed for Lake Shelbyville 27 ......Dave Shadow, Sullivan's Toby Shafer Excels On Lake Pickwick 28 ......Colby Simmms, Spinnerbaits For Shelbyville Muskies & Bass30 ......Jack Watkins, Midstate Bass Anglers Spring Open on Kincaid Lake 31 ......MDC: Weather Holds Down MO Youth Turkey Harvest 32 ......MDC: Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center 34 ......Ed Schneider, Know Your Bait Fish 35 ......Kiss My Face Sun Line36 ......Charlton Heston, Epic Film Star and Voice of N.R.A., Gone at 8437 ......John Neporadny Jr., Bank Fishing at Bagnell Dam 38 ......Bruce Richmond, A Great American 39 ......Wayne Baughman, Catfishing on the Rivers 40 ......Steve Welch, May Is Here 41 ......Woo's Corner, Pre-Spawn, Spawn and Post Spawn Action 42 ......Tim Huffman, Selecting Plastics for Crappie 44 ......Mike Cyze, Its Time To See Silver, White Bass That 45 ......Senator Ted Stevens, Protect Alaska's fishing industry a national priority 48 ......Joseph Robertia, All tied up/Fly Tying 49 ......"AL" Rostello,The Two Amigos 50 ......Charles Snapp, Hammertime: Wait and See 51 ......Dan Lameroux, Getting The Lead Out 52 ......IDNR Conservation Police Activity Reports: February58 ......BBQ grill designed by Men for Men 67 ......Elk versus Cougar up the Gallatin Canyon68 ......Dr. Dru Hauter, M.D.The Fungus Among Us

69 ......Steve Washko,The Baylis Buck Story 71 ......John Meacham, Unknown Waters, Part 172 ......Gerry MacKenzie,The Much Maligned Pointer - Part Two 73 ......WaveSpin Reels Adds Two Models: Gutsier Drags74 ......Phil Trager, May is a Prime Fishing Month 75 ......IL Outdoors by Don Dziedzina, So.IL Cedar Lake Fulfills A Dream 76 ......Keith Graham, Bear Thrill 78 ......DAN'S FISH 'N' TALES(r)Dan Galusha: Fishing Tight 79 ......Bass Pro/Crappie Masters, Braun and Brown Win Ozarks! 80 ......Dan Vinovich, Handle With Care 82 ......Kirby Schupp,The Shotgun Shop: Replacement Parts and Related Problems 83 ......Bassmaster Classic Champ Alton Jones Visits President Bush,Tours Washington84 ......Brodie Swisher, Diamond Archery/Outfitting Young Bowhunters with the Edge 85 ......Bob Hendricks, Which Reel is Best? 87 ......Mike McCombie, Southeastern Bowfishing, Championship Series 88 ......MINOX Introduces Affordable Digiscoping with New DCM88 ......Dan Gapen Sr. Fishing Opener Tackle Suggestions 90 ......Illinois Walleye Trail Illinois River 5th Tournament Results 91 ......Pat Gregory "Layout Gunning:The Ultimate Waterfowling" 92 ......Innerloc(r) Defines A New Category Of Broadheads At ATA Trade Show 93 ......Larry & Linda Dozard, LarrysFishingHole.com: High Water 94 ......10th Annual Baker Lake Kids Fishing Expo 94 ......8-Week Class Offered: Learn to Shoot and Gun Safety 95 ......WOW: Photos of Women in the Outdoors 96 ......Donna Givens, Under the Spell of the Gobble 97 ......Enter Donna Given's Contest 98 ......Keli Van Cleave, Pink Outdoors, How Men Vs. Women Pack For Hunting Trips 99 ......Haley Dunn Captures Bronze At Beijing 100 ....Lynette Whorley, Great Day with son Turkey Hunting101 ....Kris Winkelman's Kitchen102 ....Stephan E.Yoder, Understanding Long-Term Care 103 ....Jack Hart, A Stressed Elms = Morels104 ....Jeff Rosecrans, Smith Barney, Recessions and Bear Markets105 ....Laure Feld, FinanceLady.net, 5 Steps to a Credit Makeover 106 ....Mary Ann Vance, Real Estate Chatter: Spring is Termite Season 107 ....Johnnie Crain, Beginners Are Anglers Too 109 ....Donna Tonelli, The Hunt for G. K. Schmidt 112 ....Ted Nugent, Backstraps For The Masses112 ....Nug Memories of Charlton Heston113 ....Dave Evans, Minnesota Memoirs:The Growing Years, Part 1 114 ....Mike Roux, New header-Kids and Gobblers, What a Blast!116 ....Gerald Sampen, Outdoor Connection: Mule Deer Hunt & Winter Fun 117 ....Herman Kunz, A Bass Rig That Will Work!

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4 servings 1 pound venison, trimmed of all sil-ver skin, fat and gristle 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 cup dry red wine 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons fresh herbs - rose-mary, oregano, basil, sage or awhatever looks good 2 tablespoons peppercorns, crushed 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Sweet Mustard Sauce1/2 cup dijon mustard 1/2 cup red currant jelly 1 lemon, juice only 1 tablespoon chopped sage

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Combine venison with remainingingredients. Cover and refrigeratefor 2 - 3 hours. Heat oil in a mediumskillet over medium-high heat.Brown meat on all sides, but notpast medium-rare. Allow to rest for5 minutes before slicing across thegrain into thin slices. Arrange sliceson a plate and serve with sauce.

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Shake venison in flour to coat andbrown in oil and margarine. Brownonions with the venison. Transfer toroaster, crock pot or stew kettle.Mix according to direction: SwissSteak seasoning, and hamburgerseasoning (brown gravy). Do notuse salt as the seasonings are salty.Pour rest of ingredients over thebrowned meat and onions and sim-mer covered 1 1/2-2 hours. Stiroften. Serve over cooked rice.

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farther north.The ground isbeginning towarm up, andworms, grubsand insects start moving to the sur-face. After a good rain storm, one cansee worms crawling through the pud-dles on the driveway. Another thinghappened that provides food for theseearly migrants. Berries and hips thattasted bitter in the fall and were shuntby the birds have now become softand sweet. The freezing cold duringthe winter has changed the chemicalcomposition so that the bitter com-pounds have fallen apart. Also, theearly warmth has started to make thestored starch in the fruits convert tosugars. Perhaps, this is a mechanismto keep the fruit and seed intact aslong as possible. That way the birdscan eat the fruit and spread the seed ata time when it is most advantageousfor the plant. During early to the mid-dle of March one does not think ofswallows either, but during that timeyou can already find them scooting

Although we may have seen pre-cious little this year of the rebirth ofnature, on account of the exceptional-ly low average temperatures duringthe past three months, lots of thingshave been happening, especially un-der the ground and in the leaf litter ofthe forest floor. In other years, onesees more of it during one’s daily ac-tivities. For example, on a nice warmFebruary or early March day, one willnotice against the outside windowfluttering little moths, which cometowards the light. During the day onecan notice butterflies, bees, flies,mosquitoes and gnats flying around.They will quickly disappear when thetemperature drops again to seasonalor below. American Robins comeback from the south in good numbersin March, which means that theremust be good food sources around.These Robins are not our own nestingbirds (they come later) but birds fromnorthern Canada or even from Alas-ka, which have a way to go yet andoften use our Midwest as feedinggrounds to gain some fat for the trek

over the waves of the Illinois River orone of the nearby lakes. They are ourTree Swallows, with their beautifulblue backs and pure white bellies.This is the only swallow species thatstays within the confines of the Unit-ed States. The others all go deepersouth for the winter. There must beenough aquatic insects about to sus-tain the Tree Swallows, because oftenthey have a tough roe to hoe before itis truly spring.

Several mammals start mating andpreparing for babies early in the year.So are owls and hawks. Owls typical-ly have eggs in late February, andhawks and eagles don’t wait muchlonger. Neither do Horned Larks,which start often also in late Febru-ary. They are a lot more vulnerable tothe weather, and many nests get lostin snow storms or because of farm-ers’ early activities in the field. How-ever, they can and will start overagain when times get better. They of-ten have several broods per season.While I am writing this story in themiddle of April, many of our nestingbirds are coming back. BrownThrasher, Eastern Towhee, EasternPhoebe, Barn Swallow, and manyothers have already been reported.Even the tiny Blue-gray Gnatcatcherand the House Wren have alreadybeen seen, despite the bad weather.They will start singing soon, mainlyto attract a mate to start the breedingseason. Next week we can expect

Rose-breasted Grosbeak and IndigoBunting, which came all the wayback from Brasil. On their trip norththey have no information on the sta-tus of development here. If they ar-rive before we have had a good warmperiod, they will have to fall back onour seed feeders because there is verylittle else for them to find. Somesprings we have a great abundance ofthese birds on the feeders, and otheryears they give us hardly a look.

The last bird one would expect toshow up now is the hummingbird, butif you hang out your sugar waterfeeders now, you may attract an earlymigrant. Sometimes they are not evenour Ruby-throated Hummingbird buta migrant that is off-course. Mostlikely encountered is the RufousHummingbird. They are nesters ofthe American Northwest but moreand more are taking easterly routes toand from their winter quarters. Ourown Ruby-throated tends to comeearlier also than they used to. Fortyyears ago we would hang up the feed-ers on May 1, and a couple of dayslater we would see the first migrantscome in. Now, they show up morelike around April 28, and if the feed-ers are not up, they make a big fuss. By the time you are reading this, mostof our birds are in place for the sum-mer. Lots of migrants for northernCanada will come through yet, suchas the colorful group of warblers. It isworth waiting for them

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WILLIAM MORRIS: NATIVE SPECIESMarch 1 - May 11: Lakeview Museum is honored to be the first museum east ofthe Rockies to host a recent series of glass works made by William Morris, thepremier contemporary American glass artist. The exhibit features 38 vessels inspired by the flora and fauna of the American Northwest. No ordinary vasesand jars, these vessels are tremendous forms evocative of the landscape itselfand adorned with glass items such as acorns, chipmunks, pine needles and small birds. www.wmorris.com

CALL OF THE DUCKS: THE CLARK COLLECTIONNow thru June 1, 2008: The Clarks’ impressive decoy collection includes carvings by Illinois’ most notable carvers, such as Charles Perdew, a personal friend, Robert Elliston, Charles Walker, and Henry Ruggles.

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We are on the other side of the worldhere disconnected to the activity thatthese Heroes face everyday. As soccermoms and working dads it is easy to ig-nore what is really happening on thefront lines.

Chaplains are helicoptered or truckedinto different camps setting up makeshift tents. Some Chaplains may takecare of as many as 500 soldiers at atime. They hand out hygiene supplies, afew food items and a Blessing of Love.Soldiers Angels get requests everyweek from those wonderful Chaplainsasking for articles of items in zip bag-gies to hand out.

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Many of these soldiers look forwardto Mail Call. Thanks to a loved one or acaring ‘Soldiers Angel” whom hasadopted him they get some mail. Thesoldier opens his mail with others look-ing to see what he got. Many hope hewill share some of the treasures re-ceived. Mail is so scarce sometimes theSargent has them open mail in front ofthe other soldiers so they can share inthis precious moment.

Good items for care packages are acopy of the Sunday comics, a maga-zine, beef jerky, wipets, nature/energybars, cooling scarves, socks, a blanketand hand warmers. For a moment it liftstheir heart with a quiet smile to knowsomeone cares about them.

It’s sad but true, many soldiers in thisunit have a blank look, and think, “nomail for me. HUH?” Many hopemaybe tomorrow something will arrivein the mail.

One of the Sargent wrote back andsaid “Thank you for your help. Asoldierwho received your care package, car-ried his box around with him all night,it never left his arms.”

One soldier remarked it was sad tosee the starving children chase themdown or give a soft shy wave with dirton their faces, wearing clothing noGoodwill would accept here in theUSA. The soldier feels helpless to helpthis youngster. He reaches in his pocketand hands this little one a beef jerky.Holding back the sadness in his heart hestill reaches out to help the innocent.

Morale is low, Stress is very high, andweather temperatures are at an extreme.These men and women have chosen

do for you?” My response back to him is that keep

doing your job of being a Hero. It’s a jobthat so few are able to do.

If you SEE a soldier in uniform say,“THANK YOU!” Buy dinner for a sol-dier! Shake his or her hand!

JOIN A TEAM...1. Wounded-TLC (Provide supplies

to combat units to be there in their timeof need.)

2. Living Legends (Provides trees forthe families of fallen.)

3. Cards Plus Teams- Letter writingteam (Letters of encouragement to sol-diers.)

4. Chaplain’s Team (Churches/indi-viduals send cards to chaplains on frontlines.)

5. Fisher House, (Facility for familiesto stay with their wounded family mem-ber.)

6. VA Team (Supply cards for heroesso they are not forgotten.)

7. Sewing Team (Blankets of hope forthe wounded. Cooling scarves for ac-tives.)

8. Fostering pets (Help foster pets ofthe deployed soldiers.)

9. Angel Bakers (Sending browniesand baked goods to our heroes.)

10. Operation SOS (A group supply-

Mail Call!Sadly Many Soldiers Do Not Hear Their Name.

Patti Patton Bader (great niece ofGeneral Patton) started SOLDIERSANGELS in 2003 when her son wasserving in the sandbox. He wrote homesaying that it’s really sad a lot of theseguys are not receiving any mail.

Patti felt the distress of these forgottenSoldiers and moved into action sendingwhat she could and gettingfamily/friends to help. Realizing therewere other Wonderful Americans want-ing to help, she started an Internet com-munity: www.SoldiersAngels.org. Thisis a tax deductible 501 C 3 Non-profitorganization.

Some Awards received by Patti/Sol-diers Angels are the National VFW Cit-izenship Award and the George Wash-ington Spirit Award. She is a great galthat gives all the time.

Soldiers Angels serves every branchof the military Navy, Air force, Army,Marines and now the National Guard!

Have heard “Keep your head downand look alive! Enemy ahead!!”

SHOTS ARE FIRED all aroundthem.

After 30 days with no shower, work-ing long hours, no sleep with enemy fireday and night (at night it looks a bad 4thof July). As the days are long andthoughts reflect back at home nothing ismore welcome than MAIL CALL.What a joy it is to hear your name calledout, “PFC XXX a package or letter hasarrived.”

Cont’d. on next pg.

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without a PFD at 423. On the otherhand there were only 51 drowningdeaths while wearing a PFD. The dif-ference in the number of deaths whilewearing PFD’s and without wearingPFD’s is a factor of almost 8.3. That isquite a difference. It points out theadvantage of wearing the PFD.

An interesting category in thisyear’s statistics is the Top 5 Types ofaccidents. Of the Top 5 Types ofAccidents, number 1 is “CollisionWith A Vessel”, 1,360, while number 2is “Collision With A Fixed Object”with 517. Number 3 is “SkierMishap” with 510. Number 4 is “FallsOverboard” with 485. These twotypes of accidents are reverse of theirpositions from last year. Skiers shouldalways be wearing a PFD. A skierfalling and hitting the water at 30 mphwill knock the wind out of anybody,which makes it difficult to keep yourhead above the water. Number 5 is“Capsizing” with 455.

I continue to advise boaters to takesafe boating courses, which areoffered by the United States PowerSquadron, the USCG Auxiliary, andDNR.

The National Safe Boating Councilrepresents over 350 U.S. and Canadianorganizations committed to reducingboating accidents and enhancing theboating experience. Visitwww.SafeBoatingCampaign.com forcampaign materials and additionalsafe boating resources.

“Remember safe boating isfun boating!” Capt’n Rick

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ing humanitarian needs for the Iraqichildren ex. school supplies)

*Soldier’s Angels have many moreteams to join too numerous to mention.

IF YOU JUST WANT TO DONATE:Make a difference in a hero’s life by

donating funds or non-perishable items.It’s very rewarding to help.

SEE: www.SoldiersAngels.Org tovisit our Angel store and send a back-pack to a wounded Soldier.

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From one Proud American to Another,Tricia Canterbury (Peoria, Illinois)E-mail: [email protected].

Thanks to Tricia for sending this story so all of us know about Soldiers Angels!

SOLDIER…Cont’d. from previous pg.

The 2008 North American SafeBoating Campaign theme is WEARIT. This year like last year the phraseWEAR IT has been added to the logo.In the center of the logo, it depicts aperson wearing a Life Jacket.

If more boaters wore their LifeJackets, there would be more boaterson the water the following year. Theyear Safe Boating Week is 17-23 May.

Memorial Weekend starts on 24May with Memorial Day on the 26th.

The latest Coast Guard statistics arefrom 2006. There were 710 total fatal-ities. Of that number, 423 were fromdrowning because they were not wear-ing a PFD. This is approximately89% of 474 total drowning deaths.

The 710 number represents anincrease of 13 deaths over the 2005numbers. The 2004 number of 676 isthe lowest number ever since 1991.

The previous lowest number was681 in 2001. From 1997 until 2001the fatalities had been on a steadydecline. In 1998 there were 815deaths and in 1999 there were 734

deaths. In 2001, there were 681deaths. In 2002, the number jumpedup 750, and in 2003 the numberdecreased to 703. We can do our partin making boating a safe summeractivity by keeping our boats in saferunning order and wearing our PFD’sand setting a good example for thechildren. If we wear PFD’s then theywill wear them. Having someone onour boat fall overboard and drown willcertainly ruin our interest in boatingfor quite awhile. Lets make an extraeffort to start the trend down again.

This year the statistics are not bro-ken down by states. 346 deathsoccurred with the open type of motor-boat. Personal watercraft only had 68deaths. Pontoon boats only had 28deaths. This is understandable consid-ering how stable a pontoon boat is.Houseboats had 5 deaths down fromthe 10 for last year. All 5 deaths werefrom drowning with no PFD beingworn. The airboat had 3 deaths andthey were from trauma and 1 deathwithout a PFD. The highest number ofdeaths continues to be from drowning


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Barack Lacks Rural Barack Lacks Rural America UnderstandingAmerica Understanding

“And it’s not surprising then theyget bitter, they cling to guns or reli-gion or antipathy to people whoaren’t like them or anti-immigrantor anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

This quote is from Barack Obama atan April 6th 2008 fundraiser in SanFrancisco. The people he is talkingabout are small town residents inPennsylvania he has meet while cam-paigning. He said this happens with theloss of jobs and the downturn of theeconomy in these communities.

Here in Central Illinois, we are no dif-ferent than those people he is talkingabout in Pennsylvania. Central Illinoisis small town, hard working, middleclass. That being the case, BarackObama really just does not understandor appreciate rural America

What Barack Obama does not under-stand is that what he describes has noth-ing to do with the economy or loss ofjobs. Yes we do “cling to guns” becausewe understand that guns do not kill peo-ple, people kill people. Taking gunsaway does nothing to change the rea-

soning, or lack there of,for killing another indi-vidual. What it does dois change the weapon.As proof in Englandwhere gun removal hasbeen tried, gun crimesgo down while knife,club and other weaponcrimes go up. The resultis no change at all in the reason thecrime has occurred. Small town peopleunderstand this and respect our secondamendment freedoms.

Yes we do “cling to religion” becauseour religion is what defines us as peoplenot because we see it as a facade orsocialistic network. We see the TenCommandments as the rule of law forcivilized people and teaching of thebible as direction on how we should beliving our lives. We also see and under-stand how our founding fathers usedthese laws to establish our government.Furthermore, we do not use our religionto advance our personal agendas or plat-forms and we certainly do not ask ourreligious leaders to politic for us duringour services.

As far as having “antipathy to peoplewho aren’t like them”, this just showsthe lack of time spent in small townAmerica. I have found small town, mid-dle class Americans more likely to givea stranger a friendly greeting and returna wave than most big city residents.People in Chicago and other big citieslook at me funny when I say good

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morning or thank themfor some commoncourtesy or even dosimple civilized ges-tures like holding thedoor for a lady. I havefound that small townpeople look out foreach other and are

quick to provide help totheir neighbors, who by the way theyget to know by name. We cherish ourvolunteer fire departments, our 4-H andBoy Scout programs, our schoolfundraisers and other events that give usthe opportunity to give back to ourcommunities.

The statement that we are anti-immi-grant and anti-trade are just false. Onimmigration, we wish that everyonecould enjoy the greatness of this countybut understand the need to monitor andprotect our borders just like we monitorand protect our homes. We don’t letstrangers just walk into our homes andshould not and must not allow this to

happen on our borders. Many of usknow the cost that our ancestors paid toget to America by following the rules.We find it insulting that some just wantaward others for violating these rulesnow. The fact that we want to observethe rules that we have does not make usanti-immigration.

I believe this is just goes to show thedisconnect and lack of understandingthat he has not only for these small townpeople in Pennsylvania but for all of ussmall town people across this greatnation. This statement, which I believehe would not make in small townPennsylvania but felt very comfortablemaking in San Francisco, shows hispersonality to be closer to the elitist,sophisticated urbanities than the hardworking, common sense middle classAmericans he would like us to believehe would represent.

Laus DeoJohn C. AckermanCandidate for Tazewell County

Board, Washington

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Pheasant PropagationProgram in

JeopardyBy MaryJo Trimble

IFOR DirectorIFOR, the Illinois Federation for

Outdoor Resources, is working onsaving the Pheasant PropagationProgram. At the request of the Gov-ernor’s Office of Management &Budget, IDNR’s Interim DirectorSam Flood announced the closing ofthe State’s Pheasant PropagationProgram. This in effect will also endthe public pheasant hunting pro-grams currently being held on StateGrounds such as Wayne FitzgerrellState Park. IDNR denies that this isanything but a budgetary move, butone only has to access HSUS inter-net sites to know that State PheasantPrograms throughout the UnitedStates are under their attack.

The Pheasant Propagation Pro-gram runs cost around $1.3 Million.1.06 Million can be attributed di-rectly to the Pheasant rearingprogram. Of that 1.06 million,2/3rds of that figure relates to staffand facility costs. The Governor’sOffice (Office of Management &Budget) have said no staff layoffswill bebrought about and no facilities

closed, just the propagation pro-gram ended with the result ofending the hunting on state landssince no birds will be produced. Theother 1/3 of the 1.06 million is re-couped from the hunter feesthemselves, thus the net budget sav-ings will be zero. Other programsdo take place at the facilities andthey will not be discontinued, thusno staff layoffs.

Since there is no budget benefit,the pressure to end the program isprobably coming from outside pres-sures like PETA and HSUS who areopposed to raising birds to shoot.The State probably finds using bud-getary statements less controversialthan attributing or giving in to ani-mal rights groups as the reason. TheYouth Pheasant Hunts have been avehicle to introduce young people tothe sport of hunting. This has notgone un-noticed by animal rightsgroups who see ending the propaga-tion program as a way to end thefuture numbers of hunters.

The IDNR had suggested raisingfees in the past and were told no bythe Governor’s Office. A though weunderstand they now have a hugelist of fee increases for numerousthings but the list has not yet beenreleased for study by the public.Most hunters would gladly see the$15 fee increased rather than see theprogram killed. At great risk is thehighly successful program of raisinga higher quality Pheasant. For thelast 3 years, IDNR has obtainedpure wild Manchurian Pheasantsthat had been imported into WI. ID-NR obtained males from WI DNR.These have been bred to the highquality female birds in IL. The eggsare right now in incubators. Theyare to go to the hatchers in May. Ifthe program is stopped, those eggswill be discarded and 3 years of

work, tons of money, and a success-ful propagation program will godown the tubes. This has to bestopped before May in order to savethose eggs and the development of avery wild type pheasant for hunteruse.

For many, pheasant hunting onpublic land is the only opportunitythey have to continue hunting nearlarge cities or giving them places touse their hunting dogs.

Many programs of IDNR are notmoneymakers or break even. Muchof what IDNR does is to enhance thequality of life of Illinois citizens.Illinois hunters who pay much ofthe bills for this department shouldnot have to apologize for a programfor hunters.

Office of Management and Bud-get has asked that the program bediscontinued for this year. Even oneyear will kill the breeding programin progress. A bi-partisan group ofRepresentatives and Senators areworking to save this program. Illi-nois sportsmen need to speak up andlet their representatives know thatyou want this program saved. Besure and include the Governor whenyou send your comments.

IFOR is also tracking 338 bills inthe Illinois General Assembly thathave to do with recreation and 2ndAmendment freedoms in Illinois.Please visit IFOR’s web page on aregular basis and see our easy to useupdated list of bills that interfaceswith the General Assembly webpage at http://www.if-or.org/These bills can also be viewed indi-vidually at http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/default.asp

For more information about IFORplease visit our website at www.if-or.org or contact President BobBecker @ 618-466-2582 or by e-mail @ [email protected]

Pekin Bass & BowPekin Bass & Bow1304 Derby St., Pekin, IL 61554 • (309) 347-3334

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Don Wells of Delavan IL, with a Tazewell Co. bird taken in Dillion Township. 24 lbs, 11 inch

beard, 1 1/2 spurs. Taken 3rd season with only a 1/2 hour inthe woods. Nice gobbler Don!

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food, drinks, dunk tank, and dancing to our super “doc’s”, plusthe bands “Loose Shoes” and“Phat Noiz”.

A “Rockin Dog” costume contest will be held at 4:00 p.m.Dress up your pet as your favoriterock star andcome on out!


Unsung HeroesThe most unsung heroes are the sol-

diers everywhere fighting for our free-doms. Following closely are the peoplewho support them by sending the troopstoiletries, baked goods, etc. to makethem feel appreciated and close to home(they do, however, get some recognitionfrom the media). But there is anothergroup of people even more unsung -perhaps better described as unknown orunappreciated. These are the civilianmarksmanship instructors. Since 1903these marksmanship instructors havetrained civilians to shoot before they en-tered the U.S. military, saving thou-sands of American lives.

When Theodore Roosevelt went westin the 1880s, he learned the value ofmarksmanship: if you weren’t a goodshot, you weren’t going to be aroundlong. Roosevelt did not forget this les-son when he recruited men for his fa-mous “Rough Riders” for service in theSpanish American War. Roosevelt hadtwo requirements, which had to be metbefore you were even considered forRoosevelt’s elite volunteer cavalry unit.The requirements were that you had tobe an expert marksman and a top horsewrangler. Most of the 994 troopers inthe Rough Riders were from Indian Ter-

ritory or Oklahoma Territory (twenty orso of them were men from Illinois).Roosevelt and the United States Volun-teer Calvary Recruitment was perhapsthe most decorated unit in history, con-sidering they fought without horses, andin service for only 133 days, beginningto end. Marksmanship saved the day - alesson Roosevelt remembered. He wasworried about the ability of the increas-ingly urbanized population of the Unit-ed States and their inability to shootstraight.

In 1903 Roosevelt established theNational Board for the Promotion of Ri-fle Practice (NBPRP). In 1905, Roo-sevelt passed Public Law 49 authoriz-ing the sale of rifles, ammunition, andrelated equipment to state associations.

known as pre-induction marksmanshiptraining. This training, which savedthousand of American lives, was facili-tated in the National Defense Act of1916, and which not only caused mili-tary rifles, pistols, shotguns, and ammu-nition to be distributed to groups such asthe Illinois State Rifle Association, butopened military ranges to civilianmarksmanship training. The vision ofTheodore Roosevelt served the UnitedStates well until the 1960s. The VietnamWar caused the rise of the peace move-ment and marked the beginning of theerosion of the civilian marksmanship.

I call this idiotic movement “TheStrength Through Weakness” program.Peace movements believe that theyhave the “moral” high ground, and will,therefore, gain support and victory. Sup-port from whom? And so what? Sincethey will have no skill at arms! Peacemovements only make the UnitedStates weak and more likely to be at-tacked. In the 1980s, a friend took fournewly immigrated Russians - formerKGB agents during the Cuban missilecrisis - on a hunting trip. They told himthe Russians feared war with the UnitedStates. They knew invasion was out ofquestion because they knew how manyAmericans were armed. They advisedKhrushchev the Soviet Army would bedecimated if they invaded.

Roosevelt’s program and spirit lives

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Later, military pistols were also author-ized. In 1903 rifle and pistol associa-tions were formed -Illinois State RifleAssociation one of those organizations -to carry out the critical mission ofmarksmanship training to the citizens ofIllinois.

In his 1906 Roosevelt addressed theCongress in his State of the Union ad-dress in strong support of civilianmarksmanship, he said: “Congress hasmost wisely provided for a NationalBoard for the promotion of rifle prac-tice. Excellent results have alreadycome from this law, but it does not gofar enough. Our Regular Army is sosmall that in any great war we shouldhave to trust mainly to volunteers, andin such event these volunteers shouldalready know how to shoot... We shouldestablish shooting galleries in all thelarge public and military schools,should maintain national target rangesin different parts of the country, andshould in every way encourage the for-mation of rifle clubs throughout allparts of the land.”

In August 1914 Roosevelt’s amazingforesight already had the NBPRP inplace when WW I erupted. WW I nev-er ended - it fomented through a worlddepression and exploded into WW II in1939. In the years between the wars,300,000 civilians were trained inmarksmanship and another 750,000civilians were trained in what was

DRADRAWING WING AA BEAD BEAD by Richard A. Pearson


Black TBlack Top Innop Inn10956 N. Manito Rd., Manito, IL • 309-545-9980

Home of the 1/2 pound Burger, Ice Cold Beer & Good Spirits!

Chop dinners are served. Hear Music“The Torpedo Boys”.

The competition kicks off early Satur-day morning. Registration of mushroomsfor sale at the Saturday afternoon auction

also begins Saturday morningin the Hunt Building. Mush-rooms for auction must be inbags of a half-pound each andmust be registered. Sellers will be required to pay

$1 to Choice Productions foreach half-pound bag to besold. The order of sale will bedetermined by drawing lotnumbers. Due to public healthrestrictions, all mushroomsales must be administered byChoice Productions. Anyonediscovered selling mushroomsother than the auction or theSunday Market will be escort-ed from the fairgrounds.

Crafters will be up early onSaturday morning, and morecrafters will arrive and set up.Contestants will return ataround 12:15 and the countingand measuring of mushroomswill begin. Food vendors willprovide a variety of fine lunchfare.

The Mushroom Auctionbegins at 1:15 in the HuntBuilding and always draws agood crowd. At 2:30 p.m. theauction stops to announce the

13th Annual Illinois State Morel Mushroom Hunting

Championship Sat., May 3rdThe thirteenth annual Illi-

nois State Morel MushroomHunting Championship willtake place Saturday, May 3, atthe Marshall-Putnam Fair-grounds in Henry, IL. Contes-tants must be pre-registeredand can find a registrationform and instructions on thewebsite www.ilmorelhunt.org

Busses will depart the fair-grounds promptly at 9:15 a.m.for the hunt site. Registrantsneed to pick up materials at theregistration area as early as 7a.m. This contest is the largestin the Midwest and has drawnas many as 500 contestants inpast years.

Non-contestants will havemuch to see and do at theMushroom Festival thatbegins Friday, May 2, around4 PM when the crafters beginto set up in the CommercialBuilding as well as just outsidethe building. Rat & Sis will setup their always popular Mush-room Museum. The welcomeopen house will be in theActivity Building, also wherethe “Championship” Pork

on despite attacks and efforts to destroyit during the Clinton Administration. In1996, the Department of CivilianMarksmanship (DCM) ended and in itsplace a corporation known as the Civil-ian Marksmanship Program (CMP) wasestablished. President Clinton’sattempts to destroy civilian marksman-ship nearly succeeded. Many in Con-gress and many civilian instructorsunderstood the value of the programand saved it, much to Clinton Adminis-tration’s chagrin. From 1968 to 1991,the government support for the CivilianMarksmanship Program all but disap-peared. The sale of surplus rifles tocivilians still exists, but thousands ofperfectly good rifles were purposefullydestroyed by the Clinton administrationas spite.

Today, marksmanship pro-grams have changed. Govern-ment support has nearly van-ished, but other organizations arestepping forward. The NationalRifle Association is leading theway with programs and teachingmaterials. Other organizations,such as the Illinois State RifleAssociation, Pheasants Forever,National Wild Turkey Federa-tion, Rocky Mountain Elk Foun-

dation, along with numerous localsporting organizations and clubs, havebecome the “boots on the ground” thatsupply people and places for implemen-tation. We are not where we should bein training the next generation, but wecertainly are getting there. The shootingcoaches, instructors, and volunteers areworking hard to save the shootingsports and the lives of our young menand women who will be called on toprotect the United States of America.

I am very frustrated that we mustfight on two fronts: provide marksman-ship training, and, at the same time,fight those with a political agenda whooppose any type of marksmanshiptraining. I need your help. Indeed, weneed to help each other - become aninstructor to train others, train others,

help with youth camps, or send adonation to the Illinois StateRifle Association’s Education &Training Fund at ISRA, PO Box637, Chatsworth, IL 60921. Youcan become an unsung hero, buta hero nevertheless.

Join the ISRA! 815-635-3198 www.isra.org

Until next time, Deadeye Dick


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HEROES… Cont’d. from previous pg.

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Here is Ron Ghighi that had the good fortune to harvest this nice bullon an archery hunt near Folsom, New Mexico on Sept. 11, 2007.

The shot made a complete pass thru missing the bull’s heart by a halfan inch. Ron had to trail him almost a mile. The bull was excellenteating. Read Ron’s complete story on page 107-108 of April 2008.

It’s available online at: www.ASOMagazine.com

The big buck was shot by 13-year-old Sawyer Conrady the last day of the first gun season. It’s a nice ten point buck shot in Logan County. The doe was shot by 9 year old Sage Conrady with a

muzzleloader at 250 yards. It was shot in Logan County on the last day of the second gun season. Thanks to proud dad Gary

Conrady for sharing Sage’s doe and Sawyer’s trophy with ASO!

winners and award prizes for the 13th An-nual Illinois State Morel Mushroom Hunt-ing Championship.

The auction continues following theaward announcements. Crafters, foodvendors, and Rat & Sis’s Mushroom Mu-seum will remain open throughout the af-ternoon.

Sunday morning the Morel Tour beginsat 8:00 a.m. with Tom Nauman of MorelMania and others explaining the “art” ofmushroom hunting. Registration is limitedfor the tour, and details can be found on the Bags of Morels for Sale!Spring Bouquet!

MorelMania.com website.When the tour returns at around12:30 p.m. the Mushroom Mar-ket will open and various mush-room hunters at tables in the HuntBuilding will offer mushroomsfor sale. Most crafters will re-main until after lunch on Sunday.

Check out the www.ILMorel-Hunt.org website for updated in-formation. ENJOY!!

Tom Davis, email: [email protected]


An Unexpected Surprise

By: Brandon HovickIt all began over a plate of chicken

fingers and fries at Steak ‘N Shake.“So, where do you think we should

hunt?” my father asked me as Idumped globs of ketchup onto myfries.

“I don’t care,” I replied, “whereverwe’ll see the most deer, I guess.” Myfather looked at me, took a drink, andstarted to think.

“Well, we know there’s a nice buckat the Ten Acres,” he replied as hegrabbed some of my fries and poppedthem into his mouth. “But, there’s al-so a great stand at the edge of the

field at Big John’s that could alsoland us a deer.”

So after much deliberation, we de-cided to hunt our “evening” standthat has never been hunted in theevening at Big John’s property. Werushed out there as fast as we couldbecause it was getting dark fast andwe didn’t want to blow a chance at adeer. We quickly rushed to the truck,gunned the engine, and drove off toJohn’s.

When we arrived it was about 3:30p.m. so we had about an hour and ahalf of light. We quickly suited upand headed out to the stand. Thesun’s rays twinkled down onto thepicked cornfield, turning it into abeautiful golden plain. The treesseemed to be waving to me as theyshook in the breeze. While thesethoughts were dancing in my head,

we arrived at the treestand. It was the perfecttime for an eveninghunt. The sun had juststarted to descend to-wards the horizon andthe deer would be com-ing out to the cornfieldto feed.

It was then that I real-ized my blunder —- Ilooked down at my feetand saw my tennisshoes. I had forgottento put on my huntingboots! I cursed my stu-pid self but it was waytoo late to go back to thetruck so I just sat tightand hoped that thiswouldn’t affect the out-come of the hunt.

After a bit, my fatherand I started to remarkabout the beauty of thewoods around us. Wehonestly didn’t expectto see anything, but howwrong we were!

As time began to slipby, I was starting to geta little distracted andstarted to search for squirrels. It wasthen that my father suddenlysqueezed my leg. As I turned to lookat him, he squeezed me again andnodded in the direction behind me.Along the edge of the woods waswalking a monster buck! As I staredopen-mouthed at it in awe, my father

whispered and asked me how manypoints it had. I looked over and whis-pered, “Eight, no ten, oh my God, ohmy God, oh my God!!!” I could seethat this deer was a monster but Icouldn’t exactly count the number ofpoints it had. But it was pretty obvi-ous that this deer must have been the

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Brandon with his Monster Buck!


granddaddyof all the oth-er bucks outhere!

At that mo-ment, my fa-ther handedme the gunand told meto take theshot. Ipushed thegun awayfrom me andtold him thatI’ll miss, soyou take theshot. He rea-soned quicklythat he wason the wrongside of thestand and Iwas closest, so I had to take the shot.My heart must have been beating amillion beats a minute as I raised thegun and steadied it on the rail thatsurrounded the stand. As I zeroed inon it, it must have decided that it did-n’t like the woods because it startedwalking away from us out into thefield. (My Dad told me later that thebuck was downwind of us and bustedus with its nose.) My heart skipped a beat, I didn’t havea shot! As I stared blankly at the deerthat was going to get away, Dad hadan idea. He stood up in the stand andgrunted. The deer didn’t stop, so hetried again. It was the third try when

my dad basicallyyelled at the deer,when it finallyturned andlooked. Seizingthe opportunity, Iaimed rightabove the deer’sleft shoulder, andFIRED! BAM!My shot rang offand when Ilooked up, mydeer was runningtowards the foreston the other sideof the field. HadI aimed to high?It was a prettylong shot, at least65 yards butwould the bulletdrop that much?

After all, the scope was sighted in fora 40 yard shot.

“I missed!” I groaned as tears start-ed to form in my eyes. I turned toface my dad and was about to crywhen he suddenly jerked and said,“No, Brandon, you got it! It’sdown!”

My emotions suddenly turned a180 spin. “I hit it!” I yelled as tearsstarted rolling down my cheeks. Ihugged my dad just like you’d see inone of those silly Kodak momentsand then we climbed down to see mydeer.

That deer turned out to be a true12-pointer with a drop tine on the

right side. It would score a 193 2/8on the Boone & Crockett non-typicalscale.

People keep telling me that I’llprobably never get another deer likethat in my lifetime, and they’re prob-ably right, but I’m just glad I got toshoot it with my Dad right beside me

in possibly the best father/son mo-ment that I will ever have.

Thanks to Brandon’s Dad, JamesHovick of O’Fallon, IL for sharingthis great story with us. Jamespicked up ASO at the Deer & TurkeyClassic held this past Feb. in Bloom-ington, IL. See www.DeerInfo.com.

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Brandon withproud Dad,

James.

Brandon withhis winning

ribbons at theIL Deer &

Turkey Classicheld in

Bloomington,IL at the Interstate Center on

Feb. 17, 2008.


TURKEY TROPHIES!

Here is Jacob Daniel, 7-years-old with his first

turkey. He killed them with a20 gauge just purchased at

Mann & Son Sporting Goodsin Pinckneyville. Tim’s sisterKim Moore works there for

John & Kim Mann. Jacob hasbeen hunting with his dad Tim

for 2 years. This is his firstturkey season with a permit.

Jacob is already lookingforward to next season.

Thanks to proud dad, Tim Daniel for sharing

Jacob’s trophy.Gavin Keefauver's with his 1st turkey!

Way to go!

Zak Thompson of Quincy ILwith his 1st Turkey taken with a bow. Shot at Wells

Ranch in Canton during theyouth hunt. Thanks to

Tim Wells, of Relentless Pursuit TV for the great photo!

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the 2009s e a s o n ,but betterlate thann e v e r ,right?

Therewas a timew h e ns p r i n gcoho wereu t t e r l yp r e -d i c t a b l e .They sim-ply moved inshore with the spawn-ing alewives and stayed with themuntil warm water dispersed thebaitfish into deeper water. Simplytrolling ten to twenty feet of waterproduced limit catches on a nearlydaily basis. It was really that easy,and some times, it still is. Last sea-son was a throwback to the goodold days, as the cohos swarmed intothe shoreline, and stayed there formany weeks.

But, with an alewife populationof less than 10% of what it was 20years ago, the salmon often arefound foraging far off shore, target-ing emerald shiner minnows. Wemust keep an open mind whenheading out to find the cohoschools, because it is almost certainthey won’t be where they were lastseason. I have found them as far out

It’s Coho Time onLake Michigan

By Jerry Pabst

as 240 feetof water,b a r e l ywithin theI l l i n o i sboundary.

Youdon’t wantto rely ont r o l l i n gaimlesslytrying tofind springfish, sinceten feetand 240feet ofwater arem a n ym i l e sapart, andyou may

never contact the cohos. Talk to fel-low anglers in the harbor, listen tothe charter boats on the radio, lookfor clusters of boats out on thewater; in short, do what you haveto get an idea of where those crit-ters are before you leave the har-bor.

Once located, spring cohos arenot hard to catch. These voraciousfish, while not feeding constantly,cannot keep their mouths shut forlong. Stay on the school of salmon,and if they suddenly quit biting donot despair. Before long your rodswill begin jumping again.

Now, here are the two secrets tocatching a lot of spring cohos.

First: spread your lures acrossthe surface by using planer boardsor Yellow Birds. The fish will nor-mally be with five to ten feet of the

Although feisty coho salmon areavailable to Lake Michigan trollersall through the summer, May is theprime time to stock up on them. Youprobably won’t catch any wallhangers, but you should catch awhole lot of great eating fish.Smoke ‘em, fry ‘em, broil or bake‘em; no matter how you preparethese two to four pound delicaciesthey are the ones that go into yourfreezer. Later in the season you canpass out the six to ten pound speci-mens to your non-fishing friends.

Coho fishing this year and thenext will be a little tougher than wehave been used to, due to a shortfallin stocking numbers by Michigan’sDept. of Natural Resources. A per-ceived budget crisis forced a cutback of 800,000, or 50% of theirnormal coho plant last spring, andwill again this spring. But, don’tworry, there will still be plenty ofcohos to go around, just not asmany.

And then, something happenedthat we don’t see often enough ingovernment agencies, the MichiganDNR found millions of unused dol-lars lying around, and voila, theirbudget crunch was ended. Theyhave now resumed hiring andreturned to normal operations,including resuming normal cohostocking. This result of this upgradewill not show up in the lake until

surface, and you must present yourlures within that area of the lake.And, taking into consideration theclarity of Lake Michigan’s watertoday, the lures must be spreadaway from the boat to avoid spook-ing the fish.

Any boat can easily pull a mini-mum of two or three Yellow Birdplaners on each side. Diving plan-ers, such as Dipsey Divers, can berigged to run out and away from theboat, and they will catch a lot ofcohos when fished six to ten feetdown. A small boat may only beable to utilize one Dipsey off eachside, but most boats will accommo-date two. With these eight to tenlines you will catch most of yourspring fish.

Just because you have a transomfull of down riggers doesn’t meanyou have to use them all the time. Inormally run only the outside downriggers set between twelve andtwenty feet, and then add a sliderthat fishes much shallower.

Rule number two: An “OO” sizered dodger and a tinsel fly will catchmore spring cohos than any otherbait you could devise. There aremany times when every lure I havein the water is a red dodger and atinsel fly. (Color really doesn’t mat-ter much, but I am partial togreen/gold, blue/gold andblack/gold) My theory is; if that iswhat they want, give them plenty ofthem. Hey, it works.

And, that is about all there is tocatching spring cohos. I know itsounds to easy to be true, but it isn’tbrain surgery, so just keep it simpleand enjoy the good eating later.

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The MeanderingMurray’s

By Bob Murray

Rt. 29 • Rome, Illinois • (309) 274-WOLF (9653)www.wolfhollow.org • [email protected]


Attack of the *%#@&

There are just some things that as aperson that hunts or fishes have to putup with in exercising the pursuit oftheir outdoor heritage. It depends onwhere the particular activity is takingplace as to what magnitude ones’ tol-erance must adjust. There are someannoyances that are quite universal,sunburn, cold; mosquitoes and gnatsare some of those that are with usmost of the time. There are othersthat seem to be particularly unpleas-ant and don’t have the immediateremedies that are available for theabove.

Bears, cougars, rattle snakes orlong falls down mountain sides canhave much more serious repercus-

sions that may have no remedies atall, except the ultimate internmentthat results in wet eyes for our lovedones. But it is not alligators, copperheads or the occasional brown re-cluse that has caused Cheryl and meto complain about our latest outing.

I guess I should lay some back-ground for you before I reveal theplague that ravished the Meandering

Murray’s. It began about three yearsago on a ranch named the 4-Square.It is about eleven to twelve thousandacres of rock, mesquite, cedar, prick-ly pear cactus, deer and turkeys. It isobviously not any where near deerseason so the obvious is that we wereturkey hunting. It was a good huntwith Cheryl bagging a bearded henand me nailing a triple bearded tom.We managed to accomplish both withlittle or no extraordinary nuisance ordiscomfort. Why then on this trip, thesecond week of April, would we ex-pect anything other than a reprise ofthat wonderful trip?

We wouldn’t. But! One should al-ways be prepared when venturing in-to the unpredictable outdoor world.

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Sufficed to say, on this trip we werenot fully ready for any and all irritat-ing, damnable, rotten, why did Godcreate them, worthless SOB’n, moth-erless, I hate them with a passion mir-acle of nature. Whew! Which ofGod’s creatures could elicit such atirade from one who espouses to loveall creatures? I’ll tell you...TICKS!

We had been to the 4-Square twicebefore this trip and had encounteredzero of the little crab looking, headburying, nasty, lime disease carryingbastards. Sorry! This trip began withsome scouting with Raymundo Mar-tinez, the ranch foreman, the day wearrived, and resulted in what wethought would be a good area to setup our ground blinds. The locationwe picked had a lot of turkey sign andgood visibility and natural cover forthe blind. We stacked some deadfalland laced it with cuttings fromaround the blind.

The next morning we are in theblind before sun up listening to thefly downs a distance away. I waitedfor about fifteen minutes and startedcalling with some yelps on both thebox and slate calls. I began a conver-sation with a hen that soon arrived atour decoys with four other females.Now we have our two fakes out infront of us accompanied by the bestdecoys in the world...live hens. Wesat like stones as the black to grayRio Grandes pecked and scratched atthe rocky soil.

Cheryl had on a mask, I prefer facepaint...at least I used to. As the sunbegan heating up the day our blind

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was invaded by those pretty little greenbottle flies. My wife smug in her maskswallowed a chuckle as several fliesexplored my face, one lollygagging onthe very tip of my nose with meattempting to snuff it off while makingno noise or movement. Meanwhile theturkeys are pecking away as I suffer inmotionless silence wondering if myface paint actually had manure on itsingredient list.

As if the flies were not enough, afterabout 20 minutes of watching wingedgluttony, I feel something crawling onmy neck. I started praying that one ofthose damn birds would spot me andget the hell out of there so I could startswatting flies and picking at all of theitches that are real and imagined. Bythe way, did I mention that my right buttcheek was now asleep, my right kneehad a five-inch ice pick right under thepatella and my back had started toremind me I had abused it all too often.

Back and forth they went looking asif they were tired of the current repast,only to return and test the degree ofinsanity I was reaching. At least theycould lure in a gobbler after putting methrough my insect paces. But, they didnot, and as they faded into the distanceI finally move and immediately hadCheryl check the thing on my neck thathad stopped crawling about a half hourearlier. Yank off tick number one. Afterwatching me with the flies and thenpulling off that nasty bugger on myneck, Cheryl broke into about threeminutes of side holding laughter. Thatreally ticked me off. Ha Ha!

The next outing found us doped upwith major quantities of deet andCheryl with her collar mask duct taped

in his attempt to build his harem. It wasa bit of a surprise when I heard Cheryl’s12 ga. bark one time and scatter thehens. Little did I know that she had justdropped a beautiful Rio Grande Tom.Seconds went by and I heard Cherylshout, “Bob come help me up!”

I pulled her to her feet gave her a bighug which was followed by a big highfive. It was truly an awesome momentas we almost danced over to retrievethe bird from the brush along the fence.It was a large bird with a beard that wasworn to only about seven inches due tothe rough rocky terrain. The spurs wereone and a quarter inches and the bronzefeathers were typical of a gorgeous Rio.

We drove over the jolting roads androlled up to the ranch house with hornhonking and Cheryl bailing out andbreaking into her “dead turkey” dance.The celebration was on.

As we celebrated with Rob’s famousribs and some delicious fried turkey wegot to watch Cheryl spontaneouslybreak in to her dance several times.That was generally followed by a hugaround Rob’s neck and a big thank you.Ticks be damned it was a wonderfultrip.

Have a super spring season...and...keep it clean out there.

Contact Bob & Cheryl at: [email protected]

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to her shirt and both of us in a differentground blind. I again began my callsand again conversed with some distanthen that was soon trotting right at uswhen she stopped and responded to mylast call with a yelp followed by someturkey dialect that I didn’t understand,so I just gave her a standard yelp. Shein turn went the other way. Was itsomething I said? I hollered after her.

By this time we decided that we weredefinitely not yet in the rut but it had tobe close. It was. The next morning Ibegan my calls and got gobble from theright. The next call elicited a gobblefrom the left. The next call got a gob-ble from both sides. Oh baby! Herecomes a double: or so we thought.

From the cedar and mesquite to ourleft we saw the source of that gobble, atrio of rather mature jakes just hangingout together. They hung out at aboutsixty yards. Then what should appearfrom the right but a big genuine Texasgobbler, also at about sixty-yards.

All four disappeared behind a smallgrove of brush and trees and they wereheading strait for each other. At whatwe figured was at about the middle ofthe grove, an explosion of turkeyobscenities filled the air. Then we wereleft with exactly that...air. We went andchecked out where we thought they hadbeen and apparently the old tom gaveone of the jakes his comeuppancebecause there was some freshlyplucked feathers adorning the ground.

We headed back to the ranch housefor lunch with our host Rob Rowell andhis fiancÈe Cindy. We were encour-aged with some male bird action and itfelt as if we had witnessed the very startof the rut. Back at the house we also

witnessed the ineffective prescriptionfor avoiding tickism. Bob= two pickedoff crawling, one buried to its shoulderblades. Cheryl= three buried in placesI can’t talk about. Rob and Cindyseemed to find something humorous asthey poked fun by imitating apesgrooming each other.

In the end we left the EdwardsPlateau of West Texas with a combinedtotal of 14 tick heads as souvenirssomewhere on our bodies. Of course itwas worth the aggravation becauseafter all, a test of self-discipline is goodfor the soul. It was also worth itbecause on our fifth outing Cheryl suc-cessfully completed a grand slam ofsorts. She took a tom this trip after hav-ing previously harvesting a beardedhen and a jake.

We had set up near an area that weknew the birds were roosting andimmediately got gobbler responses tomy calls after the fly down. We wereseparated on this hunt instead of dou-bling up. At one point I had a hen with-in ten yards of me. This time no fliesand no ticks...that I knew of. The henate for a while then sauntered away. Ibegan to call again and got a gobblerresponse behind me and to Cheryl’sleft. I saw some hens come through ahole in a nearby fence. As I watchedthe hens peck their way closer to bothof us, I could not see the tom that camethrough the same hole strutting his stuff


May 1• 5th turkey season opens(South Zone)• 4th turkey season opens(North Zone)

May 3• Wildflower Pilgrimage,Starved Rock State Park,Utica, phone 815/667-4906

May 6• Illinois Nature PreservesCommission meeting, Ra-mada Hotel, Galena, phone217/524-2415

May 8• 5th turkey season opens(North Zone)

May 10• Mother’s Day WeekendDiscovery Hike, Giant CityState Park, Makanda, 10a.m., phone 618/457-4836

• Super Saturdays, IllinoisState Museum, Springfield,10 a.m.-4 p.m., phone217/782-6044

May 17-24• National Safe BoatingWeek

May 24• 81st Infantry Living His-tory Program, Ft. MassacState Park, Metropolis,phone 618/524-4712

June 1-8• National Fishing andBoating Week

June 6-9• Illinois Free Fishing Days

For more informationon IL events see:

www.DNR.state.il.us

MAY 2008 CALENDAR OF EVENTSFROM OUTDOOR ILLINOIS MAGAZINE

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tacks of September 11, 2001 theNational Guard has been on alertfor rapid deployments to the Mid-dle East and other parts of theWorld. The National Guard hascontinually been called to duty forextended periods of time beyondthe normal two-week annual train-ing per year.

The Family Readiness and Sup-port Group is a volunteer organiza-tion whose mission is to providehelp, training, and assistance to thefamilies of our National GuardTroops, and to help with the manyissues that arise during deploy-ments of our Guardsmen. The un-certainty of the safety of our lovedones during this time can be over-whelming, both for the deployedand the families at home.

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LL earn Their Impoearn Their Impo rr tata nn ce ce Prior to white settlement, our nations lower 48

states boasted more than 200 million acres ofwetlands. Since then, we’ve lost roughly half ofthem.

It’s not surprising, really. Even up into the early 1900s, wetlands-from

large swamps to playa lakes to bogs to prairie pot-holes-were considered little more than waterywastelands, irritations that thwarted “progress”and hindered development and agricultural pro-ductivity.

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Benefits: Fish, shellfish, cranberries, timber, wildrice and other important commercial products areharvested from wetlands. More than 95 percent ofthe commercially harvested fish and shellfish in theUnited States are, according to one source, wet-land dependent during some stage of their lives.The commercial fishing industry, it is estimated,provides roughly 2 million jobs nationwide and con-tributes $152 billion annually to the economy.

Recreational activities in wetlands-such as fish-ing, hunting, wildlife watching, photography andmore- also contribute to the economy-big time. Forexample, hunters of migratory birds spend hun-dreds of millions on equipment and travel eachyear. The same is true for anglers.

In addition, wetlands make excellent and inex-pensive outdoor laboratories, natural classroomsin which students of all ages can benefit from expe-riencing the unique habitats wetlands provide. Thecomplexity of wetland ecosystems makes themexcellent subjects for research projects. In short,wetlands are great places to learn about the natu-ral world.

Rest assured, I will continue to play publicwatchdog as Congress debates the future of theClean Water Act and its wetlands protections.We’ve already lost half of our nation’s wetlands,and protecting the remainder should be ournation’s overriding goal. Simply put, wetlands pro-vide too many societal benefits to let them slipaway because they hinder the “progress” of a smallnumber of politically powerful interest groups.

Babe Winkelman is a nationally-known outdoorsman whohas taught people to fish and hunt for more than 25 years.Watch the award-winning “Good Fishing” and “OutdoorSecrets” television shows on Versus (formerly OLN), FoxSports Net, Comcast Southeast, WILD TV and many local net-works. Visit www.winkelman.com for air times where you live.


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The legal wrangling continues today asCongress debates whether or not to reaffirm theoriginal intent of the Clean Water Act. Don’t betjunior’s inheritance that Congress will do the rightthing. Powerful anti-wetland interests-from agri-cultural groups to commercial developers-arepulling out all the stops, arguing that some in thefederal government are trying to orchestrate thebiggest land grab in U.S. history. How, logically,you can come to that conclusion I do not know.Still, it’s safe to say that wetlands are the RodneyDangerfields of the natural world. They get norespect-from developers, the Supreme Court,most agricultural groups, and many others.

May is American wetlands month, a great timeto learn just how valuable and indispensable wet-lands are to hunters and anglers and society-at-large. With that mind, consider the importantsocietal functions and values wetlands provide:

*Fish and Habitat: Wetlands provide shelter,food, and spawning and nesting sites for manyspecies of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles andinvertebrates. According to Geoff Mullins, wet-lands and farm policy initiative manager for the

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership(TRCP), almost half of our country’s bird speciesnest or feed in wetlands. One-third of our plantspecies live in wetlands. More than one-third ofour threatened and endangered species live only inwetlands. Coastal wetlands provide habitat, espe-cially as nurseries, for more than 75 percent offish and shellfish caught commercially and up to90 percent of fish caught recreationally. All ofwhich despite the fact wetlands only make upabout 5 percent of land in the United States.

*F loodwater Storage: Wetlands can act asnature’s sponges. According to Mullins, wetlandscan and often do prevent floods. As water levelsrise, wetlands take in the rising water, spread andstore it, and reduce the velocity of downstreamflows. A one-acre wetland can store 1.5 million gal-lons of floodwater. In fact, he notes, “the blowslanded on the chins of Louisiana and Mississippi byHurricane Katrina would have been much betterabsorbed had so much of the region’s wetlands notalready disappeared.” True enough.

*Cleaner Water: According to Mullins, whenwater moves into a wetland, it slows down and pol-lutants settle to the bottom. A wetland and itsplants filter out and absorb much of the water’spollutant load before passing it into our streams,rivers, lakes and estuaries.

Get this: Seventy percent of sedimentary pollu-tants in runoff can be filtered by a wetland-and upto 92 percent of phosphorus, 95 percent of nitro-gen and 90 percent of bacteria. Wetlands reduceshoreline erosion, keeping streambanks-andimportant aquatic habitat-intact. Wetlands alsoare prolific carbon sinks, which, scientists say,can help slow the affects of global warming.

*Economic, Recreation and Educational

BABE’SBABE’SMONTHLY COLUMN

By Babe Winkelman


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Left: Dr. Soyangco & son of Galesburg with a nice Knox. Co. gobblertaken last year. Right: Another big tom also taken last year!

Thanks to Al’s Sporting Goods, in Galesburg, IL for the great photos!

A DOUBLE OF A LIFETIME!Seth Campbell & Kevin Sprecher after a great hunt!

Thanks to Gander Mountain in Peoria, IL for the awesome photos!


I’m sure when most of us go crap-pie fishing we really wish to takehome a decent batch of fish, right? Atleast enough for a fine supper ofcrappie fillets along with the trim-mings. That’s been our desire, butsometimes on Shelbyville, it didn’thappen regularly. With the institutionof some new crappie harvest regula-tions, I hope this will change for thebetter. There were several informa-tional discussions and meetings onthe subject and Mike Mounce formu-lated what looks to be the ideal solu-tion. It should improve the daily har-vest successes and at the same timeimprove the overall fishery. With allthat in mind, I’m attaching a copy ofthe regulation notice with consider-able explanation from Mr. Mounce. New Crappie Regulations Proposedfor Lake Shelbyville:

Fisheries biologists are approachedby an increasing number of anglers(fishermen) interested in harvest reg-

ulations for crappie. In some casesthese regulations are justified and inothers they are not appropriate. Min-imum length limits have been widelyapplied to reduce crappie harvest andimprove fishing quality.

Unfortunately, minimum lengthlimits for crappie often result in in-creased catch rates with a reductionof overall harvest. In addition, mini-mum length limits are only effectivewhere crappie recruitment, the sur-vival of fry, is poor and growth ratesare high. If recruitment is moderateto good and growth rates average toslow then crappie will “stack” up justunder the size limit. Crappie recruit-ment tends to be highly variable mak-ing the application of appropriatelimits difficult over long periods oftime.

Crappie recruitment on Lake Shel-byville has been highly variable, buton average has improved over recentyears, especially for black crappie.

As a resultgrowth ratesand recruit-ment to legalsize hasslowed de-spite veryhigh densi-ties of giz-zard shad,which crap-pie use forf o r a g e .Analysis ofcrappie ageand growthin spring2007 indi-cates that thegrowth rates of all ages of black crap-pie are below state averages. Whitecrappie growth rates are higher thanthe state average for young fish, butslower than the state average for age4+ and older crappie.

On Lake Shelbyville, a few anglershave reported good fishing results forcrappie 10-inches or larger over thepast several years. However, the ma-jority of crappie anglers have beencatching high numbers of crappie justbelow the size limit, but few over thecurrent length limit of 10 inches.This has resulted in a lot of frustratedanglers and a reduction in the numberof fishermen visiting Lake Shel-byville. Since fishing is the numberone recreational activity on LakeShelbyville, the loss of anglers canhave a significant effect on the localeconomy.

A new regulation has been ap-proved on Lake Shelbyville for crap-pie that took effect on April 1, 2008.

This regula-tion will be alittle differ-ent thanwhat anglersare used toseeing inmidwesternstates. Thenew regula-tion will al-low for thec o n t i n u e dharvest of 10crappie thatare 10 inch-es or largerbut will alsoallow the

harvest of 5 crappie less than 10 inch-es. The goal of this regulation is tothin the number of crappie under 10inches slightly, giving them the slightnudge necessary to improve growthand recruitment to 10 inches and larg-er.

A wide variety of regulations andcombinations of regulations wereconsidered for crappie on Lake Shel-byville, but due to crappie populationdynamics and fishing activity the pro-posed regulation was determined tolikely produce the best results forover the longest period of time. Al-though anglers catch a considerablenumber of black crappie on the lake,white crappie make up the bulk of an-glers catch and harvest. A large ma-jority of the white crappie caught byanglers have been between 9.5 inchesand 10 inches. Because of this, thelimit below 10 inches was set at onlyfive fish to prevent potential overhar-vest of smaller white crappie and

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KEEP MORECRAPPIE FROM LAKE SHELBYVILLETHIS YEAR

by Dave

Shadow

[email protected]

The angler is Clint Garbe. Obviously he won’t tell where he

caught this beauty. He is the son of Al and Lori Garbe of Mattoon.


fishermen’sharvest. Il-legal cullingadds to thea n g l i n gmortality offish popula-tions and isdetrimentalto the longterm qualityof fishing.Although itwill takesome time

for the new regulation to prove itsvalue, it will be reviewed annuallyand adjusted if crappie populationdynamics change significantly. Theregulation is expected to quickly im-prove angling satisfaction and quali-ty. Improved fishing quality and sat-isfaction should benefit local fisher-men, attract additional fishermen,and will provide a benefit to the localeconomy as well.

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Sullivan’s Toby Shafer Excels On

Lake PickwickBy Dave ShadowIt’s not surprising to those of us

who have known Toby Shaferfrom many years that he finishedso well in the “Weekend WarriorsChampionship” tournament on LakePickwick in Florence Alabama, butthose who have not or do not fishcompetitively simply cannot realizewhat a great accomplishment this is.Toby has always been an accom-plished angler and a force to befeared in area events but his stabilityand dedication in the sport is out-weighed by his outstanding sports-manship. He always competes to winbut if that doesn’t happen, he’s al-ways there with a smile and hand-shake for the one who did. Good job,Toby!

In this event Toby finished secondto Brad Moser by a slim nine ounces.This may be a heartbreaker in a waybut a second place finish is excep-tional and just to qualify for thisevent is an accomplishment. Shaferqualified for the event through theIllini Team Trail circuit and looksforward to attempting the same featthis year.

m a i n t a i ngood poten-tial recruit-ment ofwhite crap-pie to sizes10 inchesand larger.

A n g l e r sare remindedt h a t“ c u l l i n g ”fish (replac-ing a keptfish with an-other caught later) is illegal unlessthey are in a bonafide fishing tourna-ment. Due to wide publicity of tour-nament fishing, where culling is le-gal, many anglers do not realize thatthis activity is illegal for non-tourna-ment fishermen. Only in bonafidetournaments with the fish kept in con-stantly aerated livewells, is culling le-gal. Even in the best conditions, fishkept for any length of time and laterreleased will suffer some mortality.The death is usually delayed and of-ten fishermen are unaware of the con-sequences of holding the fish for evena short period of time. Therefore, anyfish kept, even if later released, arerequired to be counted as part of a

Toby started day two of the eventjust three ounces back of the leaderand weighed in a whopping creel ofbass weighing 16 lbs 02 oz. He had alimit both days and his two day totalwas 35lbs 2oz.. —— That’s big!

Shafers fish came from the mouthof a hot-water ditch from a powerplant. He caught 15 keepers, cullingto the best five each day, on a newsexy shad Rat-L-Trap lure. He hadhis “limit” (5) by 9 a.m. —- what away to start the day.

Starting out the 2008 season with aload of confidence like this is goingto make Toby an even bigger threaton the local scene this summer. In theattached picture he holds up both alargemouth and a smallmouth bassfor the camera. Pickwick is knownfor it’s exceptional bass fishery, theseweights substantiate its claims, andobviously Shafer can catch them.

It’s Faith, Family, and Fishin.

The ruler in the picture substantiates the16” crappie size caught locally.

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Spinnerbaits can be fished in openwater and over the top of cover justlike the in-line spinner can, but itcan also be fished through heavycover like rocks, weeds, wood andman made cover like boat docks.The wire arm on a spinnerbait de-flects the lure off of objects andprotects the hooks from beingsnagged, making it a great coverfishing tool. Most in-lines have tre-ble hooks that hang up often, sochoose a spinnerbait with singlehooks that point strait up for a lurethat will come through just aboutanything.

Spinnerbaits can be burned athigh speeds to cover water whensearching for active fish. They canbe bulged on top with the bladesbreaking the surface like a top wa-ter lure. They can be fished at


medium speeds and swam throughthe water column at any depth.Spinnerbaits can be slow rolledalong the bottom in extreme depthsand even dragged and hopped likea jig. These great lures can even bedropped and fished vertically onstructure. Unlike most in-lines,spinnerbaits are effective at catch-ing muskies, bass and other preda-tors all year round in all tempera-tures and conditions. Spinnerbaitsare great search tools for taking ac-tive fish, but they also shine whenhunting fish in neutral or negativefeeding modes, during tough con-ditions, like when water levelschange rapidly.

The spinnerbait is a great choicefor muskie and bass fishing onShelbyville during any condition,but a few spinnerbaits are as close

to magic as any lure you’ll find forthis lake. The School N Shad Seriesof Spinnerbaits (simmsout-doors.com) have been the hottestlures going for muskies and bigbass on Shelbyville in recent years.School N Shads feature 3, 4 or 5big graduated willow leaf bladesdepending on the model. The Babymodels are usually best for bass,while the Original and Monstermodels are usually best for muskie.These unique spinnerbaits producemore flash than any other lure andemit a provoking vibration thattriggers vicious strikes. They fea-ture silicone skirts instead of hairfor a better breathing look and a re-movable paddle tail shad trailer foradded bulk and vibration. Theselures have two big heavy duty cor-rosion resistant single hooks point-

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Lake Shelbyville is well knownfor its muskie and largemouth bassfishing. This lake can provide goodaction from both species and a shotat big fish as well. At times, thislake can also be tough to fishthough, depending on the weatherconditions, water clarity, fishingpressure and a host of other factors,including one of the most signifi-cant being a Corp lake, rapidlyfluctuating water levels. A fewtechniques can help anglers toovercome these conditions on Shel-byville, and turn a tough day intoone to remember.

Few lures are as versatile as thelong arm safety pin style spinner-bait. Unlike the in-line spinner orbucktail, the spinnerbait can befished in a wide variety of placeswith a wide variety of retrieves.

Spinnerbaits ForShelbyville

Muskies & BassThe hottest Lures going

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By: Colby Simms with

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The Monster School N Shad


ed up, and will fish right throughthick heavy cover. These lures per-fectly mimic a school of big shad,the prey that muskies and basschoose most often on Shelbyville.The Original School N Shad wasthe lure that helped the Team ofLedgerwood and Goldsmith takethe 2nd Place Finish in the IllinoisMuskie Tournament Trail StateChampionship on Shelbyville inNovember of 2007.

Look to Shelbyville’s manycoves, bays and creek arms, and themain lake structures at the mouthsof these areas for the best fishingfor these species during much ofthe year. Most of the biggest bassand muskie at Shelbyville are

caught from heavy cover like boul-ders, chuck rock, flooded grass,laydowns, stumps, standing timber,logs and brush piles. Pitch the bigspinnerbaits right up into and justpast the cover and work the baitthrough, contacting the cover asoften as possible.

A good rod and reel combo forthis task is a Team All Star Big Boy(allstarrods.com) in a 7 or 7 1/2foot model paired up with aPflueger President WLP orContender SS wide spool low pro-file baitcasting reel. A quality pairof polarized sunglasses like theMaster Angler or Action AnglerSeries Optics from FlyingFisherman (flyingfisherman.com)

cut glare and allow anglers to seedeeper into the water to spot fol-lowing muskie and the coverobjects that hold them.

If you like to fish for muskie andbass check out central Illinois’Lake Shelbyville sometime. It’s a

large lake with what seems like anendless amount of places to fish, soit’s best to hire a guide for at leastthe first day of your trip. Be surenot to forget the spinnerbaits listedabove and you’re likely to have agreat day on the water. Good Luck!

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The Original SchoolN Shad, the bait

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5th Place Johnson and Waldron, 2 Fish8.58 lbs. $277.00

In addition Midstate Bass Anglers hada number of nice draw prizes they gaveout as well including tackle, fishingaccessories, a nice belly boat, and somehunting scene rugs. Then everyone inattendance received at check in a goodybag with bottled water, some snackcakes, and fishing lures as well. This isalways an enjoyable event even if thefish are not cooperative or the elementsnot necessarily the best.

Fish Midstate Bass Angler’s FALLOPEN on Kincaid Lake held Oct. 18,2008. Information can be found onwww.724outdoors.com and by contact-ing Royce Braden at 618-539-6030 orGil Cooper at 618-286-5076.

Jack Watkins is Sponsored by LeisureTime Pools, Swansea, IL, FlyingFisherman Sunglasses and Sports Wear,Scenic Rivers Boats and Motors, BonneTerre, MO, Charger Boats, ViciousFishing Line, Eiron Lure Company,B&R Outlaw Rods, 7/24 Outdoors.com

Southern Illinois and SoutheasternMissouri.

Fifty-three (53) intrepid anglers cameout to face the conditions in pursuit ofthose green fighting machines calledbass on one of the best lakes inSouthern Illinois. The day looked to beadding insult to injury with a 30 minutetake-off delay due to heavy fog.

One good note for everyone was asthe day passed on the skies cleared andthe sun came out. This welcome reliefhelped to warm the water and manyanglers stated that they did not get adecent bite until late in the contest.

It proved to be a tough outing. Out ofthe 53 boats participating there wereonly 19 who brought fish to the scales.Now there may have been a few otherswho had keepers but decided not towalk up to the weigh in with them so itmight distort the results a little but it stillis a good indication of how tough it wasto find one of those 16 inch keepers. Atotal of 37 fish were brought up so it

shows even those fortunate to catch akeeper did not slay them.

1st Place Team-Randy Tune ofBreese, IL and Darin Fox ofCoulterville, IL. Won 1st Place with astringer weighing 13.78 pounds earning$1007.00. Congratulations to Mr. Foxon his 1st tournament win!

2nd Place Team and Big Bass: CarlJohnson and Rob Waldron, both ofMurphysboro, won 2nd with 11.21pounds, $504.00. Big Bass was a verynice Kincaid Lunker that topped out at6.26 pounds, winning another $530.00.Thanks to Sponsors Modern Copier andMid American ATV in Murphysboro,IL.

3rd Place Team Matt Helms ofImperial, MO and Ryan Roth of Festus,MO. Weighed in with 11.19 pounds,winning $403.00. They found theirkeepers in about 4 feet of water and didnot get their last keeper until 2:00 p.m.Thanks to sponsors Outlaw CustomDesigns of Imperial, MO and Dunn’sSporting Goods.

4th Place Griffiths and Ehlers, 3 Fish9.04 lbs. $327.00

High Cold Water-Muddy Conditions

Tune and Fox1st Place in

Midstate BassAnglers Spring

Open on Kincaid LakeBy Jack Watkins

Thursday before the event there wasanother 2.5 inches of rain registered onsome official rain gauges in the proxim-ity. The lake was high and water condi-tions were a challenge. Upper reachesand those with direct runoff sourceswere to say the least muddy. A bait sim-ply disappeared when it entered thewater. The rapid rise in water also float-ed a great deal of small debris and a fewmajor obstacles as well into the lake.

It turned off cool making the watertemperature to drop to slightly unsea-sonable levels. Prior water temperatureshad dropped down into the 40's with alittle water struggling to get into thelower 50's. It certainly was not going tomake things easy for this great seasonopening event for many people in

1st 2nd 3rd


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WEATHER HOLDSDOWN MO YOUTHTURKEY HARVESTThis year’s youth harvest wasthe second-lowest on record, even with all-day hunting.

Jim Low www.mdc.mo.gov

JEFFERSON CITY-Younghunters posted the second-lowestharvest in the eight-year history ofMissouri’s two-day Youth TurkeyHunting Season. The state’s topwild-turkey manager attributed thepoor showing to dismal weather.

Hunters age 15 and younger regis-tered 2,898 turkeys on Telecheck,the Missouri Department of Conser-vation’s automated game-checkingsystem, during the season April 12and 13. That is down 615, or 17.5percent, from last year. The onlysmaller youth turkey harvest oc-curred in 2001, the first year for theyouth hunt. They killed 2,530turkeys that year.

The top three counties during theyouth season were Franklin with 92,Ste. Genevieve with 64 and Osagewith 57 turkeys checked. FranklinCounty also led 2007 youth harvesttotals with 94 turkeys checked. Forcounty-by-county harvest totalsfrom the youth season, visitwww.mdc.mo.gov/hunt/turkey/turk-sum

Male turkeys gobble most onwarm, clear mornings with littlewind. Exactly the opposite condi-tions prevailed during the two-day

youth turkey season. ConservationDepartment Resource ScientistTom Dailey said this almost cer-tainly contributed to this year’sreduced youth turkey harvest.

“The 2007 youth hunt washeld unusually early toavoid a conflict with theEaster weekend,” saidDailey. “That turnedout to be very goodfor young hunters,since the weath-er turned ex-tremely coldthe first week in April last year. In-stead of struggling with tempera-tures in the 30s and 40s, they haddaytime highs in the 60s and 70s.This year they had to contend withwind, rain, sleet and snow. It wasn’tvery pretty. Considering the weath-er, I would say this year’s youthseason harvest was surprisinglygood.”

Dailey said one factor that mighthave helped young hunters was thefirst-time extension of huntinghours until sunset. Previously, hunt-ing was allowed only from 30 min-utes before sunrise until 1 p.m. Theshorter hours still apply to the regu-lar spring turkey season.

Past years’ youth-season turkeyharvests were: 2007, 3,513; 2006,3,694; 2005, 3,894; 2004, 3,258;2003, 3,660; 2002, 3,102; 2001,2,530.

The Conservation Departmentsurveys hunters about their springturkey hunting experience and atti-tudes after the spring hunting sea-son each year. This year’s surveywill include questions designed to

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Young hunters checked 2,898turkeys during the Youth TurkeyHunting Season Apr. 12 & 13.That’s 17.5% fewer than last

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Jim Low www.mdc.mo.gov

JEFFERSON CITY-To hear BobFluchel talk, you would think his of-fice is a living thing. You would notbe entirely wrong. Fluchel managesthe Anita B. Gorman ConservationDiscovery Center at 4750 Troost Ave.in Kansas City. While the building it-self might not be a living thing, itdoes incorporate a living machineand many other innovative uses ofliving organisms to reduce its ecolog-ical impact. It is one of a growingnumber of facilities through whichthe Missouri Department of Conser-vation is showing an interest in greenarchitecture.

Fluchel’s voice glows with pride ashe catalogs the Discovery Center’smany “green” features. One of themost striking is “The Living Ma-chine,” a system that processes all thebuilding’s wastewater. Using solarpower and the biological action ofbacteria and wetland plants, the sys-tem reclaims water that otherwisewould add to the load on KansasCity’s sanitary sewer and wastewatertreatment systems. Instead, The Liv-ing Machine provides water to flushDiscovery Center toilets, saving more

than 1,000 gallons a day.To further reduce water consump-

tion, the Discovery Center Roofchannels rainwater from its roof intoa rain garden, a manmade stream anda wetland that create an oasis for peo-ple and wildlife in the middle of thebustling Country Club Plaza district.

That is just the start of the Discov-ery Center’s water-conservation fea-tures. Some of the sidewalks aremade of a special, permeable con-crete that lets water soak in, ratherthan running off.

“You can dump a 50-gallon barrelof water on it and it just disappears,”said Fluchel.

He points out that instead of raisedmedian strips separating rows of carsin the parking lot there are recessedmedians. Underneath is a gravel bedthat soaks up rainwater like an enor-mous sponge. This has several ef-fects. One is that runoff from heavyrain does not rush into nearby BrushCreek, adding to flooding problems.Another is that oil, antifreeze andother chemicals that drip from carsonto parking lot pavement are filteredand broken down by natural process-es. Finally, the water is able to perco-late slowly into the soil, renewinggroundwater supplies.

Using native plants to landscapethe facility also increases its environ-mental benefits. Because they areadapted to local soil and climate, in-digenous plants require less care.They are attractive to native wildlife,and they serve an educational pur-pose, helping visitors learn aboutMissouri’s native flora.

“We have seen chipmunks, opos-

sums, goshawks, an American bitternand great blue herons along thestream and songbirds of all kinds,”said Fluchel. “There is a whole flockof red-winged blackbirds that nest inthe marsh and even an occasionaldeer passing through.”

Recognizing the importance of en-ergy conservation, the DiscoveryCenter also has a wide range of ener-gy-saving features. These include: —Geothermal heat pumps that save 35-40 percent of heating costs and al-ready have paid for themselves sincethe facility opened six years ago. —Solar-electric systems, includingphoto-voltaic panels on the pavilionroof, photo voltaic glass in the green-house and silicone solar panels infront of the building. These systemsgenerate enough power for a 3-bed-room home. —Passive solar features,including building orientation forpassive solar warming in winter, sunshades to keep the building cool inthe summer, “clear-story” windowsplaced high on walls to create free,natural day lighting, light shelves thatredirect light into the building’s inte-rior, “smart glass” with a specialcoating and inert gas between panesto maximize solar warming, excludeultraviolet light and minimize radia-tion heat loss. —High-efficiency flu-orescent lighting, with bright lightsonly in work areas.

Environmental awareness extendsto the Discovery Center’s buildingmaterials. The architectural designfirm, BNIM Architects of KansasCity, bought as much locally pro-duced material as possible to mini-mize energy invested in transporta-tion. It also sought out materials with

recycled content and salvaged build-ing materials when possible.

An excellent example of reusingbuilding materials is the DiscoveryCenter’s roof. Robert Berkebile, oneof BNIM’s partners and a nationalleader in green architecture, found12-inch yellow pine beams from a lo-cal warehouse that had been demol-ished and had them sawn into planksfor roof decking.

“Our roof is made of 100-year-oldtimber, and it looks beautiful,” saidFluchel. “Only a few years ago, thatlumber would have gone to the land-fill.”

Fluchel’s staff found more lumbersalvaged from another old KansasCity warehouse. Removing nailsfrom the wood took time, but they gotfive flatbed truckloads for $500.

“We made all 80 exhibits at theDiscovery Center using that lumber,”said Fluchel, “and we had enough leftover to give to other ConservationDepartment nature centers. I’m surewe would have paid many thousandsof dollars for the same lumber if wehad bought it new. It was pretty laborintensive, but we reused some lumberthat otherwise would have gone to thelandfill.”

They also used masonry from his-toric Kansas City buildings, such asthe old Bunting Hardware store atNinth and Walnut. These include acarved relief of a fox that now is partof a wall in the lobby and decorativepanels in the main and side lobbies.

All the Discovery Center’s counter-tops and cabinets are made withwood fiber and resins reclaimed fromwaste stream. Instead of new con-crete blocks, they used calcium sili-


ored at other Conservation Depart-ment buildings. At Columbia BottomConservation Area in St. Louis Coun-ty, the agency took timbers from ahistoric barn and used them for struc-tural members in the interpretive cen-ter built on the same site. The CapeGirardeau Conservation Campus Na-ture Center used SIPs.

Conservation Department Designand Development Section Chief Ja-cob Careaga says the Kirksville of-fice also could have qualified forLEED certification.

“It is a strong silver or even goldbuilding,” said Careaga, “but wehaven’t gone after certification be-cause the certification process is anadded cost. We aren’t doing this forrecognition. We do it because itmakes sense and it is in keeping withconservation principles. Should wespend that extra taxpayer money toget a plaque?”

Careaga said sustainable design ismore expensive at the start, but itpays for itself in the long run. He al-so noted that green innovationssometimes come with problems. Anexample is getting the ground-sourceheating and cooling system atKirksville to work properly.

“Any time you are an earlyadopter, there are challenges,” saidCareaga. “You can take it a long, longway. We are easing into it. We try tobe pragmatic. Instead of going all outfor everything, we try to be goodstewards of the tax dollar while em-bracing environmental design.”

cate masonry units that take less en-ergy, create less air pollution andwere made with local materials. Dis-covery Center carpeting was madewith recycled fiber content. Even thepaint was made with reprocessed ma-terials.

Extending environmental aware-ness to everyday operations, the Dis-covery Center recycles or compostsnearly all the waste it generates.

Fluchel said Anita B. Gorman, forwhom the Discovery Center isnamed, was instrumental in making ita model of sustainability.

“She had a good saying,” saidFluchel. “She used to say she wanteda building and grounds that practicedwhat we teach.”

The LEED (Leadership in Energyand Environmental Design) buildingcertification system (which Berkebilehelped develop) did not exist whenthe Discovery Center was built.Fluchel said the Conservation De-partment could have gotten retroac-tive certification, but did not pursue itdue to cost.

LEED principles also inspiredmany design features in the Conser-vation Department’s new NortheastRegional Office in Kirksville. It, too,has a ground-source heating andcooling system, passive solar heatingand skylights for day lighting. All theoutdoor lighting is directed down-ward to avoid wasting energy andcontributing to light pollution.

The Northeast Regional Office wasbuilt with SIPs, structural insulated

parking needs, the agency equippedan adjacent grassy area with “greenpavers,” a plastic grid embedded inthe ground to protect soil and grassfrom compaction and erosion. This isless expensive than asphalt, allowsrainwater to percolate into the soiland allows grass to grow while pre-venting erosion.

Like the Discovery Center, theNortheast Regional Office has asmall constructed wetland to catchrunoff from its parking lot. This givesbiological action time to cleanse thewater of petroleum residues, roadsalts and other contaminants.

Green design principles are hon-

panels that sandwich a foam core be-tween sheets of plywood. These arelighter, use less material, are strongerand allow less air leakage than con-ventional dimension-lumber con-struction. The building is “smart.” Ithas sensors throughout the buildingand shuts off lighting and climate-control systems in unoccupied areasto save energy.

Rather than build a paved parkinglot that would accommodate the max-imum number of vehicles ever ex-pected - and sit empty most of thetime - the Conservation Departmentpaved only enough area for everydaytraffic. To handle occasional peak

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The Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center in Kansas City is a model for building with energy conservation

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depending what size of hook you haveand size of fish that you are trying tocatch. Now don’t get me wrong but alarge catfish will eat small bait but thesmall catfish will only pick at it unableto swallow it whole and will cause a lotof frustration of seeing your pole movea lot without any hits. The sides of thebaitfish can be used whole as one piecethat looks like a big piece of bait butacts like a fish swimming. The entrailsof the baitfish can be used as well bylooping and re-hooking it several timeson the hook. I also prefer the head ofthe baitfish as many catfish are drawn toit. Just hook the head through the bot-tom of the mouth and push the hook

through the head.Remember this im-portant item whileplacing your baiton a hook; makesure you still haveroom for the fish toget hooked! Thissounds academicbut really it is acommon mistakemade by fishermenand by yours trulywhile learning my

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KNOW YOURBAIT FISH

By Ed SchneiderAs I was working with one of my

farm workers on our family farm here inMissouri I realized that there are manythings that I have not taught him insome areas of swine production becausethe quick pace that production agricul-ture has taken in the last 15 years. Hisexperience is limited to only what Ihave taught him and he was not aroundin the 1970’s when I raised swine out-side and had to bear the elements andcertain tricks learned to achieve fair pro-duction (good production in those

days). But I spent several hours work-ing with him in a couple of key areasand feel he has come along very niceconsidering his experience. Now thatgets me to the point of my story here isfor many fishermen it comes second na-ture to them about the different bait fishthat is used in catfishing, but for thenovice or beginner it may be totallyGreek to them! I will first say that justabout anything can be used as bait fishto a Monster Catfish but be sure whatyou use is legal in your Zone or statethat you are fishing in. Dynamite prob-ably works but as far as I know it islooked down upon by our fish andwildlife wardens, and I prefer to keepmy license and boat to use at latertimes! Generally speaking the catfish iscaught on the following bait fish, and Iwill explain later in the article on how touse them. Bluegills, most species ofShad, most species of Carp, Bullheadcatfish (yes they even eat a cousin!),Goldfish, Mooneye (I didn’t make thisone up), SkipjackHerring, andShrimp (fresh orfrozen). I don’twant to make abook out of this solet’s leave out theother items such asworms, cheese,hotdogs etc...Letsstart with the termcut bait. What thismeans is to takethe bait fish andliterally cut him up into small piecesmade into small morsels to large chunks

bait to use for what fish it is pretty sim-ple. Bullhead Catfish are the most ag-gressive and will easily bite on anythingfrom pieces of bread, worms, minnowsetc...The Channel Catfish is drawn toworms, corn, small cut bait, dip bait,dough bait, etc...The Blue Catfish thelargest of our American Catfish is a lit-tle more particular that it prefers freshcut bait, fresh whole bait, and live bait.They are generally caught on bait’s suchas Shad, Herring, and Mooneye. Themeanest Catfish of them all is the Flat-head Catfish and the large ones can be areal bear to bring to the surface if theycan get back near some fallen timberand such and they prefer live bait suchas Bluegill, Bullheads, and Goldfish.They at times will pick up a piece of cutbait but not normally. Most fishermencarry a cast net with them to obtainthese species of bait or a small rod andjig will also bring many into your baitwell. Any other questions about thisyou can contact me through my websiteand I will be glad to respond back. Ihope your rods are bent and the reels areburning this summer!

[email protected] 660-641-3682

www.RenegadeCatfishing.com

Mooneye Skipjack Herring

John Kerley catching bait. John & hiswife Shelley

are goodfriends of the

Canterbury’s,since the

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Charlton Heston,Charlton Heston,Epic Film Star andEpic Film Star and

VVoice of N.R.A., oice of N.R.A., Died at 84Died at 84

Charlton Heston who appeared insome 100 films in his 60-year actingcareer but who is rememberedchiefly for his monumental, jut-jawed portrayals of Moses, Ben-Hurand Michelangelo, died Saturdaynight April 5, at his home in BeverlyHills, Calif.

In August 2002, Mr. Heston an-nounced that he had received a diag-nosis of neurological symptoms“consistent with Alzheimer’s dis-ease.”

Heston was also known for his so-cial and political activism.

Charlton Heston was born JohnCharles Carter in 1924 in Evanston,

Illinois. He spent his earlychildhood in Saint Helen,Michigan. His parents end-ed their marriage when hewas a boy. Later, he decid-ed to change his name. Hetook the last name of hismother’s second husband,Heston. And, for his firstname he used his mother’sformer last name, Charl-ton.

Charlton Heston discovered his in-terest in acting while performing inplays at his high school. He laterspent two years studying theater atNorthwestern University inEvanston, IL. But he left college tojoin the Army Air Forces duringWorld War Two. In 1944 he marrieda college classmate, Lydia Clarke.

The young couple moved to NewYork City after the war. They tried tofind acting jobs. Heston found small

roles in the theater as wellas in television shows. Hisperformance in a televi-sion version of the book“Jane Eyre” caught the at-tention of the Hollywoodproducer Hal B. Wallis. Wallis gave Heston a role

in the movie “Dark City,”which came out in 1950.The actor soon found oth-

er roles in movies including “TheGreatest Show on Earth” directed byCecil B. DeMille. DeMille laterasked Heston to play the role ofMoses in his movie “The Ten Com-mandments” which came out in1956. This role made Heston famousand defined his career as a hero andleader.

The 1959 movie “Ben-Hur” madeCharlton Heston an even bigger star.The movie is most famous for a longscene in which Ben-Hur competes inan exciting chariot race against a Ro-man commander he considers his en-emy. Many actors would have used aprofessional stunt man to carry outsuch a dangerous activity as a chari-ot race. But Charlton Heston didmuch of the work himself. He trainedfor weeks to learn how to skillfullylead a team of speeding horses.

“Ben-Hur” won eleven AcademyAwards, including Best Actor forCharlton Heston.

Heston starred in many adventuremovies during the 1960’s. His faceand body represented strength, man-liness and heroism in many differentroles. He played cowboys, soldiers,and athletes. His movies included“El Cid”, “Khartoum”, and “TheGreatest Story Ever Told.” In thescience fiction film “Planet of theApes” he played an astronaut who isenslaved by a society of intelligentand powerful non-human rulers.

In the 1970’s, Heston appeared inpopular disaster movies like “Earth-quake,” “Skyjacked” and “Airport

1975.” Charlton Heston once saidthat over his career he played threepresidents, three holy men and twoartistic geniuses. He joked that if thatdid not make a person feel self-im-portant then nothing would.

Throughout his life, Charlton Hes-ton was active in social and politicalcauses. In the 1950-60’s, he workedto defend civil rights.

Charlton Heston was also very ac-tive in the movie industry. He waspresident of the Screen Actors Guildfor six years starting in 1965. He al-so worked to help establish theAmerican Film Institute.

He received the Jean Hersholt Hu-manitarian Award from the Academyof Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.He later received other awards for hislifetime of work. In 1997 he wasawarded a Kennedy Center Honor.And, in 2003, President Bush gaveCharlton Heston a Presidential Medalof Freedom, the nation’s highestcivilian honor.

Later in his life, Heston becamemore socially and politically conser-vative. He supported Republican Par-ty politicians and became known foractively opposing laws to control theprivate ownership of guns. In 1998Heston was elected president of theNational Rifle Association. The NRAbelieves the right to own a gun an im-portant civil right guaranteed by theUnited States Constitution.

Charlton Heston became famousfor a speech he gave for the NRA in2000.

He held up a long rifle used in the1700’s and said the only way the gov-ernment could take away his gun wasfrom his “cold, dead hands.”

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Heston wrote about his opinions inbooks including “In the Arena” and“To Be a Man: Letters to My Grand-son.”

In August 2002, Mr. Heston an-nounced that he had received a diag-nosis of neurological symptoms“consistent with Alzheimer’s dis-ease.”

The memory of Charlton Hestonwill live on in the powerful heroes hebrought to life in his movies. Hisstyle of acting and the movies hemade represent a special period in thehistory of Hollywood. In his person-al life he supported noble causes andwas a role model for millions.

Charlton HestonOct. 4, 1924 - Apr. 5, 2008

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Fishing from the banks of a damtailrace always kept me in suspensewhen I was a kid.

I just never knew what I wasgoing to hook next when I fishedbelow dams on the MississippiRiver and Carlyle Lake in Illinois.Most of the time we caught crappieand white bass, but my other catch-es from the tailraces included wall-eye, sauger, largemouth bass, yel-low bass, catfish, carp, buffalo, garand paddlefish.

Eldon, Mo., angler John Vernonhas spent several decades bankfishing the Bagnell Dam tailracebelow Lake of the Ozarks. Hecatches crappie and white bassthroughout the year as long as somecurrent is flowing.

Bank fishing at the Bagnell Damtailrace can be a productive yetinexpensive way to catch panfishthroughout the year if you can learnhow to read the water. Ask anylocal tailrace expert about the bankfishing in the Bagnell Dam tailraceand they will tell you it’s a waste oftime to try it if there is no flowfrom the dam.

A strong current makes it easierfor Vernon to find tailrace panfish.He notices the fish move shalloweralong the rocks during heavy cur-rent, especially when all the flood-

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rod a short yank to straighten outthe line and pull the jigs away fromthe rocks.

If you’re limited to fishing fromthe bank, then get a 5-gallon buck-et (for holding your fish), grab arod and reel and a small tackleboxfull of jigheads and soft plastictubes and grubs and head for theBagnell Dam tailrace. You’rebound to catch plenty of crappieand white bass and whatever elseswims there.

gates of Bagnell Dam are open.A double tube jig system without

a bobber works best for Vernonwhen fishing from a tailrace bank.He opts for tubes in red-and-char-treuse and purple-and-white colorcombinations with 1/8-ounce jig-heads that he ties about 18 inchesapart on 8-pound test line.

The tailrace veteran keys on theeddies and varies the speed of hisretrieve depending on the strengthof the current. “It is always betterto fish in the eddy or downstreamslightly,” he reveals. “You alsohave to keep the jigs moving thewhole time or you’ll get them hungup.”

Using a countdown method aftercasting helps Vernon avoid losingtoo many jigs to hang-ups. “If youcount to 10 seconds and get hungup, try counting to only 8 or 9 thenext cast,” advises Vernon. Oncehe finds the right count that trig-gers strikes yet keeps his luresaway from snags, Vernon uses thesame count on the rest of his casts.Line watching also preventsVernon from snagging his jigs.“Watch the speed of your retrieveand if your line starts to slack thatmeans you’re going to get hung upright away,” says Vernon, whoavoids hanging up by giving his

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L. Bruce RichmondM U R P H Y S -

BORO, IL - L.Bruce Richmondwas a great Ameri-can. Sunday, April13, at age 87, hepassed away athome, surrounded by his family.

He was born Oct. 17, 1920, to Johnand Dottie Richmond, in Johnston City.He married LaCleeta Patterson on Jan.18, 1940. She died Dec. 4, 1999. He lat-er married Elizabeth (Rose) Fear.

Mr. Richmond served in the U.S.Navy during World War II and was aship painter at Pearl Harbor. His artisticability led him to learn the trade of sign-painting while in Hawaii, where he alsobegan painting portraits. He later settledin Murphysboro with his family wherehe was owner-operator of Artcraft SignService for more than 30 years.

He was active in politics for most ofhis life as an alderman in Murphysborofor many years and mayor of Murphys-boro in the late 1960s and early 1970s.In 1974, he was elected to the IllinoisGeneral Assembly, where he served inthe House of Representatives with dis-

tinction until his retirement in 1993. As a legislator for 18 years, he was

the primary person in the House whosponsored the annual appropriations billfor Southern Illinois University andfunding for SIU projects.

He was the original sponsor and sup-porter for state funding for the SIUBusiness Incubator, now known as theDunn-Richmond Center. He was alsochief sponsor of bills obtaining fundingfor the renovation of Davies Gym,Touch of Nature, Pulliam Hall andmany other projects at SIU. In addition,he was able to bring funding for manyprojects in Southern Illinois as chair-man of the Agriculture Committee andmember of Appropriations.

For many years, he lovingly cared forhis wife, LaCleeta, who was strickenwith early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.She was the sister of Cathy Canter-bury’s dad, Wm. G. Patterson. He alsocared for his son, Randall, who was awonderful artist that passed away in1983 at the age of 40.

Mr. Richmond was an avid golfer andfisherman. Bruce was active in the ElksClub for 69 years. He served as statepresident in 1963, and was a nationalritual judge and officer for several years

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after that. During his retirement years, he con-

tinued honing his artistic skills, paintingdozens of still life animals and portraits.He also did walnut relief carving ofbirds and animals. In the late 1990s, hisartwork was displayed at an exhibit atthe Museum Gallery at Southern Illi-nois University, Carbondale.

In addition to his wife, Elizabeth, Mr.Richmond leaves a son, Michael, anddaughter-in-law, Linda, of St. Louis;daughter and son-in-law, Susan andRichard Morris of Murphysboro; step-son, Kevin Fear of Cambria; stepdaugh-ter, Mary George of Chester; twograndchildren, Amy Cheatham ofSpringfield and Sarah Richmond of St.Louis; one step-granddaughter, Emma,of Chester; one great-grandson, NoahCheatham of Springfield; and manynieces and nephews.

Rev. Philip Nordstrom officiated thefuneral service with burial at PleasantGrove Memorial Park off old Rt. 13.

Bruce Richmond accomplished a lotfor his community while serving asMayor and then as a Legislator in the ILState House of Representatives. He wasa humble man who never touted hissuccess. All who knew him will misshis wisdom, dry wit and quiet strength.

Catfishing on the RiversWe had a

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Although I attempted to gain more in-formation on the catch, you know, exact

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location, bait and similar details I didn’tlearn much. Thus I did a little unrelatedresearch on big cat fishing in our area.

Cat fishing has really become a popu-lar endeavor the past 10 years. Onceconsidered the prey of weathered riverrats using beat up jon boats, trotlinesand bank sets, the catfish has attainednear star status. Get out on the river nowand you might see a full array of rigs,from the traditional wide bottom jonboats to fancy runabouts and pontoons.All with the mission of landing a mon-ster cat.

No one can pinpoint what has createdthis spurt in cat fishing interest. I sus-pect it is a combination of factors suchas improved water conditions, a likelyincrease in catchable fish, promotion byfishing publications, the challenge oflanding one of these fresh water sub-marines and the creation of tournamentsthat target big cats.

The Illinois and Mississippi Riversare home to some monster cats as evi-denced by fishermen boating big flat-heads and blues. The Illinois River is alittle easier to fish than the Mississippisince the expansion of water is not asgreat and fishermen can generally moreeasily target structure. The big chal-lenge on the Illinois is the heavy bargetraffic. The breadth of the Mississippi,island structure, wind dams, and oftenshifting fish holding debris makes it areal contest to locate catfish holdingstructure. Whether the Illinois or theMississippi a depth finder/fish locator isinvaluable.

The major dams of course are some-thing of a constant depending on thevolume of water being discharged thruthem. Many of the behemoth cats are

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caught below thedam structureswhere they lie tofeed. The damscould be calledfood processorsin that foragefish dischargedthru the gates areconvenient, noeffort prey forhunger cats.

Althoughsome cats arecaught on pre-pared baits, oys-ters, chicken liv-ers and the like,most experi-enced “big cat” fishers use fresh caughtskip jacks, shad or blue gill. These fish-ermen go fishing before they go fishingto assure they have the freshest bait.Shad and skip jacks do not hold up wellin bait buckets or live wells thus oftenbait replacement is necessary.

Equipment wise fishing for big catsrequires heavy duty rods and reels. Ittakes some real leverage to get a madcat out of the debris where they takerefuge. I know from personal experi-ence. Even a 5 to 6 pound cat will testyour equipment if they scramble forcover. I hooked a cat late last summer ina large private lake while I was bassfishing. The little brute buried in theweeds and I thought I would wreck mybass rod and reel before I finally got himto the net. He weighted in at 5 1/2pounds which is nothing compared to20 or 30 or 40 pounds.

Although you can spend big moneyon equipment it really is not necessary.

Rigs under $50.will do the joband are avail-able from nu-merous sourcesincluding Gan-der Mtn. BassPro, Cabela’sand even Wal-Mart.

Back to rig-ging for bigcats. A com-mon techniqueis to thread awire leader thruthe center of thebait fish with ahefty treble

hook on the snap. This baited arrange-ment is then weighted depending onwater current conditions and cast intolikely cat holding structure. Close atten-tion to the line is necessary to detectfeeding action. Often a cat will “noodle”the bait before taking it which calls for agood dose of patience before setting thehook.

The only way to find out if you are agood “catter” is get out and try it. Theother option is to work with an experi-enced fisherman or guide. On the lower

stretch of the Illinois River (from rough-ly Meredosia to Batchtown) you cancontact Jeff Krumwiede at (217) 942-6655.

Jeff is actively involved in conductingbig cat tournaments on the Illinois thruout the year and knows the river. Hisbrother is one of our wildlife specialistsfor IDNR in Pittsfield. I can’t give a rec-ommendation for fishing the Mississip-pi River stretch from St. Louis back upto lock and dam 22 at Saverton since Iconfine my activity on ole Miss to thestretch of water between lock and dam24 and 22.

Your best sources of information arelocal bait and tackle shops in the smalltowns in the area you would like to try.

Although I mentioned it early on Iagain emphasis the importance of adepth/fish finder. If nothing else it couldsave you a prop or the bottom of yourboat. A few yearsago I lost my lower unit on an IO on therocks of a wing dam. I thought I knewthe river well enough and didn’t botherto turn the depth finder on. That was a $750.00 error.

You may spend all day chatting andcome home empty handed or you justmight set the new State record. Regard-less it beats tilling the garden.

First catch of spring. Pike Co. residents Rick, Jacob & little Kennedy

Frasier show off the 30 lb.blue cat caught in the

Mississippi River in late

March.


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catch my first one, as I know whatis to come for the next month.

The males will get busy preparinga nest for the female to move up onand drop her eggs. My home lake ofLake Shelbyville is a little differentthan most. Since it is an Army Corpof Engineer Lake they have itpulled down for winter pool inApril and will slowly bring it up inMay. The fish on the main lakehave just figured out through theyears that four to six-foot is a goodspawning depth.

Up in the creeks however this is-n’t the case. Once the lake fills upto summer pool you can run up thebiggest feeder creeks on the lakeand actually fish for them in just afew inches of water. This is morelike most of you are used too.

May is also the month I do a lotof live bait fishing. Nothing is abetter search tool than live bait.Jigs still work but I have seen fishpass them up for a lively minnow.This is especially true when the wa-ter temps are in the sixty-five toseventy-five ranges. The spawn iswinding down and the fish want nu-trients.

On my guide trips and in the tour-neys that I fish, I always get at leasteight to ten dozen minnows to startthe day. I snicker at those coming inand buying two-dozen. I always sayif you are using live bait then uselive bait. Never drag a minnowaround more than five minutes.

I will get larger shiners for thetypical slip bobber and plain hookrig and slightly smaller ones to tipon the back of a jig. The big oneswon’t ride on a jig well and just fliparound all over the place, but on aplain hook I want action and theycause havoc in a brush pile that getsthe crappie’s attention.

Like I said earlier I guide on Lake

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aged.May however makes everyone a

pro. The fish are shallow and theyare hungry. Our employers shouldjust give us the month off as Iknow how hard it is to look out thewindow and see the first real signsof spring and you know the fish arebiting.

Last month I ended with watertemps hovering in the fifty-five de-gree range and the males makingthat push from fifteen to twentyfoot of water up into the ten-footrange and some days into the six-foot range. Now we can actuallystart talking about the next stagethe spawn.

Once the water temps hit the six-ty range the males will start to turna darker shade around the bellyand mouth area. The black crappie,especially in clear water will turnpitch black. This marks the start ofthe whole ritual. I love it when I

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MAY IS HERE,SPAWN IS TOO

By Steve WelchEach year

we as an-glers anx-iously awaitthe springc r a p p i espawn. I seebass fisher-man eventhrow aspinning out fit and some jigs onboard in hopes of getting some ofthe best table fare there is the tastycrappie.

Last month we talked about coldApril rains and warm sunny days.These two distinctly different pat-terns have the fisherman perplexedand sometimes down right discour-

Shelbyville and the best thingabout guiding on this massivereservoir is that you can spread outthe spawn so to speak until midJune. The lake keeps rising and thefish just move further up thecreeks, as does the bait. The maleswill remain dark and stay up thereand fatten up. The carp go up thereto spawn as well and they keep thewater dirty enough that the crappiewill remain as long as they can findfood. You can walk across the carpup they’re spawning in thesmartweeds. I have caught crappiein two-foot of water on July fourthweekend. That is pushing it but ifthe lake goes on up past summerpool we can get them in willowsand smartweeds until the lakescomes back down and I have seenthe lake high all summer before.

Sooner or later it has to come toan end though so I switch tacticsand go walleye fishing on the mainlake flats. The best shot at gettingwalleye on this lake is June so thatis the only time I fish for them.Then it is time for white bass on thedrops another of my favorite timesof the year. This year with the crap-pie limits changing I will be doingmore crappie fishing in summerthan ever before. I look forward toanother season as I bet you are too. See you all out there.

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Pre-Spawn, Spawn andPost Spawn Action

We have fi-nally got somerain to get wa-ter back intoour lakes andthe fishing hasgot a lot better.It seems everytime the wateris down for along period oftime there is a lot of new growtharound the banks. Once it gets flood-ed you can count on good fishing fora while. We have good water levelsnow and I predict this to be the bestfishing of the year.

There has already been somespawning action going on and plentymore to come, which keeps a lot ofbass active in shallow waters. Thereare a lot of ways to catch bass thismonth as you have pre-spawn,spawn, and post spawn conditionsavailable. A lot of lakes will have all

three conditions going on at the sametime. When you get to the lake, studyyour Raymarine temperature gaugeas you ride the lake and you willprobably find different conditionsfrom one end to the other giving youan insight as what technique to use.

It’s a great time for top water ac-tion, be it a wake bait, buzz bait, orfloater type. I have had a lot of suc-cess fishing a Zoom Horny Toad likea buzz bait. I will fish it on Bass ProShops’ 17 lbs. Fluorocarbon line anda 5/0 Mustad Big Bite hook and justreel it across the surface as slowly aspossible. I have caught many fish do-ing this on nothing looking banks. Ihave found it to outfish a buzz baitmany times. I use a 7’ Extreme Woorod and hold my rod up high or off tothe side, so when the fish hits youhave to drop back to him before set-ting the hook. This will give the basstime to take it. If you’re missingstrikes try throwing a Zoom TrickWorm close to the area where you gotthe bite, rig it weightless with about a3/0 Mustad Ultra Point hook.

This is the perfect time to throw aBass Pro Shops’ Z-Pop especiallyright after the bass come off the beds.When bass are guarding fry there issomething about a pop and stop re-trieve with the Z-Pop that makesthem angry. I want you to be success-ful with the top water poppers and todo so you need to have patience, es-

get the bite early and it seems to havedied I will go to a green pumpkin col-or on my plastics but after the sungets up good I go to a watermelon orredbug color. Many times I have seenthe difference in the fish caught bymaking this slight change.

You can always stumble on someschooling fish in late May and I’mgoing to give you another good tip,especially if you’re having troublegetting them to bite. Get you aLindy’s Rattl’n Flyer spoon to castto the schoolers. This little bait willsurprise you especially if the bait fishare small. I’ll throw it on Bass ProShops’ 8 lbs Fluorocarbon line and a6’8” Extreme Woo spinning rod andswim/hop it through the fish. Put aMustad Triple grip #4 or #6 hook onthe back and hang on.

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pecially for big fish. Cast it by abush, tree, log, or dock and let it situntil the rings are gone, then just popit once and let it sit again. As soon asyou think it’s time to pop it wait an-other 10 seconds and you will be justabout right. I like to fish these onBass Pro Shops’ 17 lbs Extreme lineand if I’m doing a lot of top water Iwill dress the first ten feet of linewith Fly line dressing to help workthe bait easier.

It’s pretty hard to go wrong throw-ing a Carolina rigged Zoom bait thistime of year whether it is a lizard,brush hog, trick worm, or centipede.Fish these baits on a two or three footleader, Lindy’s No-Snagg rattlin’ 1/2oz weight and a 1/0 or 2/0 Mustadhook. Be sure and use plenty ofJack’s Juice in crawfish on yourlure. A lot of times in May, I havepulled a Carolina rigged lizard out ofthe rod storage in my Nitro 929 andstarted searching from two to ten feetof water looking for the range thebass are using. Once you find thatrange you can parallel the bank andkeep your lure in productive water allthe time simply by looking at youRaymarine Electronics and main-taining the same depth as you followthe banks contour.

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of tube body changing and the ad-dition of more color attractant.

An insert head has only the tubeexposed. Therefore, they are softer,give a smaller overall profile andare better balanced. They are espe-cially good for shallow vertical jig-ging.

The shape of a standard tubedoesn’t look exactly like a minnow,crawdad or bug. However, it isclose enough to all of these crea-tures to look life-like. Tubes arefished much the same way as min-nows. Slow, methodical presenta-tions catch the most fish. Unlike aminnow, their advantages are nothaving to keep them alive and nothaving to change a bait after onebite.

Different ShapesA successful tube you should

consider is the Southern Pro Um-brella tube. It offers several advan-tages with a bigger profile andmore moving tentacles. This baithas been responsible for manycrappie during the last decade andis a favorite of fishermen who tar-get really big crappie.

The Crappie Thunder is a solidversion of a full crappie body withan enlarged tail area with more ten-tacles. The body is quality made,has good color and will last a whileon the jig.

A solid-bodied tube-shaped jig by

Selecting Plasticsfor Crappie

by Tim HuffmanFact: there is

no one ‘best’bait for all situ-ations so yourselection oftype, style,shape and colorcan add or sub-tract from yoursuccess. Needhelp? The fol-lowing are some guidelines to trywhen selecting your crappie baits.

Basic Style & ShapeThe standard tube jig has long

been the ol’ standby of crappiefishermen. They are inexpensive,easy to change, easy to use andcome in almost any color you want.Characteristics I like include toughbut soft plastic, many colors andgood price.

The shape can be changed by us-ing a round leadhead or an inserttype head. The round head is ex-posed, usually painted for addition-al attraction and it gives the jig alonger look. These round leadheadsare recommended because of ease

tipped with a minnow. It’s excellentfor slow trolling and most othertechniques.

Fast or SlowSelect baits to fit your presenta-

tion. Moving baits need tail action.The paddle tails and curly tails areexamples. Their movement and vi-bration can trigger reaction strikesfrom the fish.

Slow presentations are often bestwith the baits that offer tiny tenta-cles on the tails. These will flowand ‘breath’ with little or no move-ment.

No rule-of-thumb is perfect, sodon’t hesitate trying different jigsin different situations.

ColorsHave you every watched a char-

treuse minnow swimming in thewater? Me neither. But chartreuseis one of the best colors you canuse. My assumption on this is thatthe fish bite what color they cansee, providing the shape and actionlooks natural. This is especiallytrue in stained water. It’s more crit-ical to have exactly the right colorand shape when fishing very clearwater.

Don’t tell my wife, but there areonly about six colors you need tocatch crappie. You need differentshades; light; medium and dark.The colors can vary based upon thewaters you fish, but my choiceswould be: white/chartreuse;lime/chartreuse; orange/chartreuse;red/chartreuse; blue/pink;

Spike-It has raised the bar on qual-ity. The solid body lasts longer andSpike-It colors are a step above theothers. The solid body also makesthem more versatile and manycrappie experts are threading themon their minnow hook shank beforeadding a minnow. This keeps thebait light for good action, adds thecolor of the body and the realsmell, look and action of the min-now.

Another favorite is a CharlieBrewer’s Crappie Slider. This soft,solid plastic bait is best when cast-ing and trolling because a littlespeed adds to the paddle tail action.It can be rigged on a round head jigand fished in traditional ways. Itcan also be rigged with the specialSlider head to fish it weedless. Theweedless version lets you probe orcast into heavier cover with gettingconstant hang-ups.

Curly tail jigs have always beena favorite for casting and trolling.There are many on the market butmy favorite is the 3-inch YumWalleye Grub. It has excellent ac-tion and enticing scent so it workswhether it’s moving or at rest. TheYum Walleye Grub is not too bigfor quality crappie and may helpyou target the biggest fish in thearea.

Any of the above bodies can beused with a Road Runner head.Sometimes the fish want flash andsometimes they don’t. My favoriteis the Pro Series head with goldwillow leaf blade, no body, and

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blue/black.An advantage of having fewer

colors is that you won’t be chang-

ing as often and will concentrate onpresentations instead of worrying ifyou have on the right bait color.

What’s In My Box?Most of my baits are the above

mentioned. I use TeeZur Tackle jig-heads and Road Runner heads. Mybodies are usually Umbrella tubesfor slow trolling but I will be usingmore Spike-It bodies in the future.For casting and trolling I usuallystick with curly tails and Sliders.Note that many manufactures offergood products. Try them, pick theones you like and stick with them.

Editor’s note: Grizzly Fishingfor Crappie and Bluegill is a newvideo hosted by Tim Huffmanand Louie Mansfield. It featuresultra-light longpole tactics andwas filmed in 2007 on ReelfootLake, TN. For your copy, send$15.95 to Huffman Publishing,PO Box 26, Poplar Bluff, MO63901.

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John (J.C.) Camden of Pekinwith a 26 in., 8 lb. bass. “It was12:30 on Sept. 23. We had takena break from working on deerstands in Brown Co. & went

over to fish a small pond. Afterfishing about 1 hr. we caught

about 9, 1.5 lb. bass. JC said hewas getting a nice one & after 10 min. of fighting, he pulledthis monster onto the bank!”

Congrats to JC & thanks to KurtUlrich of Morton for sharing!

Plastics are great for enticingcrappie. Compared to minnowsthey are easier to buy, keep anduse. They are great when you

need to get a bait deep into cover.

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Every year many anglers here in theMidwest, myself included are like kids in acandy store waiting for those schools of whitebass that roam the Mississippi andWisconsin rivers to start their Spring feedingbonanza. For some of us, Spring fishing forthese scrappy silver sided fish has becomesomewhat of a ritual of the season. In fact, Iknow many families that plan their vacationsaround this fabulous bite that is starting tooccur. It has become somewhat of a right ofpassage in some angling families when theyounger anglers go along with the adults toenjoy the fast and furious fishing that can beexperienced when a large school of theseferocious feeders is encountered.

One of the great things about fishing forwhite bass in the Spring of the year is thatboth boat and shore anglers alike can get inon the action. Now granted that a boat willgive you the benefit of added mobility toreach more spots easily, but fishing from theshore can also be just as rewarding if you pickyour spots wisely.

If your going to shore fish, try and search

Over the years I have been using a rig thatI developed many moons ago for Spring whitebass that has taken many fish for me. It’seasy to use and the best part is that manytimes you will get doubles, (two fish at once)on your line. Here is how it works.

I’ll stick to casting but will switch to asmall, miniature style crankbait that has a lotof flash to it. Usually this bait will be chromeor bright silver. Af ter attaching thecrankbait directly to my line I’ll take a pieceof monofilament line about 1 1/2 foot longand tie one end of the line to the rear hookring on the crankbait. Now, take a small1/16th ounce jig and tie it onto the loose endcoming off the crankbait. Add a small twistertail trailer to the jig. What you have effec-tively done is to make a lure with two differ-ent actions.

Simply cast the crankbait with theattached jig and make your normal retrieve.You will be amazed at how you will have theseaggressive white bass striking both lures atthe same time. Talk about fun, this isgreat...2 fish on the line at once, each goingin different directions. That’s action that’shard to beat.

So here we are into the month of May onceagain. The trees and flowers are blooming allaround us and the birds are singing whileraising another year’s young. It’s a great timeto get out on your favorite body of water thatcontains white bass and get in on the greatfishing that’s going on right now. The bestpart, it’s only going to get better.

There something special about a nice plateof golden fried white bass fillets, some home-made fried potatoes and coleslaw along withyour favorite drink. I’ll tell you my friends,that is a scenario that’s tough to beat.

Till next time, take care and I’ll see you onthe water.

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Its Time To See Silver, White Bass That Isout locationsthat havesome goodrocky struc-ture that thewhite basscan relateto. Normallyyou can findthese fishf e e d i n galong rockywing dam areas and also rock strewn shore-lines that have a fairly fast tapering bottomout to deeper waters. Locations like theseare excellent spots to start your search. Also,don’t overlook areas of incoming feedercreeks and streams that empty into theselarger rivers. These types of spots will usual-ly hold a lot of baitfish and in return the bigwhite bass will not be far behind this type ofgood forage area.

As far as presentation for the shoreangler, the method is really pretty straightforward. Casting small jigs and jig/minnow

rigs are an excellent choice. Try and use a jigthat is rather small, yet heavy enough to castfairly easily.

You can add a plastic trailer of some typeto your jig for added appeal. One thing thatworks well is to use two different colors onyour jig. Use a jig head of one color andattach a trailer of another color. These two-tone presentations work very well for whitebass.

Make long casts out over the structurearea and vary your retrieve back until youdevelop a pattern as to what style retrievethe fish are striking on that particular day.

One thing to remember, never cast into avisible school of white bass if you see themfeeding. If you do, you will most likely spookthe fish into leaving the area and going deep.

Instead, cast past the school and bringyour presentation through the school for bestresults.

For you folks in that super-duper, highperformance fishing boat, your options aremany.

Some of the best presentations for theboat angler are casting and trolling jigs.

When casting, use the same methods thatthe shore angler uses. Again, make sure notto cast into surfacing fish.

For lures...go with plastic shad bodies inthe 2” to 2 1/2” size range and fish them offa jig head. These plastic shad bodies are real-ly deadly on these white bass and are alsovery durable to their savage attacks. You willbe able to catch multiple fish on one shadbody before it needs replacement. Also,these bodies are fairly inexpensive to by.

Another method that works well for whitebass is to slow troll jig/minnow rigs verticallyover the side just as you would for walleye.Vary your depth of the jig until contact withfish is made and then zero in on that depth.

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ALASKAProtecting Alaska’s

fishing industryshould be a

national prioritySen. Ted Stevens

Every year, the watersoff the Alaska’s coastproduce nearly half ofour domestic fishery.None of our stocks areoverfished.

This important ac-complishment is possi-ble because the Alaskafishing industry contin-ues to set the standard -in the United States andin the world - for sus-tainable and productive fisheries.

This approach, mandated by theMagnuson-Stevens Act, works byimposing science-based catch lim-its to end overfishing. It is also ef-fective because the United Stateshas implemented strong fisheriesenforcement regimes. Unless othermajor fishing nations adopt similarstandards, high-seas global fishstocks will continue to decline.

It is vital that fishing nationsworldwide address the global prob-lem of illegal, unreported and un-regulated fishing, which is stillcommon on the high seas. Thesefishing practices threaten to depletevaluable fish stocks on which wedepend.

In January 2007, President Bushsigned the reauthorization of theMagnuson-Stevens Act. That legis-lation contains important interna-tional fisheries compliance andmonitoring provisions. Addition-ally, this past December, the presi-dent signed legislation I authoreddirecting the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration tomaintain a list of IUU fishing ves-sels around the world.

This language assures thatAmerica’s fishing industry canquickly and easily identify IUU“blacklisted” vessels, which is es-sential for helping our industryavoid doing business with them.The bill also allows the UnitedStates to take action against theserogue IUU vessels.

I am currently working with col-leagues on the Senate CommerceCommittee to close gaps in U.S.law that still allow IUU fish prod-ucts to enter our country. IfAmerica refuses to import IUUproducts, other fishing nations willalso address this issue and embracesustainable fisheries policies.

To effectively stop IUU fishproducts at the border, Congressmust ensure that law enforcement

officers for U.S. fisheries haveevery tool and resource available.The United States must improvecoordination among law enforce-ment agencies to allow resourcesharing in IUU investigations.

We should also clarify that it isillegal in the United States toknowingly trade in any fish or fish

product caught in viola-tion of a RegionalFishery ManagementOrganization agreementor otherwise harvestedfrom IUU fishing.

The United States hasassumed a strong lead-ership role in promotingsustainable fisheries.But we can do more tohelp other countries -particularly developing

countries that have large ocean ter-ritories with valuable fish stocksyet limited ability to control har-vests. NMFS and the Coast Guardhave reached out to many of thesecountries, but we should step upour efforts to help them identifyand stop IUU fishing. The Office ofInternational Affairs in theNational Marine Fisheries Servicecan lead this vital effort by facili-tating the knowledge transfer andsupport necessary to improve itsmonitoring and enforcement capa-bilities.

We must also ensure that all areasof the ocean have effective fishingrules in place. Even today, there arelarge unregulated areas of the highseas, including the waters of theNorth Pacific and Arctic Oceansbeyond Alaska’s ExclusiveEconomic Zone. My plan is to con-vince the State Department to pur-sue new international fisheriesmanagement agreements for theseareas of the high seas.

Taken together, these actions willrepresent a comprehensive U.S. ap-proach to address and combat de-structive IUU fishing practices. Iplan to further this effort by intro-ducing legislation to assure theUnited States will accomplishthese goals. Doing so will ensurethe safety and security of Alaska’shealthy, sustainable fisheries nowand into the future.

Senator Ted Stevens is thesenior member of Alaska’s con-gressional delegation and thelongest-serving Senator in thehistory of the RepublicanParty.

For more information onAlaska see:

www.TheCordovaTimes.com


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lodges aand ccabins, cconstructed ffrom tthe ffinest local sspruce ttrees, aare ttastefully aappointed with ffurnishings tthat aare hhandmade bby llocalcraftsmen. WWe wwould bbe hhappy tto gguide yyou

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ALL TIED UP/FLY TYING

By Joseph RobertiaPeninsula Clarion

While fishing is still far from itspeak, now is the time many peopleprepare for the upcoming season,and a small group of would-be an-glers got together to learn moreabout how to make what goes intheir tackle box, as part of a Begin-ner’s Fly Tying Workshop held atthe Kenai Community Library.

“Once you get the hang of thetools, tying flies goes really fast,”instructor Paul Tornow said in re-gard to a fishing form that can be abit intimidating, especially for life-long spin casting and bait castingfishermen.

Tornow was speaking from first-hand experience since he has tiedthousands of flies over the course ofhis professional career alone. He hasworked as a guide for nine years, thelast five of which he has been a flyfishing guide on the upper KenaiRiver with Alaska Troutfitters inCooper Landing. He has also servedas a guide for Kenai Peninsula Col-lege’s Kenai Fishing Academy, andthis season will be serving as an in-structor at the academy.

However, as an instructor, Tornowbrings more to the table, and vice,than his piscatorial prowess. He is

also working on aBachelor of FineArt degree fromthe University ofAlaska, andwhen tying flieshe encouragesstudents to em-brace the creativeprocess.

“I want you allto sculpt flies,not just buildthem,” he toldthe class.

Tornow saidthe reason for this is that it will al-low the students to create flies thatare uniquely their own, which canbe better than us-ing generic, storebought flies thatall look exactlythe same.

“No two piecesof flesh floatingin the river willlook the same, sowhy fish fleshflies that all lookthe same,” hesaid.

Tornow en-courages his stu-dents to learnabout what their target species arefeeding on and when they are feed-ing on it, then recreate what theyneed by tying a fly for the occasion.

For example, he said now is not

the time to be us-ing summer-timeflesh flies thatare bright pinkand orange, sinceno one is filletingsalmon yet andputting meatback into the wa-ter. He said anyflesh still float-ing down the riv-er would be oldand likely havethe colorbleached out of

it, so flies should mimic this appear-ance.

“It should look like a dirty, nastysock,” he said,and then demon-strated for theclass how to userabbit fur thatwas grayish withhints of rust colorto tie flies thatbear a strong re-semblance towhat trout wouldexpect to seefloating in theriver right now.

Chris Rose, astudent in the

class, said she signed up specifical-ly to learn to tie flesh flies, but notto target rainbows. She had an evenlarger quarry in mind.

“I can make some of these for

king salmon. I’ve always used her-ring and lures, but I’ve never triedwith flies so I wanted to give it atry,” she said. Rose’s 11-year-old granddaughter,Eden Flake, accompanied her to theclass. Unlike her elder, Flake saidshe was there to expand the horizonsof her favorite pastime.

“I like fishing and want to learn tofly fish so I can fish more,” she said. In addition to the flesh flies, Tornowshowed the class how to create wetflies that look like alevins small fishwith the yolk-sacs still attachedwhich can be an effective fly at thistime of year, particularly when fish-ing for steelhead on the Kasilof Riv-er.

Students tied tiny eyes onto ahook, and used string that resembledtinsel for the body. Then for the fi-nal touch Tornow demonstrated howto use a glue gun with pink glue tomake a yolk sac on the underside ofthe fly. “That will be so deadly, Fish andGame will want you to register yourfly rod,” he said in regard to one stu-dent’s finished alevin product.

F o r m o re i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e f l y t y i n gw o r k s h o p , c a l l t h e Ke n a i C o m m u n i t y

L i b ra r y a t 9 0 7 - 2 8 3 - 4 3 78

J o s e p h Ro b e r t i a c a n b e re a c h e d a tj o s e p h . r o b e r t i a @ p e n i n s u l a c l a r i o n . c o m

F o r m o re s t o r i e s o n t h e Ke n a i Pe n i n s u l as e e : w w w . Pe n i n s u l a C l a r i o n . c o m

Paul Tornow demonstrates how to tie a fly during a Beginner’s Fly Tying Workshop held at the

Kenai Community Library.

Paul Tornow demonstrates how to tie a fly during a Beginner’s Fly Tying Workshop held at the

Kenai Community Library.


“as is” and “where is.”Only Alaska residents may bid.

While multiple parcel bidding ispermissible, only one parcel perperson will be awarded. Sealedbids will be publicly opened onJune 4 at the Anchorage DNRPublic Information Office. Parcelsnot sold may become availableduring an initial over-the-counterlottery.

The lottery holds no parcel limit,and nonresidents may apply.

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first in a field of 71 two-man teams who enteredthe event.

The contest is held over a day and a half, whereparticipants try to call in and shoot the highestnumber of coyotes. Al and Garvin brought in 17coyotes to take the title. Second and Third placecontestants finished with 11 and 10 coyotes re-spectively.

“We’re very excited about our win this year,”said Morris. “Garvin and I are the only two-timewinners of the event. We first took the title in1997. We’re also the only team to place in the topten each year since 1997. This year we changedthings up a bit. We only carried one call, the newJohnny Stewart wireless Preymaster-4 caller. Thenew PM-4 caller uses the same digital memorycard as the original Preymaster”.

“I know the Johnny Stewart sounds played a keyrole in our win,” added Morris. “We used the adultcottontail sound 90 percent of the time and theVittles al’a Jackrabbit the other 10 percent. Weplaced the caller in elevated positions as much aspossible, on fence posts or bushes to allow thesound to travel. The response was amazing. We

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THE TWOAMIGOS

by “AL” RostelloThere have been

plenty of famous duosthat have captured theinterest of people.Poncho and Lefty, TheLone Ranger and Tonto,etc. Since hunting andfishing are twin sports,my two news partnersin this column are a press release about huntingand a press release about fishing.

The hunting amigo is from a Hunter Specialties(H.S.) news release.

Al Morris, a member of the Hunter’s SpecialtiesPro Staff and his partner Garvin Young recentlywon the annual World Coyote Calling Championshipin Williams, Arizona. Morris and Young came in Cont’d. on next pg.


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part for farming operations. With levies missing,fields damaged and planting season for rice at acritical point right now, it appears some farmersmay miss their rice crop this year. Even thoughmany higher ground farmers have started plant-ing, several of the rice farmers I talked with thisweek voiced concerns over planting a rice croppast the middle of May. In past years most expe-rienced a noticeable decrease in yields associat-ed with late planting, along with an increased riskof damage from an early frost next fall.

Still yet, many of the fields located in the mainfloodway of area rivers are experiencing strongcurrents and some have as much as eight to tenfeet of flood water still standing on them. If thesefarms don’t get planted in rice, they will probablybe planted in late beans. While a bean cropshould be beneficial to the farmer, soybeans donot produce the yield rice does. Lower yieldsmeans less duck food is spilt during harvest, not

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Last month’s column, Fat and Happy, focusedon the benefits spring floods were providing forwaterfowl staging in our area at the time. Thosebenefits were related to extra food sources avail-able for the ducks, as the result of floodwater.The extra food provided additional sources fornutrients the ducks need to help build caloriesfor a safe and healthy return flight to their nest-ing grounds.

Now, thirty days and numerous heavy rains lat-er, we’re still at flood stage and the effects ofcontinued flooding are something many are con-cerned with. Flooding is always a serious issue,but flood, after flood, after flood, does presentother problems. With rivers and lakes continuingto overflow and the ground having been thorough-ly saturated with water for well over a month, thepast three or four periods of heavy rain did noth-ing but aggravate area problems. This past weekmany of the large dams in northern Arkansas andthe southern portion of Missouri have beenforced to open their floodgates. In more than oneinstance, some of these floodgates had neverbeen opened before, testifying to the overwhelm-ing amount of water area farmers and residentsare being forced to deal with.

The increased water flow set new water levelrecords in many areas, creating problems not as-sociated with past floods. Major levies have beenseverely eroded and in several cases levies havewashed out completely. Roads have also beendamaged or destroyed and there are untold acresof farmland still underwater. Much of the farm-land will be inaccessible by road, even after thewater recedes. While some of the damaged or de-stroyed levies were designed to help control theflow of area rivers, others played an important

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took three coyotes at one stand and had four dou-bles on our championship run.

“We also worked harder at eliminating ourscent,” stated Morris. “We used the Scent-A-Way Advanced Formula soap and detergent andthe new Scent-A-Way spray to eliminate humanodors. We wore the new Medalist Huntgear cloth-ing, which used SilvermaxTm technology to elimi-nate odors. We pinned sage scent wafers to ourclothing as a cover scent. This attention to detailreally paid off, as we had several coyotes comedownwind of our stand that didn’t spook, givingus plenty of time to make the shot. That’s thefirst time I can say I’ve fooled a predator’snose.”For more information, log onto the Hunter’s Spe-cialties website at www.hunterspec.com, writeto 6000 Huntington Court NE, Cedar Rapids,Iowa 52402 or call a Consumer Service Special-ist at 319/295-0321. Keep in mind H.S. prod-ucts are sold in most of the sporting goods storesthat advertise in ASO.

By the way... coyote tournaments are becom-ing popular. For example, every year SoftailsLounge in LaSalle, IL sponsors an event in late-winter every year. This year the top team checkedin 5 coyotes and 10 coyotes were taken. Not badfor only a one-half day of hunting. Besides tour-nament hunting, a lot of hunters have become in-terested in coyotes because it extends their op-portunity to hunt. Varmit or predator shootingcan be fun (I love crow hunting). Consider givingcoyote hunting a try, it will be a good sport whenthe seasons are closed on all other quarry.My fishing amigo is Cabala’s 22nd MWC Tourneyheld on the Illinois River near Spring Valley onMarch 29-30, 2008.

Many family teams have fished the Cabala’sMasters Walleye Circuit (MWC) over the years.Fathers and sons, brothers, husbands and wives,but there has been only one Mother and Son

team. Wisconsinites Danny Plautz of Milwaukeeand mother Barb Rautz of Muskego, propelled towin with the tournament’s largest basket of16.12 pounds on the final day. Their two-dayweight of 27.19 pounds was enough to cash$23,350 for first place payout. Powered by Mer-cury Motors they received a $500 contingencybonus and biggest fish of day two at 4.48 poundsearned another $1,600. That’s a total of$25,450. This was not only their first circuitvictory but truly a chance to make history.

A total of $87,360 was paid out to the top 27places; another $6,400 was paid in big fish cashand $3,650 in sponsor bonuses for a total of$97,410. 585 fish were caught on day one for1050.96 pounds and 522 fish on day two for931.73 pounds for a total of 1106 fish for1982.69 pounds. That’s an average of four fishper team and 1.8-pound average size fish. Thetournament was filmed for Versus (Vs.) televi-sion and aired in April.

The Wal-Mart Forrest L. Wood (FLW) WalleyeLeague Tournament was held on the Illinois Riverone week later (April 5). Troy Nelson (Lombard,IL) won the boater prize of $2,450 plus the$500 contingency boat bonus. His teammate -Scott Anzulas (Homer Glen, IL) - won the co-an-gler prize of $1,225. The Nelson-Anzulas duowas also awarded 100 points in the FLW WalleyeLeague Heartland Division (Illinois and Iowa)standings.

The next day (April 6), the Illinois WalleyeTrail held a most successful tourney at SpringValley. The 1st prize of $1,465 was won by MaxActis (Spring Valley) and Mike Stuckert (SpringValley). Their weigh-in total was 6 fish, 17.14pounds.

Hmmm. Three top tournaments enjoyed fishingat the same location in nine days. No wonderSpring Valley is called: “The Sauger Capital ofthe World.”

AMIGOS… Cont’d. from previous pg.


Getting the Lead OutBy

Daniel D. Lamoreux

A news story recently appeared in the DuluthNews Tribune with this opening paragraph:

“The Minnes-ota Department of NaturalResources is considering a plan to ban lead shot-gun pellets for small game hunting in some partsof the state, requiring hunters to use nontoxic al-ternatives such as polymer, steel or tungsten.”There are a number of concerns, starting with thebasic premise of this story.

Excerpt: “That lead is toxic to humans, birdsand wildlife is not in doubt.”

That statement is not entirely true. Oxygen is

also toxic to humans, birds and wildlife in highconcentrations but there’s no doubt we need it tosurvive. Lead is not implicitly evil. There are manyvariables to be considered regarding its potentialban. For instance, the alternatives are not withoutpotential fault.

The University of Toronto released a studyprompting the recommendation that bismuth shotbe abandoned as an alternative to lead.

Excerpt: “Human and laboratory animal studieshave suggested that excessive bismuth exposuremay be linked to blood, liver, kidney and neuralproblems.”

In another example, the military has been using“green bullets” made of nylon and tungsten atCamp Edwards since 1997 when the EPA ordered aclean up of lead from the range.

However, testing done at the Stevens Instituteof Technology found tungsten to have propertiesthat can create or enhance environmental con-tamination.

The point is that any substance can be founddangerous under specific circumstances. Ban leadnow and we may be banning its replacements downthe road.

There’s more to consider.Excerpt: “Birds ingest lead pellets while feeding

in fields, lakes and ponds. Evidence from severalstudies is clear that lead shot has caused signifi-cant mortality of waterfowl and birds of prey thatfeed on waterfowl.”

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to mention that ducks prefer rice to beans. Beansalso deteriorate much faster than rice, when flood-ed for ducks, which can affect food distribution forwaterfowl this winter.

With several of Arkansas’ Wildlife ManagementAreas (WMA) being located in low lying areas, nearor on river systems, I contacted Richard Johnson,Wetlands Program Coordinator with the ArkansasGame and Fish Commission, for a damage report onstate hunting ground. Richard informed me that hewas not aware of any major damage to levy systemson WMAs to date, but went on to say; “It is possiblethat some of the WMAs, located closest to riversystems, could experience some damage as a resultof excessive river currents.” When asked, Richardalso expressed concern over the effects prolongedperiods of high water would have on the acorn crop,since many of the hardwoods are already buddingthroughout the state. “High water levels, this timeof year, are not good for the hardwood trees andcould have a negative effect on the acorn crop inlow-lying areas,” he said. Obviously a poor or non-existent acorn crop in low-lying areas would furtherreduce available food sources for wintering ducks.

When asked what effect he thought the extend-ed period of high water would have on the moist soilareas and wild grasses, Richard replied with whatseemed to be a more positive outlook. With springrunning well behind schedule, he felt the wild grass-es and smartweed plants would maintain good pro-duction this summer. That is, if the floodwater willdrain off and we don’t have anymore flooding for awhile. Moist soil units (impoundments) and wildgrasses provide an excellent food source for win-tering waterfowl and if Richard is correct in his lineof thinking, which I do agree with, then we shouldmaintain an abundant crop of wild grass seed and

smartweed, despite the extended period of flood-ing we’ve experienced. If water levels continue torecede there is also a chance rice farmers, farmingin the lowest areas, could still get a rice crop plant-ed. They may be forced to use aerial applications,but rice being planted in these low areas would go along way toward maintaining traditional foodsources for our state’s wintering waterfowl.

Late planting times for rice do mean a later thannormal harvest, which may eliminate part of thegermination problems associated with ricedropped on the ground during early harvest. Onceon the ground, warm rains and heavy dew take theirtoll as the grain germinates and sprouts, leavinglittle or no food for the ducks. The reduction in thegermination of seed spillage, resulting from a lateharvest, could be enough to offset food sourcesthat may be lost or not planted as a result of themassive floods, but until the flood water recedesand the ground dries up, no one will know the trueextent of the damage. For that matter, it may beyears before any of the problem areas fully under-stand what effects the prolonged floodwater hascaused to croplands, hardwood bottoms and hunt-ing ground.

From a duck hunter’s standpoint it’s safe to say,you can rest assured the ducks will find and usewhat food sources are available. Then again, untilthe migration starts, it looks like the duck hunterswill have to ...Wait and See ... if the floods had aneffect on the areas they like to hunt!

C h a r l e s “ H a m m e r T i m e ” S nC h a r l e s “ H a m m e r T i m e ” S n a pa p ppw w w . a r kw w w . a r k aa n s a s wn s a s w a ta t e re r ff oo w l . c o mw l . c o m

s ns n a pa p p 1 @ s b c g lp 1 @ s b c g l o bo b aa l . nl . n ee ttw w w . ww w w . w a ta t e re r ff oo w l e r . t vw l e r . t v Cont’d. on next pg.

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Again, this statement is not entirely true.An employee of U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) was

kind enough to provide me a copy of meeting minutesfrom a committee of the International Association ofFish and Wildlife Agencies. These minutes outlinedstudy data pertaining to lead ingestion.

One such study looked specifically at ingestionrates of both lead and “nontoxic” shot by mourningdoves. Two study areas were considered. Lead shotwas used on one while steel shot was used on theother.

Because of differing management objectivesbetween these two areas there were more shots firedin the lead shot area and more pellets deposited. Evenwith this inequity the study found the following:

Excerpt: “Ingestion rates showed few birds withlead shot compared with 4-5% ingestion rates insteel-shot areas. This brings up the question ofwhether birds are actively selecting steel shot overlead shot.”

The same USFWS employee also provided otherstudy data. One such data set outlined stable isotopeanalysis used to determine the source of lead inWisconsin woodcock.

Excerpt: “However, the woodcock wing bones havelead isotope compositions that would be expectedfrom lead that naturally occurs in Wisconsin or as apossible product of other industrial processes.”

Similar findings were documented for waterfowl ina United States Geological Survey report.

Excerpt: “The Winchester Group (1974) arguedthat lead in the wing bones of ducks as reported by theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1974) could come fromlow-level exposure to environmental lead and not fromingested lead pellets.”

There are many sources of lead. Some sources arenatural. The “success story” of the federal govern-ment’s ban of lead shot in 1991 and subsequent reduc-tions in waterfowl deaths may provide an example.

There was another major ban that - just as likely -had great influence on waterfowl deaths.

Between 1975 and 1986 lead additives wereremoved from gasoline, which had far more extensiveenvironmental distribution than lead shot.

There are several studies attributing high lead lev-els in birds and mammals to “atmospheric lead fromautomobile exhaust” and “atmospheric contamina-tion”. Could, per chance, the decline in waterfowldeaths attributed to the lead ban be due instead to theban of lead additives in gasoline?

The answer is hard to discern amid a decades-longcampaign to remove lead from the sportsman’s hunt-ing vest and fishing tackle box.

The question may seem simple enough.Excerpt: “There’s a known, scientific problem with

lead. Let’s address it and stop kidding around,”Bensch said....

It’s not that simple.Yes, there is a scientific problem with lead but there

are also “scientific problems” with bismuth, tungstenand steel.. Once lead is gone, will each of these alter-natives also take their turn on the chopping block?

In the eyes of our detractors the only “acceptable”alternative to lead shot will ultimately be the absenceof shot altogether.

Do we really want to go there?

Visit Dan’s websites at www.MasterHunters.comand http://OnStand.net/ and feel free to contactDan via email at [email protected].

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LEAD OUT… Cont’d. from previous pg.


February 6, 2008REGION I

A District 5 Officer arrested aMilan man for the possession of apipe bomb on the Hennepin Canal inRock Island County on 9/22/2007.The subject pled guilty to a Class 3Felony UUW on 12/12/2007. He wassentenced to 134 days in jail,$1020.00 fine and 12 months condi-tional discharge.

A District 5 Officer was working acomplaint of road hunters in Bureauwhen he observed a subject in a fieldnear the complaint. When the subjectobserved the officer, he began towalk away. The officer tracked himin the snow, which led to a duck blindwhere a second subject was standingwith a shotgun. After a field inter-view, the officer learned that the sub-ject with a shotgun was squirrel hunt-ing (no Hunting License in posses-sion) and the subject that walkedaway was just along for the walk.The officer informed the two to meethim at his squad along the road. Inthe meantime, the officer back-tracked the first subject in the snow,where he discovered a rifle leaningagainst a tree. The officer learnedthat the first subject that initiallywalked away from him hid the gunthere, as he is a convicted felon alsowanted on a LaSalle County Warrant.The appropriate arrests and citationswere issued.

District 7 Officers investigated a

snowmobile accident where a subjectfailed to yield at a highway intersec-tion. The snowmobiler failed to stopat a highway intersection. As heapproached, he observed a truckcoming toward his location, lockedup his brakes, and as he hit the drypavement his sled rolled once andcame to rest on the roadway. He suf-fered a mild concussion and chippedheal. Citations were issued.

REGION IIA District Sergeant arrested an

individual for DUI at the Chain O’Lakes State Park. The subject was toointoxicated to perform field sobrietytests, but submitted to a breathalyzerrevealing a .231% BAC.

CPOs investigated a fatal snowmo-bile accident on Nippersink Lake at3:00 a.m. on Saturday. The operatorattempted to cross open water and asa result submerged his snowmobileand drown. The snowmobile has notbeen recovered at this time, and theresults of the autopsy are not com-plete.

CPOs responded to a fatal snow-mobile accident in Kane County at1:30 a.m on Sunday. It appears theoperator was traveling 80-100mphwhen he crashed his snowmobile.Debris from the accident was spreadout over 370 feet. The operator sus-tained serious head trauma and wastransported to St. Anthony Hospitalin Rockford where he later died. ACPO is handling the investigation.


hunter that was pursuing coyoteswith a snowmobile.

REGION IVA CPO and District Sergeant had

an unlawful deer hunting case on theHorseshoe Lake State Hunting Area.Three defendants were caught ille-gally hunting in there after sunset. Itwent to court in Madison County andall three individuals were fined$500.00 and costs, and also forfeitedall their bows, arrows, blinds, andpermits to the IDNR.

A CPO investigated a personal in-jury snowmobile accident in Wash-ington County. The man broke an an-kle when he flipped his sled goingthrough a ditch. He was cited for op-erating an unregistered snowmobile.

A CPO arrested two individuals foroff-roading in their jeep on TurkeyBluffs state site. They were alsocharged with Illegal transportation ofopen alcohol.

A CPO arrested two indi-viduals for operating ATV’soff road on the KaskaskiaFish & Wildlife Area in Ran-dolph County.

District #9 is conductinginvestigations into severaloutfitters checking for viola-tions this past season.

REGION VA CPO responded to Lake

Murphysboro during a recentthunderstorm. All operationswere restored back to nor-mal.

A CPO responded to a coy-ote hunter complaint inUnion County and caught asubject with an uncased gun.

CPOs also responded tocoyote complaints in District15 resulting in uncasedfirearms violations.

INVESTIGATIONSA Franklin County subject

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the illegal take of a wild turkey with-out a valid turkey permit after a com-plaint was forwarded via the Internet.The subject admitted to not having avalid permit, illegal transportation ofan untagged turkey, and failure tocheck in the turkey. Charges werefiled with the Franklin County StatesAttorney. The would-be defendanthad posted his “prize” on the Internet,not realizing that a concerned citizenmight see it.

On 02-04-08, a subject appeared infederal court in Springfield, Illinois,on a misdemeanor Lacey Act viola-tion for unlawful transportation of anillegally taken whitetail buck deeracross state lines. During the appear-ance, the subject pled guilty to un-lawful taking a whitetail deer in Illi-nois on October 01, 2004, on HadleyCreek Outfitter property, and then

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Acting on a tip from an informant,CPOs set up plain clothes surveil-lance on a strip pit in Grundy Countywhere a snowmobile had reportedlywent through the ice and the operatorintended to return to get it out withoutreporting the incident. The operatorand several friends arrived and beganattempting to remove the snowmobilefrom the lake. The CPO’s assisted inthe removal of the sled without re-vealing their identity, and the opera-tor admitted to the unlawful operationof the sled without permission and hisintent to not report the accident. Mul-tiple charges were filed in the case.

CPOs and the Acting Captain pro-vided flood related patrols in theWilmington area, including De-splaines Conservation Area. Thebackwaters of the river system hadcompletely flooded the park due tolarge ice jams on the Kankakee River,and the main access roads throughand around the park were closed dueto flooding and freezing flood waters.ISP and Will County Sheriffs Deptstaff were also on scene to assist ashundreds of people were deliberatelydriving around IDOT barricades at-tempting to go through the flooded

roadways, resulting in multiple callsfor emergency assistance after theircars became stuck in the water. Be-tween all 3 agencies, over one hun-dred citations were issued for deliber-ately going around the barricades andentering a closed roadway

CPOs conducted snowmobile en-forcement details on the I&M canalresulting in a multitude of snowmo-bile violations.

REGION IIIA CPO cited two Iroquois County

coyote hunters near Watseka for pos-session of uncased guns in their vehi-cles.

A CPO cited a Hammond man whofailed to tag and report the harvest ofan archery-killed deer.

A District Sergeant issued twosnowmobile violation citations andmultiple written warnings to a groupof eight snowmobile operators inAshmore.

A Gays man, arrested for severalhunting violations during the firearmdeer season, plead guilty in MoultrieCounty court to illegal possession ofa rifle in the field. He was fined a to-tal of $585.

CPOs cited a McLean County

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fled and located the snowmobileparked in someone’s yard. The CPOfollowed the footprints behind abuilding where he found the operatorhiding. The CPO arrested the opera-tor for Resisting a Peace Officer,OUI-Snowmobile, OUI over .08, Op-erating a Snowmobile Upon theRoadway, and Reckless Operation ofa Snowmobile. The individual usedto own and now is the service man-ager of a snowmobile / ATV / motor-cycle dealership in Waukegan. Thesnowmobile was towed from the areaand the subject was transported to theLake County Jail.

CPOs responded to a snowmobileaccident near Hebron in McHenryCounty. The snowmobile operatorhad left a local bar and struck twotrees after veering off the snowmo-bile trail. The operator was transport-ed to Centegra Memorial Hospital inWoodstock with a ruptured spleen.The operator’s driving privileges arecurrently suspended, and the CPO isworking with the McHenry CountyState’s Attorney Office to subpoenathe medical records to obtain the sub-ject’s BAC at the time of the acci-dent. A snowmobile operator submergedhis snowmobile in the open water ofthe Fox River underneath the Route173 bridge. A CPO observed the op-erator walking up the embankmenttowards the roadway. The operatorstated he had been in the water for20-30 minutes before being able toget himself out. EMS arrived and

A District 6 Officer was called tothe Starved Rock Lodge, complaintof smell of burning cannabis comingfrom a guest’s room. An investigationled to the arrest of two subjects forthe possession of cannabis and drugparaphernalia.

While conducting a timber truckinspection, a District 7 Officerlearned that the driver was wanted ona warrant for a Failure to Appear.There were no Conservation viola-tions noted during the stop. The sub-ject was taken into custody and trans-ported to the Marshall County Jail.

A District 7 Officer responded to acomplaint of subjects fishing withoutpermission on a private lake. Uponinvestigation, he discovered two sub-jects fishing without permission andone of the subjects did not have afishing license.

A District 7 Officer conducted twotaxidermy inspections in McDo-nough County. No violations weredetected.

Two District 6 Officers respondedto the NIU Shootings last night to as-sist local agencies with the incident.

REGION II CPOs attempted to stop two snow-

mobilers near the Chain O’ Lakes forunlawfully operating upon the road-way. One of the operators stopped,but the other recklessly fled thescene. One CPO followed thesnowmobile tracks in the snow to astreet adjacent to where the subject

transported the subject to the hospitalwhere he was treated for hypother-mia. The CPO accompanied the sub-ject to the hospital and issued him ci-tations for careless operation of asnowmobile and pollution of the wa-terway.

REGION IIIRegion 3 officers are conducting

numerous random commercial in-spections.

A Herrin man, arrested for posses-sion of cannabis and alcohol as a mi-nor at Weldon Springs State Park, en-tered a plea agreement in DewittCounty court and was fined $916.

A Clinton woman, arrested for de-ceptive practices at Weldon SpringsState Park, entered a plea agreementin Dewitt County court. She wasfined $2607 and sentenced to 30 daysin jail.

Two northern Illinois youths, ar-rested for possession of alcohol byminors at Clinton Lake’s Mascoutincampground, plead guilty in DewittCounty court and were fined $638each. The man that provided the alco-hol was charged with gift of alcoholto minors. He plead guilty also andwas fined $1122.

Two Champaign County youths, ar-rested for possession of alcohol byminors at Clinton Lake’s Mascoutincampground, plead guilty in DewittCounty court and were fined $638each.

A Towanda youth, arrested for pos-session of alcohol by a minor at Clin-ton Lake’s Mascoutin campground,

transporting the untagged deer to Put-nam County Tennessee where he reg-istered the deer as being killed in Ten-nessee. The subject further admittedduring the plea that he also killed twoother buck whitetail deer illegally inIllinois and transported the deeracross state lines to Tennessee. (Allthree of the whitetail buck shouldermounts had previously been seizedduring the execution of a search war-rant in Tennessee and were in posses-sion of USFW.) In a plea agreement,the subject was fined $7500.00, or-dered to pay $50.00 on assessmentfees, and ordered to forfeit all three ofthe deer mounts.

February 13, 2008REGION IA District 5 Officer working Mer-

cer County during a night patrol, ob-served an unoccupied van along apublic roadway. Investigation re-vealed open beer in plain view. Aftermaking contact with the subjects in anearby field area, a loaded uncased ri-fle was discovered in the vehicle. Theappropriate citation and warningswere issued.

A District 1 Officer while workinghis normal patrol, overheard thecounty being called to a domestic vi-olence call, involving a knife. TheDistrict 1 Officer was closer than thedeputies. He responded to the sceneand secured it, taking one subject in-to custody. The county handled theremainder of the investigation.

POLICE… Cont’d. from previous pg.

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an investigation of the possession offreshly killed species out of season.The investigation is in the early stage,requiring the commitment of timeand resources.

There were two personal injurysnowmobile crashes investigated byRegion I officers this past week.

REGION IIA CPO was notified of a “shots

fired” complaint in Kane County bythe sheriff’s department. He respond-ed to the area and located a coyotehunter with an uncased loaded rifle inhis vehicle and cited him appropriate-ly.

REGION IIIA CPO conducted a post-archery

deer season investigation. It was dis-covered that a Westville man hadkilled multiple deer, but only reportedthe harvest of two. The hunter wascited for failure to tag and failure toreport the harvest of archery-killeddeer.

A CPO assisted an Indiana DNRofficer with a deer hunting investiga-tion. A Champaign man killed a deerin Indiana, bought a permit afterward,and then brought the deer to Illinois.Charges are pending.

Region officers continue to com-plete random commercial inspec-tions.

Nine Effingham County youths,cited for underage possession/con-sumption of alcohol last Columbus

Day weekend at Wolf Creek StatePark campground, pleaded guilty inShelby County court. They werefined a combined total of over $3300.Some were ordered to perform acombined total of 60 hours of com-munity service.

REGION IVA District Sergeant arrested a Cal-

houn County man for outfitting with-out a license.

CPOs arrested a man for shootingand selling a river otter in GreeneCounty. It was from a TIPS com-plaint.

REGION VCPOs assisted local authorities in

recovering a drowned subject in theback waters of the “Little Saline”Creek near Shawneetown in GallatinCounty. One CPO was able to use hissonar to locate the subject. A localdive team was able to recover thebody.

A North Carolina subject that wasarrested during deer season; pleaded“guilty” to three counts of makingfood available to deer and was fined$1,000.00 on each count in PopeCounty.

DOIAn Investigator and a District #9

CPO interviewed a subject in regardsto a 2007 TIPs complaint that hadbeen received. As a result of the in-terview, a Schuyler County subject

plead guilty in Dewitt County court.He was fined $638 and ordered tocomplete 30 hours of communityservice.

A Joliet man, arrested for OUI atClinton Lake’s Mascoutin camp-ground, plead guilty in Dewitt Coun-ty court and was fined $2874.

REGION IVA CPO was called out by the Ran-

dolph County Sheriff’s Dept. on Feb.8 in reference to a vehicle they hadstopped. They found blood and deerhair in the bed of the truck. After in-terviewing the suspects, the CPO wasable to get them to confess to poach-ing deer. Three people were arrestedand the investigation continues on 2other suspects in the case.

A CPO has had meetings with theRandolph and Perry County States at-torney’s in reference to two separateDeer Poaching cases, several arrestsare pending.

A CPO stopped a person at Horse-shoe Lake State Park. The driver wassuspended and wanted on a trafficwarrant out of Hartford PD and a dis-orderly conduct warrant out of WoodRiver PD. Subject was arrested andtaken to the Madison County Jail.

A CPO arrested a coyote hunter byNew Douglas for hunting from road-way and loaded gun in a vehicle.

A CPO and an Investigator con-cluded an investigation of a MadisonCounty man for hunting doves overbait. The case has been referred to theFish & Wildlife. The man was also is-sued three citations for fraudulent useof permits.

District #13 attended the St. LouisBoat Show at the Rams Dome in St.Louis. Several thousand people at-tend the show yearly. They manned abooth and answered several boatingand fishing questions.

A CPO made two warrant arrestson a man at one of the state areas.

CPOs are still receiving deer

poaching complaints.REGION VA subject arrested during the sec-

ond firearm deer season for transport-ing a loaded firearm in Pope County;will be charged by the Pope CountyState’s Attorney for “possession offirearm by a felon” after it was dis-covered he was a felon in North Car-olina.

CPOs investigated two timber buy-ers; which resulted in 4% violations.

A CPO investigated several snowgoose complaints. Charges are pend-ing.

The following are officer’s dispo-sitions:

An inmate escaped from the DixonSprings Boot Camp in May of 2007,stole an IDNR employee’s vehicle,was sentenced to 5 years in DOC forescape, and 2 years in DOC for dam-age to state property.

A North Carolina hunter pleadguilty in Pope County and was fined$837.00 for accessory to huntingover bait and $438.00 for makingfood available for deer. In Johnson County two deer huntersfrom Alabama plead guilty to unlaw-fully dumping deer carcasses in acreek. One subject was fined$500.00; and the other was fined$300.00. The second subject was alsofined $300.00 for deer hunting w/o apermit.

A Missouri subject that was arrest-ed on two counts of providing falseinformation on deer and turkey per-mit applications plead guilty and wasfined $1,000.00 and $500.00 to theJake Wolf fund for restitution.

February 20, 2008REGION IDistrict 1 and 6 Officers are work-

ing a number of shifts, assisting theDivision of Wildlife with CWDsharpshooting in the endemic areas ofRegion I.

District 1 Officers are working on

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admitted to unlawfully killing twowhitetail bucks during the 2006 muzzleloader deer season while only possess-ing one either sex permit. The subjectadvised that the hunts were filmed aspart of a business that previously airedTV shows. The subject was cited andhas a mandatory court appearance inSchuyler County Court.

February 27, 2008REGION IA District Sergeant and Region Cap-

tain participated in a Threat Based Drillat the Byron Nuclear Plant on2/27/2008. The CPOs were tasked withissues at Byron, as well as other tasks re-lated to such an incident.

Training continues to occupy much ofour time, satisfying our mandatory train-ing requirements before spring arrives.

Region I officers continue to assistWildlife with CWD sharpshooting.

REGION IIOn 2/23/2008 two snowmobiles went

through the ice on Fox Lake. Upon con-tact with the operators, it was ascer-tained that one subject was OperatingUnder the Influence of alcohol. The sub-ject submitted a breath sample showinga BAC of .133. An accident report wascompleted and the subject was arrestedfor OUI.

REGION IIIA CPO arrested a Marshall man for

driving while license is suspended. The

CPO recognized the man as he drove in-to the Clark County jail parking lot.

A CPO and a Clark County deputy re-sponded to an incident in which a dogfell through the ice of a frozen pond. Thedog’s owner tried to rescue it. The dogdid not survive, but the owner was as-sisted safely from the ice.

A CPO is investigating a theft/crimi-nal damage of state property incident inwhich gates and signs at Eagle CreekState Park were targeted.

A Lake County man has been chargedin Coles County with taking deer with a30-30 rifle and falsely reporting the har-vest as with a muzzleloading rifle. Therifle was surrendered/ seized.

Officers manned a display with the ed-ucation trailer at the annual Deer andTurkey Classic in Bloomington. It wasestimated that nearly 30,000 people at-tended the show.

All defendants in a Shelby County“shining” case have plead guilty. Eachwas fined $500 plus costs. Six firearmswere awarded to the Department.

Two Livingston County youths, citedfor underage consumption of alcohol atMascoutin State Recreation Area, plead-ed guilty in Dewitt County court. Theywere each fined $638 and ordered toperform 30 hours of community service.

Three Champaign County youths, cit-ed for underage consumption of alcoholat Mascoutin State Recreation Area,

pleaded guilty in Dewitt County court.They were each fined $638. The womancharged with providing the alcohol, alsopleaded guilty. She was fined $1159 andordered to perform 50 hours of commu-nity service.

REGION IVCPOs arrested a subject on a Tips

complaint in Pecy, Randolph Co. Theman had a deer carcass hanging in hisgarage since the last gun deer season.Come to find out it was shot by a man inJefferson Co., by a friend of this man.The person did not have a deer permit sohe asked this subject to help him processthe deer. They started on it in Dec. 2007but never finished. The man was arrest-ed for taking a deer without a valid per-mit. They were ordered to dispose of thedeer by burying it.

After completing the above caseCPOs received a call from the RandolphCo Sheriff’s Dept. in reference to spot-lighting in progress in Northern Ran-dolph Co. The CPO was going off dutyso he contacted another CPO who wason his way home. The CPO respondedto the area and located the suspect vehi-cle spotlighting the fields and timberfrom a roadway. The vehicle wasstopped, and was occupied by three sub-jects. A loaded rifle, spotlight stillplugged in, and a freshly-killed doe wasseized from the truck. Through inter-views they admitted to spotlighting andkilling the deer in St. Clair Co. and werein Randolph Co trying to spotlight andkill another deer on the way home. Theywere arrested and charged in both coun-ties, the truck was also seized and a for-feiture order has been put on it, 12 cita-tions were issued.

A CPO responded to a call from theClinton Co Sheriffs Dept. in reference to

hunting snow geese without permission.A father and son were hunting awoman’s farm field for snow geese. The72 yr. old woman blocked the subjects inso they could not leave and refused to letthem out until the Game Warden gotthere. CPOs contacted her by phone andtold her just to get the license plate andtheir physical description and let themgo for her safety. She stated no, and heldthem there until the CPO arrived. Theywere arrested for hunting w/o permis-sion, lead, and license violations.

During the snow and ice storm, Dis-trict #13 officers assisted the IllinoisState Police and local agencies with traf-fic crashes and motorist assists duringthe storms.

ACPO arrested a subject for falsifyinghis SSN. The hunter owed $33,000.00 inback child support in Adams Co. He wascharged with falsifying license informa-tion in Adams Co. and possession of afraudulent permit in Brown County.

A CPO investigated a hunting acci-dent in Macoupin Co. A 45 yr. old malewas hunting with three other subjects ona shooting preserve. A pheasant wasflushed and he was unintentionally shotin the face and hand from a distance of25’away by one of the other hunters. Hewas taken to Memorial Hospital inSpringfield.

REGION VA CPO is working on a complaint in-

volving killing deer during closed sea-son. The CPO interviewed the subjectlast week and is awaiting the State’s At-torney’s decision as to what to charge.Possible charges are: possession offirearm by felon; unlawful discharge offirearm; possession of firearm and am-munition w/o valid FOID; and takingdeer during closed season.

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come from poisonous mushrooms.Most deaths come from eating mush-

rooms that contain amatoxins. Theseamatoxins are heat stable so cookingdoes not inactivate. Drying sometimescan increase the potency of the amatox-in. In our area Amanita have reddish-orange caps with whitish warts that arefound mostly under pine trees. Usual-ly 6-12 hours aftereating this mush-room people begin tohave abdominalcramps and vomitingwith profuse waterydiarrhea. The fluidloss from diarrheamay be severeenough to cause cir-culatory collapse anddeath. It appears thatthe patient is improving after this initialphase but the liver is failing from thetoxin, and death usually occurs 3-7 dayslater. 95% of all deaths due to mush-rooms are from this type of amatoxin.

Gyromitra toxin is found in “FalseMorels.” This is a reddish brown mush-room that most closely resembles amorel. There are nogills and the cap isconvoluted with theappearance of abrain. These are usu-ally found on theground near rottingwood. The toxinusually causes stom-ach upset, vomiting,liver and kidney fail-ure. Seizures can oc-cur leading to coma. Cooking signifi-cantly weakens the toxin.

Morel mushrooms are different thanany other type of mushroom. It isthought that the morel has evolved rela-tively recently (20-80 thousand yearsago). It has more characteristics of ayeast than other mushrooms, and isthought to have evolved from a yeastthat fed on tree sap. Morels reproducefrom spores. These spores are propelledthrough the mushroom tissue as themorel dries and contracts. The morelspores need about 5 days to mature.The sponge like appearance of themorel ensures some area on the cap will

THETHE FUNGUSFUNGUSAMONGAMONG USUSby Dru Hauterby Dru Hauter, MD, MD

remain moist long enough for the sporesto mature. Morels are still in evolution.The wide variation of shape is influ-enced by local growing conditions be-cause the organism remains unstable.Perhaps this is why there is great diffi-culty growing morels commercially.Morels are also the only mushroom orplant to not recognize gravity. Whatev-

er direction they startgrowing, they con-tinue growing with-out bending due togravity. Other plantswill recognize gravi-ty and grow vertical-ly.

Know your mush-rooms and eat onlyknown edible mush-rooms

Do not eat mushrooms rawEat only mushrooms in good condi-

tionEat only one type of a mushroom at a

timeDo not eat large amounts in one sit-

tingEDIBLE EDIBLE VS. POISONOUSVS. POISONOUS

Poisonous mush-rooms will tarnish aspoon. (False)

If it peels you caneat it. (False)

All mushroomsgrowing on wood areedible. (False)

Mushrooms thatsquirrels and otheranimals eat are safefor humans. (False)

All white mushrooms are safe to eat.(False)

Poisonous mushrooms can be de-tox-ified by parboiling, drying or pickling.(False)

Good Hunting!

Dru Hauter, MD is an avid sports-man practicing Occupational Medi-cine for Illinois Work Injury Re-source Center (IWIRC) in Peoria,Illinois. His family manages SunnySlope Hunt Club in Logan and Ful-ton County Illinois. Dr. Hauter canbe reached at [email protected]

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I am ready for a mushroom poppingsunny spring day! The ground hog toldme Spring is just around the corner. Iam pretty superstitious for an InternalMedicine physician, and I consider myritualistic meal of fresh crappie andmorels an omen of good luck for the restof the year. Although I have never got-ten sick from mush-rooms, I do takesome precautions toidentify the mush-rooms to be surethey are edible.

There are over2000 types of wildmushrooms in theMidwest. Some are poisonous andsome are edible and so delicious theymay make a true mushroom hunter takehis favorite spots go to the grave withhim. These true mushroom lovers liveby the notion that…”there are oldmushroom hunters and there are boldmushroom hunters, but there are no old,bold mushroom hunters.” A good

mushroom hunter will know the safemushrooms to eat. There is NO test orcharacteristic to distinguish edible frompoisonous mushrooms! You must beable to identify your mushrooms beforeeating.

People become sick after eatingmushrooms for several reasons. Eating

too many mush-rooms can causenausea and vomitingdue to the rich quali-ty of the mushrooms.In some peoplemushrooms cancause an “antibuse”reaction when con-

sumed with alcohol. (Antibuse is amedication intended to make you nau-seated and vomit when alcohol is con-sumed. This is used to help people stopdrinking alcohol.)Some people have allergic reactions tomushroom antigens than can cause nau-sea, swelling, and rarely breathing trou-bles. The most dangerous problems

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The “BaylisBuck” Story

By Steve WashkoI first saw him, October 1st,

2007, the first day of archery sea-son in Illinois. I don’t do muchpre-scouting before the opening ofthe season. I don’t like to disturbthe deer before I have to. I rely onmy hunts from the previous year todetermine where I will hunt at thestart of the season and do my scout-ing and homework while I hunt.Moving and setting new stands as Isee deer movement and patterns.Deer movements change as theirfood sources do.

It was the first day of bow seasonin Illinois. That evening I huntedmy Baylis Farm. I chose a standthat overlooks a food plot whichhad a lot of deer activity last year.This is a long narrow field about300 x 60 yards. The corn didn’tcome up very well this summer be-cause I unknowly used seed thatwas two years old. The weeds hadtaken over, so in September Imowed them. Nevertheless, therewas something growing in the fieldthat the deer really liked. I hadseen a total of 16 does and fawnduring the two and a half hours Iwas in my stand that evening. Justbefore sunset he appeared, TheBaylis Buck, with some of thedoes, about 150 yards to the east ofme. I glassed him and knew Iwanted him. As the sun set, hemoved off with the does.

The next two days were stormyand rainy so I hunted The NewSalem Farm that had better accessin poor weather. I saw severaldoes, fawns and a shooter buck.

On Thursday, October 4th, I re-turned to The Baylis Farm to thesame area I had seen “The BaylisBuck” I was doing more scoutingthan hunting that evening, as Iwanted to see where he was enter-ing the field from. I set up on acampstool in front of a small firtree. A doe and two fawns cameout of the timber from the west andworked their way toward me. As Iwas snapping pictures with my dig-ital camera, the two fawns camewithin five yards of me. They weretrying to figure out what I was.

As darkness was setting in, TheBaylis Buck came out of the timberat the opposite end of the field thatI had seen him in the first day. Hewas in front of the stand, which Ihad hunted the first day of the sea-son. He fed briefly and then wentback into the timber from where hehad entered.

Five days later, October 9th, Iwent to The Baylis Farm and set upa tree stand about half way be-tween the two places I had huntedthe previous week in hopes I couldget closer to him. I hunted thisstand that evening but nothingshowed up.

The next evening I hunted itagain. I saw several does and fawnearly in the hunt. Then at sunset a 3point buck came out of the timberacross from me followed by TheBaylis Buck. He went to the West,working the scrapes and feedingalong the way. He then went intothe timber where he had come outof the night before.

The next week I hunted the samearea but didn’t see anything I want-ed to shoot. I was spoiled afterseeing The Baylis Buck. I wantedhim. I passed on several does,fawns, and 125 to 135 class bucks.

My tenant farmer picked the 20-acre cornfield to the east of where I

had been hunting. His combine isan older one and leaves a lot ofcorn lying in the field. The deerlove him.

It was November 8th, 2006 to beexact and about 7:00 a.m., when asmall buck chased a doe across thecornfield about 100 yards to myright. I like to hunt over a doe de-coy this time of the season; it at-tracts both does and bucks. I havelured in many deer with decoys. Afew minutes later a big-rack buckfollowed. As he crossed the field, Igrunted. He stopped, looked myway. When he saw my decoy hecame to it and I harvested a verynice 14-point - 155 class, 225pound buck.

By the end of October 2007, thebucks were starting to chase the

does. Over the next two weeks Ihunted several different stands atboth farms. One night I saw 25does in the cornfield and on sever-al occasions I saw bucks in the100-130 range. I kind of gave upon the stand I had originally seenThe Baylis Buck due to the lack ofactivity. I spent my time huntingthe edges of the picked cornfieldwhere I have three stands set up.

One night I saw The Baylis Buckacross the field about 150 yardsaway. The next day I set a stand inthat area and saw several does andfawns. I was getting ready to pullup and leave when I saw a deercoming toward me. It was not lightenough to see what kind of rack hehad so I glassed him. It was him.

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He came right under my stand. Itwas too late and dark to shoot so Ijust watched as he went by.

The next night I hunted the standwhere they were feeding the nightbefore. I had my decoy set up.Early on a doe and fawn came up toit. Later another doe and fawncame, followed by the 3 pointerand The Baylis Buck. But the doegot interested in something downthe cornfield and The Baylis Buckfollowed her.

I was seeing him every night, buthe was always across the field fromme. I won’t hunt a stand if thewind isn’t right for that stand. Hemust have known this because hewas always at the right place everynight and I wasn’t. I probably sawhim about 10-12 times during themonth along with several shooterbucks in the 125-145-class range.

On November 16th shotgun sea-son opened. That morning the windwas out of the South, making it dif-

ficult to hunt the cornfield. But Iwas determined. I chose a standnear the north end of it so I had theentire south end to hunt over with-out be scented. Right at day breaka doe and fawn came from thesouth right under my stand. It wastoo dark to get her in my scopeeven though it was legal shootingtime. It was overcast and remaineddark even after the start of shootingtime.

About 15 minutes later the 3pointer came down the field fromsouth and went by me. Then, at7:00 A.M., out of nowhere, fromthe south, came The Baylis Buckdown the center of the cornfield,about 60 yards out. He got in frontof me, turned and came toward me.I tried to sight on him in my scope,but he was moving too fast. Frommy scope it looked like he was inmy stand with me.

He got within 10 yards of me andturned sideways and stopped, as ifhe was saying, “Steve, here I am,take me.” I shot and he ran acrossthe cornfield and down into the tallgrass along the timber. I couldn’ttell if he went into the timber orwas still in the tall grass. The next1-1/2 hours was like 1 1/2 days, butI stuck it out. I don’t like to leavemy stand to track a deer for at least1-2 hours after I shoot it. The next1-1/2 hours I didn’t see anything.The sun came out and it was a niceday, so I said a few prayers that hewas lying in the weeds waiting for

me. At 8:30, I picked up and start-ed the long 150-yard trip to where Ihad last seen him. I got 50 yardsfrom there and I could see hisantler standing up. I knew he wasnice. He was a nice 155 class, 9pointer, and field dressed at 195pounds.

Over the years, I have learnedthat if you shoot the first buck yousee then you won’t have a chanceto get the Big One. Letting thesesmaller bucks go by only makes fora better hunt the next year. It onlytakes a few years of this type ofdeer management to produce somevery nice bucks.

I don’t shoot does during thearchery season because I usuallyget my share during the ten days ofshot gun and three day muzzle-loader seasons. We have a group,including three of my sons, whohave been hunting together for atleast 25 years. We get together afterthe gun season and share the dutiesof butchering them.

I own and operate Deer RidgeAcres in Pike County in west cen-tral Illinois. I offer a budget self-guided bow hunts. You hunt whenyou want and wherever you wanton my two farms, “The BaylisFarm” and “The New Salem Farm.”Check out my web site atwww.DeerRidgeAcres.com or callme toll free at 1-866-403-2771.Deer Ridge Acres is located in PikeCounty in west central Illinois.Home of the Big Bucks.

BUCK… Cont’d. from previous pg.

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Anglerscan haves u c c e s swhen theyvisit a

body of water for the first time,provided they take a systematic ap-proach that takes into considera-tion the factors that affect fish be-havior, according to Bobby Myers,a 2008 Bassmaster Elite SeriesRookie.

Myers, of Tulsa, Okla., presenteda seminar on Fishing UnknownWaters during the Greater OzarkRegion Outdoor AdventuresSportshow at West Plains, Mo., re-cently. He said the first step is get-ting a good map.

“It needs to at least show themain river channel, the way it runs,where it goes, and also the contourlines that come off and show youwhere the creeks actually come offthe main river channel.”

Myers said he uses red Crayolapencils to mark the main riverchannel.

“The main river channel is themain vein of any lake. That willtell you a lot about a fishery. It will

little eddies, where they werebuilding dams where the warmerwater was to get out of the weatherand the wind. I know the fish arenow in transition back to the maincreeks or to the main river. I’m go-ing to start fishing what I call mainin-creek points. Some people callthem secondary points.”

The fish will stay on the pointsand gorge themselves to rebuildtheir energy after the spawn, Myerssaid.

“They hardly feed, at all, duringthe spawn. All they worry about isspawning and watching the fry.They usually spend about a weekand a half to two weeks with thosefry. When they leave the fry, theymove out to the creek points, be-cause the water is warming up.Bass really like water to be 68. Six-ty-five to 70 is their favorite watertemperature.”

(In Part 2, Myers offers tips forfishing unknown waters in sum-mer and winter. For more infor-mation, visit www.bobbymyers-fishing.com)

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tell you a lot about which creeksare good and which are not good,because some aren’t naturallycreeks that flow in. It might just bea flat or trough where the bottomflattens out. Some are actualcreeks, where the water is comingright down the middle of it. Youcan always tell by looking at a mapwhich ones are actually creeks thatwere there before the lake was im-pounded. They show up as open-ings in the river channel.”

Real creeks offer fish a good for-age base and a lot of cover, Myerssaid.

“All game fish use creeks ashighways. They travel them, de-pending on the time of year it is.This time of year (mid-February),they’re going to be out in thesteeper stuff along the steeperbanks, where they can transitioninto shallow water and suspend.They either suspend up or down,depending on what the day is like.”

As weather and water warm up inthe spring, fish transition back toshallower water, Myers said.

“It’s just a natural cycle. Theywant to go spawn, especially the

males. They want to build a nestand get a mate, so they’ll be thefirst ones to move up. Anytime youget back in the pockets right beforethe spawn and you’re catching a lotof two-pounders, all the big fe-males are right in the middle of thepocket or out on the points. Theycould be on a brushpile or on arock no bigger than my head.There could be five fish on onerock.”

Myers said he’ll use a footballjig or Carolina rig to find the cov-er.

“Then, if you throw a Carolinarig and you don’t get a bite, throwa jig back on that cover and let itset there. Just barely move it.They’re wanting to feed, butthey’re not, because they’re think-ing more about spawning — butyou can catch them.”

Myers used Bull Shoals as an ex-ample of a lake he’s never fished.

“Let’s say I’m going bass fishingon Bull Shoals in May. I know 95percent of the bass have alreadyspawned. I know they moved backin the backs of the creeks or off the

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The Much The Much MalignedMalignedPointerPointer

Pt. IIPt. II

By Gerry MacKenzie

In Part One of this writing, Idealt with the misconceptions thatprevail about the Pointer, stress-ing that they exist in large partdue to the dissemination of erro-neous opinions from the ignorantand uninformed. I concluded thewriting by offering to make sug-gestions to those who own or areconsidering owning pointersand/or pointing dogs in generalthat will help to better understandand thus initiate a developmentprocess necessary to mold theminto the ideal hunting companionsthey are so capable of being.

Before beginning such an en-deavor, it would be well to have aclear-cut understanding of just ex-actly what these fine hunting dogshave been bred to be and not to befor centuries, for as the old adagesuggests, it is folly to try to makea saddle horse out of a plowhorse, and vice versa. First I shalldeal with what the pointer wasNOT bred to be. He was not bredto be a pottering, shoe-shining,quartering, robotic performer thatrelied on his master’s beckoningto establish his searching pattern.

He was not bred to be a pointingdog that relied on constant cau-tioning and cajolery to correctlygo to and point his game staunch-ly. Finally, he was not bred to bea youngster who six months afterexiting the womb could be ex-pected to perform like a veteran.

Next, let us determine what thepointer WAS bred to be. Simplyput, he was bred to be a bird dogthat performs best when allowedto “run the country” as it presentsitself to him. He is most effectivewhen he can use his instincts, in-telligence and experience to selectbirdy objectives in search ofgame, and use these same quali-ties to go to his birds boldly andconfidently and point themstaunchly without a lot of unnec-essary coaching from his handler.Since his ancestors of the caninespecies survived by hunting in apack, and by being subservient tothe leader of that pack, his verybasic instinct is, since he consid-ers his master to be the “pack”leader, to perform these tasks inconcert with his master almost re-flexively. The secret to havingsuccess with him, then, is contin-gent on developing and nurturingthis instinct and accompanyingnatural qualities at a very earlyage, before he becomes independ-ent enough to take liberties thatcan be counterproductive later inlife.

How does one go about devel-oping these attributes? First andforemost, if one is able to, devel-op a loving bond with the dogwhile it is still a little puppy. In-

still in the pup the notion that youare its best friend in the world,and its major sharer of life’spleasures. Such a relationshipwill encourage the pup to enjoysharing outings with you, and willestablish your position as “leaderof the pack”, even though the“pack” consists of only you andthe pup. Once that relationshiphas been established, you canbuild on it by creating an atmos-phere wherein being in proximitywith you allows the pup to enjoywhat it would consider the “fun”things in life. From its perspec-tive, the most enjoyable activitiesto be involved in concern huntingfor, finding, chasing, and later,pointing birds. Once the pup real-izes these activities are pursuedmost effectively by cooperatingwith and aiding you in this quest,you’ve got the developmentprocess heading in the right direc-tion.

Once the pup is about threemonths of age, and has becomeyour best buddy, you can begin itsdevelopment by walking with it inthe field. Try to use terrain thatwould be good bird hunting coun-try. Set a brisk pace, and changedirection often, saying as little aspossible to the youngster. Sincethe pup has grown to love you,and is not yet big and bold enoughto venture too far from you, it willlearn to pay attention to whereyou are going and will want tokeep you in sight. If the pup dal-lies about or is briefly out of yoursight, don’t wait on it or go look-ing for it, but rather encourage itto keep track of you. You mightoccasionally give it a genericvoice call - not a command - just abrief beam of sound to orient to.When the pup learns to look youup and rejoin you, waving apheasant wing on a string and

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pole, or even flipping some pi-geons into the air when you arecertain you have its attention willlet the pup know that you arewhere the action is. This willserve as an even greater source ofencouragement for it to want toadjust its course to your where-abouts. I initially encouraged youto set a brisk pace as you travelthrough the fields. This is of ut-most importance in developing aforward hunting pattern. Theyoungster will soon learn that it ismuch more fun to stay in contactwith you, and stay ahead of you,rather than lollygag around andget behind. They learn quicklythat hurrying to catch up is notnearly as much fun as being“where the action is”.

Continuation of the above de-scribed workouts, with positivereinforcement for a job well donewill result in the desired behaviorbecoming a habit for your pup,and proper bird dog developmentis nothing more than creating pos-itive habits. The pup will delightin going afield with you and learn-ing to hunt its country in the spir-it of teamwork. This will becomean even more joyous occasionwhen you exert your experience asa bird hunter and select a coursethat helps the youngster come incontact with gamebirds. You canrely on finding wild game, orstrategically place pen raisedbirds in likely places. Be carefulnot to direct every step the puptakes to guide it to the birds, butrather try to maneuver it into thegeneral area that they are in andallow it to use its instincts and in-telligence to find them.

A few precocious pups will be-gin pointing the birds right off thebat, while the majority of youngdogs will go through the normalphase of flash pointing them and


then flushing and chasing. Do notbe alarmed by the latter, as it is avery normal mode of behavior.The more bird contacts the young-ster has, and the more it realizesthat it cannot catch the birds, thelonger it will pause and hold itspoint, and the “flash point” willgradually evolve into the staunch-ness you desire. This phenome-non can really be effectively rein-forced when the pup has been suc-cessfully acclimated to the soundof a gun, and you can then rewardits staunchness by killing a birdfor it. The realization then hitshome that by cooperating withyou both by hunting a kindly han-dling pattern and pointing and let-ting you flush the bird, that youcan help the pup achieve its ulti-mate goal, which is to catch thebird, by shooting it for him. Thetwo of you have now developed aproperly functioning “huntingpack”.

A pointer, developed in theaforementioned manner, in anunhurried format, will almostalways turn out to be the gentle-man’s gun dog they were bred tobe. Every now and then a rene-gade will come along that doesnot respond to this type of devel-opment process. However, youwill find this to be the caseregardless of the breed. You arethen best served to get yourselfanother dog. Also, as is the casewith any pupil in any learning sit-uation, an occasional problemmay crop up. Fear not, as there isusually always a viable solution tothe problem.

Should you have any questionsregarding your application of theprocess herein described, feelfree to call me at MacKenzieKennels, McLeansboro, Illinois,618-599-4789. Or, if you haveencountered problems of any sortwhile developing and/or huntingyour pointing dog, feel free tocall as well.

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Joining the multi-award winningDH3000 that launched theWaveSpin are the newest DH4000and the DH5000 models. The 4000weighs 12 oz, the 5000 is 12.5 oz.

Other than the physical size allthree WaveSpin reels are identicalin appearance, quality, features,saltwater certified and come withan exclusive two-year unlimitedwarranty. The reel, with its unique-ly designed spool lip of smoothlyrounded teeth - "waves" that elimi-nate tangles -, also features a main-tenance port and a patented no-toolquick-strip spool allowing anglersto slip off the entire amount of oldline in one clump without tediousstripping.

Inventor Doug Hannon saidWaveSpin is getting calls and let-ters from anglers using its DH3000telling of successful big game fishfights they've had and the huge

benefits of the drag.As he did with the 3000 model,

Hannon and his engineers haveincorporated gutsier drags employ-ing multiple discs on WaveSpin'snewest reels for the ability to landbigger fish.

Using space age technology the3000 now produces 31 lbs of drag(typically 7 - 11 lbs on other reels)ideal for example panfish, bass,walleye and northern pike.

The DH 4000 has 45 lbs of dragand is meant for fish in the 10 - 50lb range such as muskie, salmon,and light inshore fishing for red-fish, blues, snook, bonefish andpermit, etc.

With 63 lbs of drag the DH5000is great for larger species i.e. cat-fish, salmon and saltwaterinshore/offshore fishing for kingmackerel, dorado (dolphinfish),tarpon, sailfish, etc.

"When big fish outmatch yourfishing line, the drag systembecomes your only line ofdefense," said Hannon. "Jerkydrags cause break-offs. The newWaveSpin drag is so smooth thatneither you nor the fish can feelwhen it starts or when it stops.Smooth, yes, but we also offer

more than three times the standarddrag tension and capabilities ofmost spinning reels giving you the edge over thebiggest and strongest of fish."

In addition to the 2008 "Best ofthe Best" award from Field &Stream and praise from OutdoorLife Magazine fishing editor JerryGibbs who wrote that the reel rep-resents "the first significantimprovement in salt and freshwaterspinning-reel design in more than50 years," WaveSpin has picked upaccolades in other publications.Giving a thorough test to a reel hebought Washington (D.C.) Timesoutdoors editor Gene Muellerwrote a rave review as did Miami(FL) Herald outdoors writer SusanCocking.

The WaveSpin is available atCabela's and Gander Mountain plusmany fishing stores along withdirect sales on its websitewww.wavespinreel.com. The qual-ity made yet competitively pricedreels retail from $79.95 to $109.95.

For retail or dealer informationon WaveSpin please contact RussRiley, VP of Operations, at: 989-967-8426 or via e-mail at [email protected].

Other than the physical size, all three WaveSpin reels are identical inappearance, features and warranty. They make loops irrelevant

eliminating tangles and birdnests and have gutsier drags.

weight and the offering has morechance to snag.

At times, a cat will nibble as toattack its prey. After a few nibbles,the catfish may suck it all in on therun. Rods have a tendency to“dive” toward the River. At othertimes, there is no warning. Rodssimply head for the River. Closeattention to rod tips keeps anangler ready for all types of hits.

Fighting a catfish against thecurrent as he hugs the bottom isgreat fun. It is very obvious whenthe whiskered wonder is on hisway to captivity.

Traditionally, catfish areskinned and cleaned. There issomething special about peelingthe meat off the simple back-bone/rib skeleton of cats. Dippedin an egg/milk mixture then to alittle corn meal, flour and breadcrumbs insures very tasty eating.Salt and pepper to taste and beercold enough to have ice chips -well - how good can it get? Catfishand bullheads too are fish that canbe filleted but has a chance ofbeing very tasty when skinned andcleaned.

For sure, May offers all sorts ofopportunity. Of course, weather isa variable. The River is very “sen-sitive” to almost any amount ofrain in any 24-hour time frame. Itis wise to check conditions on theRiver prior to an outing. In thebest of all scenarios a bunch of funand soul-felt internal satisfactionaccompanies hours in the outdoorsduring May and all months for thatmatter.

hanging on like a piece of moss,requires a special awareness infishing. Such a moment is concen-tration at a level that uniting withnature reaches a peak upon real-ization of the hit. Excitementsoars. Even the tap on a cast crankbait or the telling bend of a rodtrolling a crank insures excitementof a similar sort.

In addition to water deeper than9’, walleyes will often locate inshallow rocks with water washingaround or near them. These rocksmay have 3’ water at the max. Ajig tipped with a twister tail andretrieved in such a way as to“swim” by these areas invites an“easy” meal for a 21/2 to 3 poundwalleye. What great fun.

The same is true in lakes.Rigging on points and/or sandbarsor casting to weeds with a spiltshot and leech, invites hit fromthis excellent eating fish. Walleyeand sauger are the target of manya fisherman. In May the bitereturns to the River for a short fewweeks in a pre-summer mode.After the lull from April and thewait till late fall, the May bite isnothing short of a fond miracle.

For those who chose to anchorand fish on bottom, May offersconsiderable catfish bite.Minnows, night crawlers and dipbait, to name a few favorites (andthere are many) are cast out andallowed to settle on bottom Justenough weight to hold the bait isimportant. Too little weightinsures bait is being whisked offthe bottom by current. Too much


May isa PrimeFishingMonth

By Phil Trager

Here we go again. Another Mayis rolling around and there is apretty good chance that fishing inthe Illinois River will be at itspeak. May is a month of all fishbiting and each with its own spe-cial niche.

Pre-summer sauger and walleyewill be heading downstream andfeeding on flats on the way. Thisis a “miracle” bite. It is a miraclefrom the perspective that the pre-spawn bite ends so abruptly andcompletely. The hits of sauger andwalleye especially on jigs, bothfloating and lead, is an absolutefavorite of many an angler.

First of all, the hits come inwater along the bottom, usuallydeeper than 9’. There is someexcitement in hits coming fromsuch depths as fish are brought tothe surface. Secondly, a hard hit ora hit such that the fish is just

Asian Carp Control Bill FYI

by Herman KunzAnd while we’re at it, finally, some

good news to go along with all of the&$@% we have been inundated withon TV or in your daily paper recently.For all of you readers that like to recre-ate along and on the Illinois River, SB2407 (Asian Carp Control Bill) requiresof the Illinois Department of NaturalResources to establish a one-year proj-ect to harvest the Asian carp in theIllinois River. These fish are quicklybeginning to push out the native fishpopulation in the area. I don’t knowexactly how they are going to go aboutthis giant task but at least it’s a start. Anyof you that have never experienced thisshower of leaping fish that can go any-where from a couple of pounds toupwards of twenty pounds or more,count yourself lucky, it can be a scary(and dangerous) experience.

Unless you have been there and wit-nessed this phenomenon (I have firsthand) just try and imagine someoneslapping you in the face (or other partsof your body) with twenty pounds ofmeat at ten or twenty miles an hourOuch!! I hope one year will be enoughto get the job done, but like I said it’s astart!!

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(www.SnSGuideService.com). Al-though I would have liked to give thebluegill fishing a try, there was no waythat these guys would pass up the pos-sibility of getting into some huge bassand that we did.

Shoot’s first fish was a seven poundfive ounce largemouth. It wasn’t avery long fish, only about twenty-twoor twenty-three inches long. But thisfish had a huge belly giving her somereal girth and weight.

Several other fish throughout the daywith fish five and six pound and only afew just under five. This was like fish-ing a dream. Quite often I’ve thoughabout having a trip like this. A day onCedar Lake fulfilled that dream.

All of the fish were caught on darkcolored jigs. We tipped them withplastic craws like Berkley’s PowerBait Chigger Craws. Tossing the jigsup toward the shore where there was afallen tree or a stump most always pro-duced a fish. If the jig landed three orfour feet away from the shore, therewas no fish.

I tried fishing with spinnerbaits andsome crankbaits. I tried bouncing thebaits off stumps near shore and close to

I’ve never fished Cedar Lake beforelast month. I’ve heard about it andread many reports. Cedar Lake hasbeen called the Bluegill Capitol of Illi-nois and I wanted to see it.

Can you prove it by me that the lakehas monster gills? No not really. Ifished the lake but never went bluegillfishing. My time on the water was forbass, largemouth bass.

Cedar Lake is found just outside thetown of Carbondale. The lake is notreal big, 1750 acres, yet it has aboutforty miles of shoreline. The maxi-mum depth of the lake is sixty feet andunder normal conditions, it has prettygood visibility. The lake has large-mouth and smallmouth bass, stripedbass, bluegill, redear sunfish and whiteand black crappies. Ramps are foundon the north and south side of the lakeand it has a 10 horsepower motor lim-it.

The more I learned about the lake,the more I wanted to fish it. Localsouthern Illinois anglers all favor thelake for its bass fishing. Now I knowwhy.

I fished the lake with Matt Strobeland Tyson Shoot of SnS Guide Service

the banks. The crankbaits got caughtup in the shallow weeds. The spinner-baits just didn’t produce. Nothingworked except the jigs. I enjoy tryingsomething different, but it didn’t taketoo long for me to jump on board andfish the bait that was really producing.

It seemed just too good to be true tohave so many quality fish come intothe boat, but the dream was fulfilledfor others as well.

The next day, a bass tournament washeld on Cedar. Again, for some of thetournament anglers this was defiantlya day to remember.

The winning weight for six bass wasthirty-two pounds. Oh yes, did I men-tion that Cedar Lake is here in Illinois?Southern Illinois? This is unbeliev-able that such great fishing is so closeto home.

My trip to Cedar Lake was in theend of March and now it’s May. Imade some inquiries and found thatthis lake just doesn’t give up. Qualityfish can be caught throughout the fish-ing season. In May and June anglerscan just fish a bit deeper and they willfind the bass. On those dog days ofsummer, bring out your bluegill rodand you will quickly learn why CedarLake is known as the Bluegill Capitolof Illinois.

I was fortunate enough to be put intouch with Strobel and Shoot throughthe Williamson County Tourism Bu-reau (www.WCTB.org 1-800-GEESE-99). Reaching out for a

tourism bureau when heading to newdestinations is one of the best movesyou could ever make. As for theWCTB, I found their assistance incred-ibly priceless. They helped me withlocal fishing guides, lodging and din-ing suggestions. All of the guess workwas taken out of the equation and all Ihad to worry about was where I shouldmake my next cast.

The Marion area has a handful ofgreat lakes to fish. From Cedar to CrabOrchard and from Little Grassy toLake of Egypt, this is just a samplingof the lakes that are found only min-utes away. There are more. From thegreater Chicagoland area, the drivedown I-57 is between four and fivehours. From Central Illinois, it’s evencloser. So to head south for a day orweekend makes it easy for you to ful-fill your dream of having a great dayon the water. From my home theWilliamson County area is only abouta four hour drive and that makes greatfishing not that far away. And onething is for sure. The next time I fishCedar Lake, I’ll be looking for thosebig bluegills.

Thanks for reading my articles! Ifyou want to share some comments,reports or photos, please send them [email protected] or send them via US Mail to Illinois Outdoors, PO Box 713, New Lenox,IL 60451. Don’t forget to visit my websites, www.IllinoisOutdoors.com and www.FishingLineRadio.com

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site, espe-cially afteryou haveread thisa r t i c l e .R u b b e rboats are thebest. I likeWoody MaxMuck boots.They arewarm andvery light inweight. Ishot a HoytTrykon 55p o u n d ,E a s t m a narrows withRage broadheads. Ireally rec-o m m e n dRage broadh e a d sbecause itcuts a holeplenty bigenough forlots of bloodto pour outof the bear.I also use itfor whitetaildeer. They never get over fiftyyards after they are hit.

At the bait site Jim uses 55 gallonbarrels with a special hole cut sothe bears cannot get all the bait outat one time. He uses a mix of oats


and Jim will pick you up.The camp is very nice and com-

fortable. There are two cabins bothhaving electricity, powered by asonar battery pack and a back upgenerator. Hot showers and greatmeals make this a great camp. Thecamp is located on Dore Lake witha great view with a sand beachbetween camp and the lake. I havenever seen a boat on the lake in twoyears. The shed he built is a 20’x40’ where he skins the bears. Also,his tools and a freezer are locatedthere. Transportation to and fromthe bear baits are two 600 Rhino’sand a Polaris 500 quad. A customtandem trailer is also used to hallhunters and bait.

The right equipment on a huntlike this is very important. I usemossy oak break up in scent block-er Dream Season for when it is drybut the best rain gear I use is RiverWest H2P waterproof system backcountry 5015. This is the only rainsuit I have worn that really worksand is breathable. I do not think Iwould go on a bear hunt in thespring with out a thermo-cell. Ifyou are an archery freak like mejust remember in Canada there areno pistols so take pepper spray andplenty of rocks to throw at smallbears that try to get in the same treewith you. I would also recommendtaking a rifle with you to the bait

and corn with honey poured over it.Then the main attractant is beaverhung on trees near the barrel. Tocheck the sign of the bears he runsa cable from one tree to anotheruntil the bait is high enough that

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Boat Dealers

Bear Thrill by Keith J GrahamThis article takes place at Dore

Lake, Saskatchewan 100 milesnorth of Big River off route 924.The camp is J.D. Tower lodgeowned by Jim and DarleneWilliamson. I have hunted thisarea for 2 years and had seen manybears. Two years ago I took a goodcinnamon bear. This last year wasquite a story. Two years ago wehad to cross Dore Lake eight milesto get to camp but this last yearthey built a new road to drive with-in two miles of camp and then wetook four wheelers to camp. Thedrive from Illinois was 28 hours tocamp or you can fly to Saskatoon


only big bears can get to it. Thetree stands he uses are a mix ofclamp on, latter stands and a loungetype climber he makes himself.The trail to the bait is seventeenmiles long. That goes throughswamp, crosses creeks and thicktimber. To cross the creeks thatdrain into Dore Lake, he makesbridges out of logs. Most of thebridges are around 20 feet but oneis around fifty feet long. Having agood winch is very important be-cause they are used very much.One trail I call the root canal ishard to believe a quad can gothrough it. It got so bad last yearthat Jason Bolin and Jim had toreroute it. On a dry year we canavoid the root canal by drivingalong the Beach of Dore Lake.

The time schedule is we leave togo to the baits at 11:00 AM to noon.Then be at the bait sites around2:30 PM to 3:30 PM then hunt un-til 10:30 PM and head back. Get tocamp at 1:00 AM to 2:00 AM de-pends on how many bears wereshot. At this time is when we eatour main meal. Sleeping until 9:00PM we are awaken with the smellof a good breakfast.

Jason Bolin and I drop offhunters along the trail and put baitin the barrels and hang beavers.When we get to the end we fish forpike and walleyes to use at the bailssites and also cook to eat them, un-less we decide to hunt ourselves.Then the return trip to pick uphunters while Jim works his wayfrom camp to meet us somewherein the middle, then all of us returnto camp.

Last year some hunters were hav-ing problems seeing any bears atStove bait. So Jim decided to haveme hunt it to find out what was go-ing on. He knew there were bearshitting the bait. I decided to hunt itto find out what was going on. Ar-riving at the bait at 4:00, I climbedup into the latter stand. Not even10 minutes went by and here camea black bear. This bear didn’t evengo to the bait he came straight tomy latter stand and started climb-ing up the latter. I took a full drawon him and made up my mind whenhe put his rear leg on the first step Iwas going to shoot him between theeyes.

He was a smaller bear than Iwanted so I yelled at him. After

that he got down and went over tothe bait and ate for 45 minutes.Then for no reason he came direct-ly at me and climbed up the latteragain. I yelled again and he wentdown. Then went around to theback side of the tree and climbedup eye level with me. I couldn’tdraw the bow so I took out an ar-row and poked him in the eye whilehe was swatting his arm at me. Hisclaws were just missing me.

After poking him in the eyes fourdifferent times, he finally wentdown the tree then stepped out. Ithen pulled by bow and got a spineshot that killed him. If I wouldhave been smart enough I wouldhave taken some rocks with me upthe latter stand and threw them athim this might not have happenedeven better than that a gun. Itseemed like it happened so fast.We weighed him when we got backto camp and he weighed 175pounds. I am afraid if I would havebeen afraid of him he probablywould have won the battle. I guessI can write this down as just anoth-er Graham Outdoor Adventure andbe glad that the good lord just wasnot quite ready for one now.

There were a lot of bears in Jim’sarea this year. It may be of theburns north of him that drove thebears down to his area. More thanjust one time Jason and I wouldsaw bears on the trail going to thebait sites. One day I went to bait asite and there were nine bears wait-ing for us. Oh yes. I had a riflewith me and a back up person. Iguess I like to hunt something thathunts me. I have taken one brownbear, two cinnamon, four blackbears and two with a bow.

If you are looking for a goodhunt call Jim Williamson at 780-875-9719 J.D. Towelodge.com.For big whitetail deer archery see:[email protected] Call: 217-854-9394 and askfor me! Good Hunting

Tri County Ducks & Geese Forever

Held at Jacob Hill Trap Shooting Range20516 E. CO HWY 22 • Canton, IL • (309) 668-2501

COME TO WEBFOOT DAY! Kids up to age 16 welcome, accompanied by an adult. A Great Day of

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Registration 8:00 a.m. • Fishing 9:00 a.m.

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Webfoot Day • Sat. June 14th

Congratulations to Jacob Walker who caught this bass last month at his parent’s lake in Makanda, Illinois.

Here he is also with his first pair of geese!Thanks to Connie & Steve Martin for sharing Jacob’s outdoor accomplishments with ASO!

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ledge, or dropping a jig or worm offthe edge, can be productive.

Docks are like any other cover. Inthe “tight” condition fish will selectareas directly under the dock, includ-ing the posts, and any brush piles.These can be fished by runningcrankbaits/spinnerbaits along theedge, crawling or pitching soft plas-tics and jigs, or vertically jigging. Ifspace allows, skipping lures underthe dock, and bringing them to theedge very slowly will often be the“technique of the day”.

Weeds growing to the surface arefished in two ways. Parallel the out-er edge, and cast to any openings,then hop or doodle the lure. Sub-merged weeds are fished the same,with one addition - swim lures of alltypes slowly over the top, makingsure to lightly tick the tops of theweeds, staying as close as possible tothe top of the bed at all times.

All species hold tight to cover, butthe ones most sought after in theseconditions are bass, crappie andbluegill.

For bass I use tubes, jig combina-tions, finesse worms, ribbon tailworms, and crankbaits around rocks.It has been best using jigging spoonsand minnows around rock ledges.My selection of lures for rocks is the

same for weeds, wood anddocks, with the addition ofspinnerbaits. When fish-ing the weeds the outeredges are the only areathat I use the crankbaitsand spinnerbaits. Tubesand jigs are used for skip-ping under docks.

Crappie and bluegill arefairly much the same lureselection. For all covers Iuse a small tube jig, MiniMite, Ratso, and Ratfinkeefor lures, and a minnow,wax worm, Crappie Nib-ble, Power Honey Wormand Gulp Red Wiggler forbait. In most of the coversthese lures and baits arefished vertically, with orwithout a float, especiallyalong docks, weed edgesand rock ledges. If I skipa lure under a dock, itwould be a tube. The luresare often tipped with thewax worm, Crappie Nib-ble and Red Wiggler - es-pecially when using theRatfinkee, which on thelarger size can also betipped with a small min-now for crappie.

Whenever the fishing gets verytough, remember it may take no morethan fishing closer, or “tight” to cov-er.

If there are any questions drop me aline through the Dan’s Fish ‘N’

Tales® website, which also providesa link to the ASO website.

Until next time, get out on the wa-ter, and enjoy a great day of fishing.

w w w . dw w w . d aa n s f i s h n t an s f i s h n t a l e s . c o ml e s . c o m

“FISHING TIGHT”When a person says they are fish-

ing tight it means they are fishingvery close to cover for fish that arenot moving far from their hidingplace. Normally it is wood cover, butit can pertain to anything that willhold fish - downed trees, brush,stumps, rocks, ledges, drop-offs,docks, weeds and anything else thatmay allow a fish to have an ambusharea for an easy meal.

Fish generally stay around thetypes of cover mentioned, but will bemore active, and chase lures furtherout. When they are setting in or veryclose to the cover, and not movingfar, then it is time to “fish tight”.

Using slower methods of fishing,such as flipping and pitching, worksbest for wood cover. However, fish-ing a crankbait or spinnerbait aroundfallen trees, stumps, and submergedbrush with a slow bumping retrievewill, in some cases, work as well.

When fish are holding tight torocky areas, such as big chunk rockor rip rap, slow crawling lures will besuccessful. Other rock structures areledges or shelves, which usually havethe fish setting beneath them. Withthis type of rocky area vertical jig-ging, very close to the edge of the

DAN’S FISH ‘N’ TALES®

By Dan Galusha

This day was one of those when bass were holding very tight in flooded trees and bushes. A black/blue jig with

a Chigger Craw was crawled and bounced slowly through the thick cover.


Big fish was won by John Boise and Noel Fernan-dez with a 1.82 lb. big fish.

Crappie Masters holds free kids rodeo on themorning of the tournament at each event and onelucky child wins a free entry into the main tourna-ment. In 2007 Dylan Parmeley won and partici-pated in this years main tournament. Fishing withJim Price the team took the top Adult/Youth hon-ors weighing in a very respectable 6.72 lbs. The

team won $100.00 in Bass Pro Shops gift cards.First place out of the money husband wife team ofBill and Lorie Boosman won a Proplite from J.D.Huffman and won top male/female team for a$100.00 Bass Pro Shops gift card.

Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters would like tothank local sponsors that include: Bryant’s OsageOutdoors, Deer Valley Park (Frankie & Louie’s),Lake House Inn, Deep Water Inn, Marty’s SportsBar & Grill, Inn on the Glaze, Laurie Bait & Tackle,Sleep Inn, JP Dock Service & Supply, Gier’s BassPro, The Gates Corporation, Marriott’s CircleCafÈ, B & P Hickory Restaurant, Lake of the OzarksWest Chamber of Commerce, KS 95.1, WeaverTire, and KMMO Brad & Brian in the Outdoors.

Special thanks to our National Sponsors thatinclude: Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Boats, NitroBoats, Toyota Tundra, Mercury Motors, Minn Kota,Humminbird, American Angler, RoadRunner byBlakemore, Mr. Crappie Hooks, Hydro Glow Fish

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Paul Alpers, President 573-280-8020

Bobby Brown, Vice President 417-532-0244

Betty Rutledge, Administrative Assistant660-723-1552

BB R AR A U N AU N A N D BN D B R OR O W N W N W I N OW I N O ZZ A R KA R K S !S !

Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters held a one daynational qualifier on Lake of the Ozarks April 19,2008. With a front pushing through on Friday theweather brought colder temperatures with somegusty winds and rain. Tournament day remainchilly and overcastted with gusty winds. CrappieMasters flagship radio host Brad & Brian in theOutdoors emceed the event as126 anglers com-peted despite weather. It was Ken Braun and Rus-sell Brown whom took first place with a seven fishtotal of 9.67 lbs.

Sponsored by Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Marine,Toyota Tundra, Mercury, Humminbird and Minn Ko-ta, first place earned the team $5,000.00 and aBass Pro Shops vip card. The team stated were jig-ging and corking brush piles on the shallow end ofthe Gravois arm using orange & chartreuse jigs onOzark rods. Anglers had been reporting that thepattern for this time of year was different as a latespawn is occurring. Braun and Brown said thefront really didn’t change the pattern on the fishthey caught compared to pre-fishing.

Second place went to two time Ozarks winners,Jason Moppin and Gary Jones whom weighed in justbehind the winners with a total 9.61 lbs. The teamalso fished the Gravios arm as their normal loca-tions were not catching fish. The fished docks forsuspended crappie using white and chartreuseskirts on Wizard rods. Second place earned theteam $2,500.00.

Charles Bunting and Travis Bunting won thirdplace with a total weight of 9.49 lbs. Third placebrought the father-son team $1250.00. The teamstated they were slow trolling in 2 to 18’ depthswith bright southern pro skirts over their Porcu-pine fish attractors using BnM poles and Viciousfishing line.

kill them quickly if you do not han-dle them properly. They are, for themost part, a catch and release fish.In fact, most of the muskies killedare not killed on purpose, but be-cause a person keeps them out ofthe water too long. Case in point.

I was at the main ramp at thenorth end of Spring Lake wipingdown my Tracker Targa getting itready to trailer down the road. I hada pretty good day of fishing, boat-ing two muskies and seeing threeothers, when I heard a scream. Thescream was not one of pain but oneof excitement. I looked up from mytask at hand to see a young manlocked in battle with a good fish. Iwas sure it was a muskie.

He fought the fish to the net as ifhe was an old pro, not forcing thefish into the net before it was ready.Within a few minutes, he had thefish in the net, careful to leave it inthe water while he celebrated witha few high fives. It was a pleasureto see a fisherman leave the fish inthe water while he worked to un-hook it. This practice keeps a goodsupply of oxygen flowing thru thegills, helping to ease the stress onthe fish, resulting in a good release.

With the fish unhooked, he hoist-ed her over the side for a photo.This is when the clock starts tick-ing. He held her high and proud fora photo, but there was a problem,the camera was not ready and theyoung lady taking the photo hadnot been instructed on how to usethe focus or zoom. So, the fisher-man laid the fish in the bottom ofthe boat while he gave a quick les-son on photography. I looked at mywatch to see about 30 seconds hadpassed, thinking to myself, “okay,get the photo and get her back inthe water. A few quick shots, andhere comes a good release.” Not so.The fisherman again laid the fish

Dan with a good 145-inch buck killed

over a late season food plot.

down in the boat to look at thescreen to see if the young lady hadgot the photos he had wanted.“Looks good,” he said. Again, Ilooked at my watch, thinking outloud, “get it back in the water.” An-other 30 seconds had gone by.

About that time, the young ladysaid she would like a photo withthe fisherman for her scrapbooktoo. So, once again, the fish washoisted high and proud for the pho-to, but again the photo was notsnapped. Another short photogra-phy class followed. By now, I wasstarting to think this fish is not go-ing to make it. Come on get herback in the water.

Then another scream echoed.This one was a scream of pain.During the positioning for the sec-ond round of photos, the fishermanhad gotten his fingers in the gillrakers and got a good wound on thetips of his fingers. The fish hit thefloor of the boat again.

“Hey,” I yelled, “get her back inthe water. You’re killing her.” Afew more seconds passed beforeshe was slipped over the side.There was no big face soaking tailsplash. He grabbed her by the tailand worked her back and forth try-ing to force water over her gills,giving her one last push before heresumed fishing.

Another fisherman walked to-ward my boat saying, “she was outtoo long.” I agreed. With my boatstrapped down, I walked to the sideof the lake to see if she made it. Itdid not take long before I saw herfloating belly up about 20 yardsfrom shore. She was not a hugeone, but a good 38 inches I wouldsay.

I don’t think the young manmeant to stress her, he just didn’tthink. I have included a simple setof guidelines for you so we canprotect these great predators tofight another day and maybe justmaybe give another person achance at the fish of a lifetime.EQUIPMENT

1.) Landing net. Your net servestwo purposes. One as a way to landthe fish. The other as a live well.Keep the fish in the net and in thewater while you work to unhook it.

2.) Keep a release box ready. It

by Daniel Vinovich The fish of a lifetime can mean different things

to different people. A four-pound bass may be afish of a lifetime to some, but it may be a goodbut not a great one to others. The same goes for

any sport fish, even muskie. Theproblem with muskies is thatmost people are not set up fora quick release or are intimi-

dated by them. Their large size and lake ti-tle as the king does not mean they are a superfish. They are only fish. By this, I mean, you can


Here is Quinn and his dadfishing and fighting through

some toughconditions.They foundsome fish…

Quinn baggeda quality steellie. It

qualifies forthe RFC BigFish Contest!

Nice workQuinn!


should contain needle nose pliers, ajaw spreader, a set of gloves (I useChad Cain’s release gloves), and aset of hook cutters.

3.) Camera. Show everyone inthe boat how to use it before youget on the water.

4.) Floating measuring stick. Usea floating ruler to get a lengthmeasurement while the fish is inthe water.RELEASE

1.) FISH ON. It is a great soundto hear, “get your fish in the net.”

2.) Leave it in the net. By restingthe net on the side of the boat, thefish can stay in the water.

3.) Get your release box and getthe fish unhooked, doing the leastamount of damage to the fish. If thehooks are deep, use the jaw spread-ers. If you still cannot get them out,

Bill Lozanski. He will discuss the key techniques forcatfish as well as strategies for making it to the damwithout taking a beating from the rocks.

See more info on Riverside Fishing Club at:

www.RiversideFishingClub.com

cut them with the hook cutters. Aset of hooks are not worth killing afish.

4.) With the hooks free and thefish still in the net and in the water,get a quick length measurement us-ing your floating ruler.

5.) With camera ready, set upyour shot. Do this before you hoistthe fish out of the water.

6.) Put on a set of release gloves.This will help protect the fish andyour hands.

7.) Hoist the fish out of the net.Get a couple of quick photos andget the fish back in the water. Grabthe fish by the tail, working it backand forth. Keep the camera shoot-ing. Some of my best photos are ofthe release. When it is ready, youwill know. It will leave you with acouple of goodbye wags of its tail.

A good friend and fellow guide,Thad Hinshaw, once told me hetakes a good gulp of air and holdshis breath. When he needs anothergulp of air, it is time to put the fishback in the water. Good words tolive by!

Muskie, as well as other game fish,should be treated gently after thecatch. By doing this, we can helpto keep our fisheries strong for futuregenerations. In fact, you might besurprised to know the fish you releasetoday may be the fish of a lifetime toanother angler tomorrow.

SEE ‘YA ON THE WATER!For guided trips, you can get a

hold of me by calling me at 309-267-8309 or by e-mail [email protected]

(217) 732-4238 • (217) 732-2176 • (217) 642-5895(217) 732-4238 • (217) 732-2176 • (217) 642-5895www.big-oak.com • www.huntingparadise.com • email: [email protected]

2058 Old. Rt. 121, Lincoln, IL 62656

DAY HUNTS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!Membership Fees • $200/yr.

Corporate • $1000/yr.

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* Available only at this location:600 W600 W. P. Pearearl Sl St. • Tt. • Trremont, IL 6emont, IL 611568568

309-925-7309-925-7600 600

Tip of the Month:Treat excessive weeds early,to minimize algae growth in your pond later in the year.

LET ‘EM GOLET ‘EM GROW!

Thad Hinshaw

Riverside Fishing ClubMay 8th meeting’s speaker will be RFC member

Mark Komo discussing Lake Winnebago Perch Small-mouth Bass and Walleyes. Hear how to “troll themud”, “pull boards and spinners”, slip bobber, jigginreefs and using the sim-ple rig, hook, line andsinker.

May 24-25 club out-ing to Lake Winnebago.This will be a good timeto hit this central Wis-consin walleye factory where there will be plenty of ac-tion and fish. Weather should be also perfect!

June 12th meeting’s speaker with be RFC member

For More Information Call:

(217) 868-2950Or Write To:

P.O. Box 1371 • Effingham, IL 62401

www.anthonyacres.com

On Beautiful Lake Sara

• Fishing• Water Sports• Golf• Family Fun• Reunions• Business Meetings• New Rooms

Anthony Acres on Lake Sara hasGreat Fishing forLargemouth Bass,

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Mel’s Sporting GoodsMel’s Sporting Goods• Custom Built Bowstrings

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The popularity of imported dou-ble barrel shotguns is assisted by arange of pricing that starts at a veryinexpensive level. Owners ofexamples that turn out to have sig-nificant defects may use the rela-tive value of the piece to determinethe level of justifiable expense thatthey are willing to endure versusthe time and trouble ofpacking/shipping and hoping tran-sit is damage-free. Warranty serv-ice may be rapid in a few cases, butweeks to months are the most com-mon time intervals. That may beenough to make an owner willingto bear the expense of a more rapidlocal repair or improvement, sinceshipping costs and packing troublesare eliminated from the equation.I have previously delved into thesituation of choke problems present

in newly-manufactured and con-verted fixed-choke shotgun barrels.Not all of those situations will beso severe that the owner wouldwant the trouble or expense of cor-recting or improving the poorly-installed choke holes that seem tobe so endemic to the point of epi-demic. However, an occasional sit-uation arises where the chokesthemselves will fail to be workablein the as-received state. This cannotbe ignored if the owner wants anypossibility of satisfactory use. Onealternative (besides warrantyattempt) is to purchase qualityreplacement choke tubes and hopethat no secondary problem arises.

Shooters expect that any acces-sories included or purchased wouldbe in usable condition. Lack ofquality control can afflict spareparts or replacements as well asassemblies. Some errors can bealleviated, but some may not evenbe able to be reduced by a signifi-cant degree. If excess material isalready missing, you can’t re-cut ashort board longer, can you? A war-ranty may cover the problemsencountered, but sometimes therewill be dissatisfaction from theservice and/or timeliness results.

One specific example of poorchoke tube condition is shown inpicture 1. The lack of proper finish

made installing a problem,and the frustrated ownermade a rough grind relief atthe front end of the tube. Thisdid reduce the force neededto screw the tube fully intothe hole, but definitely was-n’t a satisfactory result sincethe tube still had installationproblems. Some newly pur-chased replacement tubeswere an even tighter fit andcould barely be started intothe choke holes in the bar-rels. The owner needed someprofessional help to deter-mine where the ultimateblame lay: in the tubes, barrelholes, or some combinedlevel.

Picture 2 shows the closerview of the poorly machinedthread profile of that firstchoke tube. The tops of thethreads should not haveridged edges or a plowedgroove profile. Picture 3shows a more satisfactoryprofile in a close view. Thisoriginal tube was cut morecleanly than the other exam-ple.

Picture 4 shows a closeview of a replacement tubethat wouldn’t fit the barrelholes. The profile looksmuch more consistent thanthe factory tubes shown, butthe pinch-fit was so severethat you can see the wrenchnotch has gained a slippagedeformity. The profile doescontain some minor residualroughness that neededredress as part of the fitimprovement process. Theresulting refit is evident inpicture 5. The thread topsappear slightly narrower, thegrooves seem slightly wider,

Gunsmithingwith Kirby Schupp

The Shotgun Shop, PO Box 212 Arnold, MO 63010

[email protected]://theshotgunshop.net

Replacement Partsand Related Problems

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but most of the change is removal of theburred corners along the thread edges.Very little diameter change occurred inthe refit process. Some minor dressingof the barrel choke threads was alsodone to improve their overly rough con-dition.

This particular upscale economy im-port did have enough satisfying appear-ance, feel, and handling to allow theowner to justify some expense to makethis example a keeper, since it had al-ready been procured at a bargain price.Something about a bargain makes hold-ing onto it a priority for some. Satisfac-tory refit of the original and new sparechokes in a timely manner was worththe expense instead of returning the af-termarket chokes and trading away afactory-made problem. Restrictingyourself to strictly mass productionparts and factory warranty repairs willmake the possibility of practical perfec-tion more problematic. Desired resultsmay be more rapidly attained (and to ahigher level) if you are willing to stepout of the mass-production box. Youcan afford a modest amount of cus-tomizing or optimizing to extend yourabilities and pleasure in many areas ofyour life. Just think about what wouldimprove a situation and find a way. Peo-ple hire professional landscapers all thetime, for instance, and some tackle thejob themselves (i.e. sweat equity). Youcan improve areas in your own life: youjust need to make the first move.

See previous articles at the aso-magazine.com archives for more gun-smith’s perspective.

Washington, DC - When Texan Al-ton Jones, winner of the 2008 Bass-master Classic, came to the Nation’sCapitol at the behest of PresidentBush, he learned first-hand that an-glers and hunters have many friendson Capitol Hill. Alton is now well-aware that the Congressional Sports-men’s Caucus (CSC) with the sup-port of the Congressional Sports-men’s Foundation (CSF) is proactivein advancing the issues of impor-tance to sportsmen and is diligent onissues such as threats to recreationalboating and restrictive Marine Pro-tected Areas.A Hectic Schedule Itwas a whirlwind day in the Nation’sCapitol for Alton Jones and his fam-ily. On Tuesday, March 25th, Altonand Judy Wong, the Women’s Bass-master Tour champion along their

Midwest Gun Collectors AssociationMGCA is inviting the public to a

SUMMER SHOOTSUMMER SHOOTSAT. JUNE 7, 9 AM - 3 PM

at our range located on Washburn Road, County 00 where it intersects Rt 26 at the Woodford /Marshal County lines.

Glock, Arma Lite and Springfield Armory will be present with a variety of their firearms for the public to try out!

Wolf Hollow Archery and the Illini Muzzle Loaders will be there tolet the public try their arms. This is a chance to shoot guns and

bows that you may not normally have a chance to shoot! There will be a concession stand run by Skeet.

Trained instructors will be present to insure safety at the event. Because of the extreme rise in the cost of ammunition, there will be a charge for the use of ammunition.

families and an entourage of BASSand ESPN folks started their day witha White House visit. After trading afew fishing tips with President Bush,the group then met at Texas SenatorJohn Cornyn’s office for a tour ofCapitol Hill. Senator Cornyn is theVice-Chairman of the CongressionalSportsmen’s Caucus. The CSC is thelargest caucus in Congress comprisedof 284 policymakers who set asidepartisan politics to advance, promoteand preserve the heritage and tradi-tions of America’s 34-million fisher-men, hunters and trappers. After thetour, Alton, decked in his Yamahatournament jersey, taped a publicservice announcement on the lawn ofthe Capitol for the CongressionalSportsmen’s Foundation explainingthe role of CSF and its importance to

anglers by directing its attention tosportsmen’s legislation in Washing-ton. The PSA will soon appear on theCSF website. About the Congres-sional Sportsmen’s Foundation(CSF) The Congressional Sports-men’s Foundation is the most re-spected and trusted proponent forhunters and fishermen in the politicalarena. With support from every majorhunting and fishing organization,CSF is the leader in promotingsportsmen’s issues with elected offi-cials. CSF works directly with thebi-partisan, bi-cameral Congression-al Sportsmen’s Caucus in the U.S.Congress, as well as affiliated statesportsmen’s caucuses in state legisla-tures around the country. For addi-tional information, visit www.sports-menslink.org or call 202-543-6850.

Bassmaster Classic Champ Alton JonesVisits President Bush, Tours Washington

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ouflage finish. To get hunters start-ed off on the right foot, The Edgecomes with Diamond Archery’sBoondocks Package, including a 3-Pin Fiber Optic Sight, Fixed ForkArrow Rest, Black 2-Piece 4-Ar-row Quiver, Multi-Colored BraidedSling and Peep Sight.

The Edge by Diamond features a

Listen up Young Bowhunters!Diamond Archery has unleashedseveral new heavy-hitters in theiryouth bow line that were designedjust for you. No more having to tryand shoot dad’s old, oversized,hand-me-down bow. Diamond’snew Edge and Cutter youth andchildren’s bows were built with thenext generation bowhunter in mind.Diamond by BowTech leads thefield in offering young bowhuntersa bow that not only gets them start-ed into the sport of archery, but al-so a bow that packs enough punchto make it the perfect bow for thosefirst hunting bowhunting adven-tures in pursuit of big game.

Get the EdgeThe Edge bow by Diamond

Archery is packed with features,value, and performance for novicehunters. It is the ideal bow for thenovice with a burgeoning passionfor bowhunting. Packed with theadvanced features and performance


BACKCOUNTRYHUNTS

Steve Jones1029 Haston Rd. • Carlsbad NM 88220

(505) 887-6178 • Cel l (505) 361-1053(505) 887-6178 • Cel l (505) 361-1053wwwwww.backcountr.backcountr yhunts .comyhunts .com

“I outfit many different hunts. The majority of all big game hunting is conductedon private ranches, leased for a specific hunt. New Mexico offers some great hunts

for the muzzle-loader hunter, rifle and bow hunter. For some hunts, tipies areused as lodging. Tipies provide a nostalgic and unique camp. Texas with its longseasons, liberal bag limits, offers it own special style of hunting. Mexico beckons

the trophy hunter south for mule deer, and coues.” Steve Jones

KANSAS • TEXAS • NEW MEXICO • MEXICO

top bowhuntershave come toexpect from Di-amond Archery,the new Edgebow comeswith one veryu n e x p e c t e dfeature - a pricethat puts this premium bow wellwithin reach of all hunters.

This new bow features a comfort-able brace height of 6-1/2” and anaxle-to-axle length of 30”, makingit easy for anyone to shoot. WithThe Edge bow, beginningbowhunters will quickly build theirskill with confidence, preparingthem to take on any game. It fea-tures Diamond Archery’s provendual cam system with a single piv-oting module with multiple posi-tioning holes. This innovative de-sign allows the bow’s draw lengthto easily be adjusted from 18” to28” in 1/2” increments - withoutthe need for a bow press. With this

exclusive Diamond Archery fea-ture, hunters can quickly and easilyadjust the bow’s draw length to fitthe hunter to promote better formand performance - and they can doit right in the field.

The Edge bow is offered in 29-,40- or 50-lb. draw weights and astealth-enhancing Mossy Oak cam-

Diamond Archery - Outfitting Young Bowhunters with the Edge

By Brodie Swisher

www.BroOutdoors.com

Roland Rich Ford-Mercury, Inc.Route 122 East • Delavan, IL 61734

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The answer is really simple; thebest reel for you is the one that fitsyour needs. I know that sounds a lit-tle too simple but a child does notneed a bait casting reel which by theway is kind of a misleading name forthat particular style of reel. Most ofthe time you will be flinging artificiallures with a bait caster rather thannatural bait.

So let’s sort this mess out a little.Chances are if you are an experiencedfisherman you already know whatyou need and what works for you thebest but for those starting out this ar-ticle is for you.

The best reel for the beginner fish-erman is actually two styles. The eas-iest is the spin casting reel. This reelincorporates a push button closed

cast aluminum riser that is both af-fordable and durable. This ad-vanced bow sells for $329 retail - agreat value for a quality, well-equipped hunting bow that giveshunters the edge they need to bringdown the most challenging game.

Start ‘em RightFor the bowhunter-to-be, Dia-

mond offers the Diamond Cutter - afeature and value-packed targetbow that’s an ideal choice for youthjust starting out in this excitingsport. The Cutter will get kid’sshooting alongside their Mentorwith a bow that looks and performsin draw lengths and weights to ac-commodate them. The Cutterproves that you don’t have to spenda lot to benefit from the advancedtechnology and performance thathave made Diamond Archery aleading choice for top archersworldwide. With a comfortablebrace height of 6-1/2” and an axle-to-axle length of 30”, the DiamondCutter is easy to shoot, buildingboth accuracy and confidence. TheCutter uses Diamond Archery’sproven dual cam system featuring asingle pivoting module with multi-ple positioning holes. This uniquedesign allows the bow’s drawlength to easily be adjusted from18” to 28” in 1/2” increments -without the need for a bow press.This unique feature lets archers ad-just draw length for a perfect fit topromote better form when shoot-ing. The new Diamond Cutter isavailable with peak draw weightsof 20- or 29-lbs - ideal for youngshooters or those who need to build

their skills.Built with traditional Diamond

Archery quality and attention todetail, this new bow features a castaluminum riser that is economical,yet very strong, and is available ina variety of exciting target colors.The Diamond Cutter bow carriesan affordable manufacturer’s sug-gested retail price of $239 - a fan-tastic value for a bow of this quali-ty and advanced design. Archerscan find the new Diamond Cutterthrough leading archery and shoot-ing sports retailers nationwide.

Shooting arrows with your childor loved one is one of the best waysto spend quality time and tostrengthen the parent/child rela-tionship. As you spend time hunt-ing in the woods, or slingin’ arrowsacross the backyard, you’ll be es-tablishing memories that will last alifetime. The Edge & Cutter bowsfrom Diamond Archery help makethat time just a little bit sweeter.

For more information on Dia-mond’s Edge or Cutter Bows, orthe full line of premium qualitybows for bowhunters and com-petitive archers, contact Dia-mond Archery - a subsidiary ofBowTech - at 90554 Highway 99North, Eugene, Oregon 97402,Telephone: (877) 269-2776, Orvisit www.diamondarchery.com

Brodie Swisher is a worldchampion game caller,

outdoor writer, videographer,and seminar speaker.

Check out his website atwww.BroOutdoors.com

If you walk into a sporting goodsstore and go back to the fishing sup-plies department it can sometimes beconfusing at best. Every lure promis-es to fill your stringer with fish andeach one is touted as the best thingsince sliced bread.

It is no different with fishing tack-le. The fishing reel counter can be avast buffet of every type of fishingreel known to man and then some.Confusing is not the word, downrightcomplicated may be the best descrip-tion.

You have your spin cast reels, andthen you have your open faced spin-ning reels and then you have yourbait casting reels and on top of thatevery manufacturer claims to make abetter one of each than the next guy.So what is the best reel for you?

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Which Reel is Best?

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For more info contact Mike & Lisa HamorRiverview Estates • 309-543-4158


face design that is very user friendly.Once the reel is spooled with lineusually in 8 to 10 pound test monofil-ament it is fairly easy to get the hangof this reel. Simply push the button inand as the rod just passes the level ofyour head let the button go and theline is cast out and flows freely off ofthe spool. You will get few tangleswith this reel and it is a favorite withchildren as well because it needs verylittle maintenance and once the act ofcasting is learned it is just a plain funreel to use. One good spin cast reelthat I have found is the Zebco 33.This reel is made fairly well and willserve the beginner as well as the sea-soned fisherman should he or shechoose to use it. Remember the lastthing you want with first time fisher-men is hassles with equipment andthe spin cast is pretty much hasslefree.

The next reel to take a look at is theopen faced spinning reel. This reel isthe logical upgrade from the spin castreel. Instead of having a button topush this reel has a bail that is openedand the line held with your index fin-ger before casting. As you cast andthe rod is held high the finger isopened to allow the line to flow off ofthe reel. This reel is very versatilewhether you are using artificial luresor live bait. There is very little in thecourse of your fishing that the openfaced spinning reel won’t do. Anoth-er plus is that it handles light linevery well, something that the otherreels may not do so well.

The open face spinning reel allowsfor maximum feel on your line. For

instance if you are fishing live baityou can open your bail and hold theline on your index finger and in sodoing you can feel the lightest strikea fish may make. You release line orgive it ac-tion all atthe actionof your in-dex finger.Some openfaced reelshave a trig-ger so thatyou don’thave to holdthe linewith yourindex fingerwhen cast-ing but usethe triggerinstead making it fool proof to get agood cast with your open face reel.Depending on the size of your reeland its capabilities you can go fromfour pound test Berkley Trilene to biggame Berkley fishing line making theopen face one heck of a reel to beat.I started with a Mitchell 300 openface and they still make this reel to-day.

The third and final reel that I willmention here is the bait caster. Thisreel is actually a level wind reel andboy have they come a long way sinceI began fishing. In the old days theywere prone to backlash just aboutevery time you cast one out and thiscould really ruin a day of relaxingfishing. I remember a particular out-ing downstream from the Keokuk

with not keeping enough tension withyour thumb on the spool when youcast. There are pluses and minuses toadjusting the line tension one way orthe other. Adjust it tightly and youhave few backlashes but you limityour casting distance. Adjust it tooloosely and you can cast further butyou had better have your thumb onthe spool or the reel will back spoolcausing a backlash.

Many reels come with anti back-lash systems that you may want totake a look at. With a bait caster youcan cast very accurately and theyhandle a fish very well. I would notgo fishing without the open facedspinning reels for light line fishingand the bait caster for accurate cast-ing of artificials. Bait casters ofcourse can be great with live bait aswell but I do not use them for this un-less I am going after bigger fish. Theopen face sees most of my live baitfishing.

By the way the Abu Garcia baitcasters are tops in my book and verydependable. Remember thumb contoland tension control settings are thebig two in being good with a baitcaster.

I would recommend always havinga push button reel on hand fullyrigged with bobber and hook for thelittle fisherman you may have the oc-casion to take fishing. Rememberthey are the future of tomorrow’sfishing.

Most of all have fun no matter whatstyle of fishing you choose becauseas the old saying goes time spentfishing is not counted against yourlifespan.

Good luck and Good fishing!

Iowa dam with my dad using baitcasters. Both quickly back lashed andwell you could say that dad wouldhave benefited from a session ofanger management that day. I knowexactly how he felt as I got older andhad similar experiences. There may

have been areel or twothat acci-dentally felloff the boatand into thelake once ortwice. Fun-ny how easyit is to havethem falllike that.

Actuallythe bad olddays of baitcasters arebehind us for

the most part. If you take the time tolearn the settings on bait casters youcan save yourself a lot of high bloodpressure and well lost reels. Baitcasters work best with heavier line. Ispool most of mine with 12 poundtest Berkley Trilene. It just seems towork best for my fishing needs al-though you can go heavier. I don’tever go less than ten pound testthough you can in some cases.

The first thing I do after putting thebait caster on the rod and puttingfresh line on is to tie on the lure I willbe using. The next thing and mostimportant is to adjust the line tensionsetting. I adjust it so the lure fallsslowly to the floor with no backspooling. Back spooling is whatcauses the dreaded back lash along

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Here is Jeff Porath with a coyote.

REEL… Cont’d. from previous pg.


not in both. Teams choosing to score points in thebig 15/20 will earn 1 point per pound of fish and

teams wishing toparticipate in thetotal numbers for-mat will score 1point for each fishthey weigh in. The next and final

stop in the South-eastern Bowfish-ing championshipSeries will beGeorgia’s ownClark Hill Lake.Clark Hill runs theeastern borderbetween Georgia

and South Carolina and offers hundreds of miles ofshoreline for teams to wet and arrow. This eventwill be a big 20 format and will be the last chancefor competing teams to score points towards theSeries Championship. This will be do or die for sev-eral teams and promises to bring some great bow-fishing action.

Once all the weights are in and the points havebeen totaled, the sport of bowfishing will have itsfirst ever Southeastern Bowfishing Championshipteam. They will have accomplished something noother bowfishing team has ever done and will haveproofed to there peers they have earned the rightto call themselves champions.

Does your team have what it takes?For more information on the South-eastern Bowfishing Championship

Series or any of the five Series events,contact Mike McCombie at

[email protected] or visit theSeries website at

BowfishingChampionshipSeries.com

SoutheasternBowfishing

ChampionshipSeries

By Mike McCombieBowfishing for many of us is just a way to kill

some time in the off-season, have a little fun withfamily and friends while trying to stay cool in thesummer heat. What many people don’t realize isthat there are hundreds of people that live, eat,and breath the sport of Bowfishing. They have tensof thousands of dollars wrapped up in their equip-ment and custom boats all designed for one pur-pose, tournament Bowfishing.

Unfortunately for the hundreds of competitiveBowfishermen out there, the sport of competitiveBowfishing consist of local tournaments here andthere, with a few larger more organized eventsthrown in over the summer with the highlight beingthe BAA World Championships in mid July. Welltimes they are a changing!

The Southeastern Bowfishing Championship Se-ries was created with the sole purpose of bringingthe long awaited for, and needed structure to theworld of Competitive Bowfishing. The Southeast-ern Bowfishing Championship Series will utilizefive of the largest tournaments in the southeastUS, The Muzzy Classic, The Sportsman’s Ware-house Bowfishing Classic, The Backwater Bowfish-ing’s Guntersville Shootout, The BAA World Cham-pionship, and the SBCS series finale. Teams com-peting in the Southeastern Bowfishing Champi-onship Series will accrue points for attending and

placing in each of these five events. Kicking off the SBCS the last weekend of April

will be the Muzzy Classic on Alabama’s own LakeGuntersville. Lake Guntersville is well known forits monster grass carp and big buffalo and shouldprovide some excellent fishing this time of year.Here 70 plus three man teams will be competingfor the heaviest weight of 20 big fish. Each teamwill score 1 point towards there series score foreach pound of fish they bring to the weigh in.

From the Muzzy Classic teams will travel northto Tennessee’s lake Chickamauga to compete inthe Sportsman’s Warehouse Bowfishing Classic onMay 31. This commonly over looked lake holdssome large fish and it’s clear waters make LakeChickamauga an ideal bowfishing location. Hereteams will compete for heaviest total weight of 20fish and again teams competing in the SBCS willearn 1 point per pound of fish weighed in.

From lake Chickamauga teams will travel backto Lake Guntersville June 28 for the BackwaterBowfishing’s Guntersville Shootout. Even thoughthis the same Lake the Muzzy Classic took placeon two months earlier, Lake Guntersville will fishlike a com-pletely dif-ferent bodyof water. Thethick sum-mer grasswill have setin making it avery chal-lenging bow-fishing event.This eventwill be thefirst of two events that are dual format tourna-ments. Teams will be able to compete in either abig 15 format or a total number of fish format or

both, but teams wishing to score points towardsthe SBCS will only be able to score in one format. Ifteams choose toscore in the big 15format they willearn one point forevery pound offish they weigh in.If they choose toscore in the totalnumbers formatthey will receiveone point forevery fish theyweigh in.

July 12 will findthe teams at theBowfishing Asso-ciation of America World Championships in LafitteLouisiana and at the fourth leg of the SBCS. Thesecoastal waters will most certainly throw a curveball to several teams with less experience in fish-ing tidal currents associated with this area andwith time running out for some teams, this event

could be thedeciding fac-tor whetherthey staywithin strik-ing distanceof the leadersor fall out ofreach ofthem. TheWorld Cham-pionship isthe second

and final dual format event in the SBCS and justlike the Guntersville Shootout teams will have anopportunity score in either format they choose but


MINOX has opened a whole new world for anyonewho enjoys the outdoors with introduction of theirall-new DCM digiscoping system - a digital camera,video, monitor and eyepiece all combined in onecompact unit. Fitted to a quality spotting scope,the DCM (Digital Camera Module) provides a fast,simple solution for taking digital photos and videofootage through a scope.

Simply fitted to the scope’s eyepiece bayonet,this optics innovation is an ideal combination of adigital camera with normal functions, a 2-3/8”high-resolution monitor and an eyepiece all in one.Best of all, no additional equipment, such asbrackets or special adapters, is needed to get intopractical digiscoping. MINOX design-engineershave successfully bridged the separate worlds ofhigh-performance optics and digital camera tech-nology to create this compact, lightweight, afford-able package.

The DCM is convenient to carry because itweighs less than one pound and measures onlyabout 2-5/8”x2-1/4”x2-3/4”. The large screenallows more than one person to view the subject atthe same time, and also see the pictures taken orbeing taken. It’s like a powerful telephoto lens, andthe 5-megapixel camera is multi-compatible - withfive different bayonet fittings now available forhigh-quality scopes from Zeiss, Leica, Swarovski

and Kowa, as well as the MINOX MD 62 series.Using the MINOX MD 62 Spotting Scope, with afocal length of 440mm, the magnification is 40X.

Watertight and shock-proof, the DCM can beused in adverse weather conditions, and it’s builtto stand up to rough outdoor use if necessary. Aconvenient, built-in “flip-up” lens hood protectsthe TFT monitor and operating controls whenbeing carried or stored, and even more importantit serves as an anti-dazzle shield when in use, pre-venting reflections on the viewfinder. The 2-3/8”monitor serves not only as the viewfinder but alsofor fine adjustments of the normal camera func-tions and for checking images after shooting.Remote control for zoom, shutter release, changebetween image and video and video operation.

Digiscoping with the MINOX DCM offers greatadvantages to a wide range of users. You can get aclose-up view of distant scenes and take picturesor video footage at the same time, always captur-ing sharp images, rich in detail. To store images,this exceptional camera has an internal memory of128 MB, and a port for SD memory cards with upto 4 GB capacity. Power is provided by a replace-able, high-capacity lithium-ion battery. And theDCM comes complete with battery, remote controland soft pouch. MAP is $399.

w w w . m i n o x . c o mw w w . m i n o x . c o m

Fishing OpenerTackle SuggestionsBy: Dan Gapen, Sr.With winter finally past we now

can look to warm days and betterfishing results.

Where I come from,Minnesota, it’s been acold and snowy winter.As the rosebud and cher-ry blossom began tobloom in Kentucky andTennessee, the first weekin April, weMinnesotans got hit witha winter storm thatdumped 20 inches ofheavy wet snow on us.Not an encouraging hap-pening when the springitch to fish is strong.

You’ve had all winterto select tackle neededfor that first day out.Hopefully, you pickedthe right style and color of lures toentice those early biters.

Rod and reel selections are the eas-iest to select. They remain constantthroughout the spring, summer andfall. The same is not true of lureselection. Lures are a horse of anoth-er color.

If you still haven’t decided whichlure style, or which color to use,

maybe I can help with afew suggestions. At thetender age of 76 you’dexpect this Ol’ man tohave gained someknowledge.

For the largemouthbass angler who willfind their favorite preyin shallow water in apost or pre-spawn posi-tion you are advised touse the colors white,yellow, chartreuse andsilver to produce bestresults.

Select crankbaits in aminnow style such as aRapala or Flub Dub. Ablue-backed Rapala

with white sides and belly is an excel-lent choice. A Shiner or gold roach

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2008

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The Ol’ Man with a decent sized hybrid

caught on a 2-1/2 inchShiner Flub Dub


belief that natural colorssuch as grey, tan andolive do an even betterjob on this fish in thespring. Pick any 1/32 oz.hair jig or plastic twisttail jig and it will work.If they seem to be a bitfinicky try using a 1/32oz. Freshwater Shrimpjig. It’s glitter tail andpalmer-wound featheredbody is a jig even thefinicky crappie can’tresist.

Walleye are a cat ofanother color. Springcolors will vary from

white tob l a c k .W h e r ewinter icecover is late coming offyour favorite water,black is often the lurecolor of choice.

Why?Being primarily a

minnow feeder this timeof year their food basewill be black-backed fat-head and shiner min-nows for about 10-daysafter ice out. Living in adark environment allwinter sees these min-nows take on a dark col-oring, especially on theirbacks and sides. Winterhabitat, which is in a

dark setting, causes allnatural creations tochameleonize. It’s theirmeans of survival.

However, walleyewhich are not exposed towinter ice, or at leastvery little of it, colorselection will change.Use the colors white,yellow, silver and char-treuse, (chartreuse beingthe best color selectionfor spring walleye.) It’shard to beat jigs in thesecolors. To better theattractiveness of thesespring walleye jigs trytipping them with a liveor dead minnow. Theadded smell of the natu-ral bait will double the

number of strikes you will receive.Because we are attempting to rep-

resent minnows, the walleye’s naturalfood in spring, any stick plug inbright colors produce results.Because walleye, even spring wall-eye are found in deeper water thanbass and crappie, try using a deep-lipped stick plug to attain properdepth presentations.

For those of you who’d like to trysomething new and aren’t too lazy towork a bait, I have a new lure for youto try. The Flicker Plus insilver/white, yellow, chartreuse orblue/white is a lure new to this mar-ket and research proved it to be

colored Flub Dub withtheir holographic finish-es and flashing holo-graphic spinner, wherethe front treble is nor-mally placed, workextremely well for large-mouth in the spring.Length of these plugswill vary from 3 to 4-1/2inches for best results.

Of course it’s hard tobeat a buzz bait or spin-ner bait in chartreuse orwhite for spring’s shal-low-water largemouth.The aggressive nature ofbass, due to the nearnessto reproduction is stimu-lated even more by thevibration and sound of aspinner style bait runrapidly over its head.

Much to the surprise of many large-mouth anglers, flashy spoons willentice Ol’ bucket mouth into strikingat this time of year. The Ol’ reliableEppinger Dardevle in silver or metal-lic colors catches its share of bass inthe spring. Another spoon-like lurethat will entice largemouth in springis the 1/4 oz. Flicker Plus in white orchartreuse colors. For best results thisjigging spoon style lure must beretrieved in a darting-jerky rapidmotion, keeping it close to surface.This is accomplished when the anglerholds his rod tip high overhead as astart-stop retrieve is administered.

A final bass bait is a new one-it’s

the “Rattling” PolishBass and Polish Crappiein a 2 or 4-inch size thatproduces. Remember,largemouth bass will eattheir own and love tofeed on young crappie.These Polish lures madeby HRT of Poland do asgood a job as I’ve everseen on duplicatingsmall bass and crappie.Go to Gapen’s websiteat www.gapen.com tolearn more.

Spring Crappie areby far the easiest toentice. Once crappiesease intothe spawn-ing modeor pre-

spawn mode, they willhit just about anythingthat moves. As a matter-of-fact, they’ll hit any-thing whether it movesor doesn’t move.

Added to their stupid-ity is the fact they havelittle sense of smell dur-ing this time. Thus, acrappie will suck in anyhair or plastic jig sus-pended beneath a float.Most anglers believewhite, yellow, pink andchartreuse are the colorswhich entice springcrappie best. It’s my

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5700 W. Plank Rd. (Rt. 116) in Bellevue, IL

(309) 697-4723

Dan Gapen, Sr., the Ol’ Man shows

off a nice spring walleye taken on a Firetiger

Flub Dub.

The old red & whitecaptured this walleye

for ‘Bobber’ Annewhile spring fishing,

the lure was a 3-1/2 in. Flub Dub.

An orange FreshwaterShrimp took this trophy

pike in shallow waterwhile fishing forCrappie with an

ultra-lite rod and reel.


onship. The State Championshiptournament will also crown the An-glers of the Year with a $1,000.00certificate from Mercury Marineand receive 80% of the Angler ofthe Year fund, plus an invite to theCabelas National Championship in2009. Complete results and infor-mation can be found onwww.prairielandeyes.com

Don’t forget the 2nd annual An-gler Young Angler tournamentschedule for June 1, 2008 in Hen-nepin IL. The field for this event is50 teams and only about 7 spotsleft. www.angleryoungangler.ca

We would like to thank out finesponsors for all their support, Hen-nepin Marine, Lund Boats, MercuryMarine, and Cabelas.

5th Tournament

ResultsThe Illinois Walleye Trail found

the Illinois River cooperating Sun-day 4/6/08 for its 5th tournament ofthe 2008 season. Not only was thewater in great shape with clarityaround 1 foot, surface temps 50 de-grees and sunny skies the main in-gredient the Saugers were biting.41 teams from Illinois, Iowa, Wis-consin and Indiana scaled 141Saugers weighing 264 pounds with15 limits brought to the scales.

With a repeat win the team ofMax Actis and Mike Stuckert bothof Spring Valley using a jig andminnow, captured the top spot witha limit of 6 fish scaling 17.14pounds earning them $1,465.00. Asowners of a Lund Boat they also re-ceived the bonus money from Lundof $250.00. Max and Mike are alsothe leaders in the 2008 race for An-glers of the Year.

Placing second was the father andson team of Brian and Jerry Ernatfrom Princeton, Illinois with a limitof Sauger weighing 15.67 and a

check for $760.00.Rounding out the topthree was Jake LaPine andJulie Nelson with 14.65pounds paying them$490.00. Jake and Juliealso had the big fish hon-ors with a 4.51pound Sauger for anadditional $400.00.

Mark Actis Sr. and Thom Mate-jewski of Spring Valley place 4thand won the $100.00 gift certificatefrom Hennepin Marine along withnormal payout. Our final tourna-ment of the 2008 season will beMay 3-4, 2008 in Spring Valley,Illinois. The 2-day State Champi-onship has additional contingencymoney involved including a$1,000.00 Highest placing Lundboat owner compliments of LundBoats and Hennepin Marine.

The winners of the State Champi-onship will also receive a $1,000.00certificate complements of MercuryMarine and a qualifying spot for the2009 Cabelas National Champi-

1st Place: Max Actis & Mike StuckertSpring Valley, Illinois

extremely hot on spring walleye. Goto www.gapen.com for more details.If you are going to work water lessthan 20 feet of depth select a 1/4 ozsize. Water over 20 feet requires the 1oz. size.

By working this bait it must beflicked every two to four seconds asit’s presented along the bottom. Suchactions represent the struggling of acrippled baitfish. Walleye love easytargets, especially those egg-ladenpre-spawn, fat female walleye.

Next month I’ll take you into thewarmer days of summer to help youselect lure styles available to addweight to your stringer.

Until next month, this is The Ol’man, Dan Gapen, Sr. suggesting youRELAX-SAVOR-ENJOY our greatoutdoors

GAPEN…Cont’d. from previous pg.

The Hot NEW FLICKER PLUSa lure which will catch all springspecies, 1/4 oz. Chartreuse and 1 oz. Holographic Blue shown.

GAPEN.COM


LAYOUTGUNNING: The Ultimate Waterfowling

By Pat Gregory Illinois Waterfowler/Decoy-maker

[email protected] following pictures are from our

last two seasons of layout hunting onLake Erie with Jim Schmiedlin and hisgunning crew. This is a pictorial histo-ry of some of the finest waterfowlingand fellowship I get to experience. In-cluded in these pictures are gunners JimSchmiedlin, Jeff “Moose” Morrison, EdMorree all hailing from Pennsylvania,Vic Sutek who hails from the great stateof Ohio and Pat Gregory from Illinois.

High points of these most excellenttrips include an incredible brotherhoodshared by layout gunners, gunning overall handmade decoys plus the fast andfurious gunning of divers over big wa-ter. Another big thrill is to float some ofmy handmade decoys with Jim’s rig.Shots in the pictures include Jim’s in-credible hand carved decoys, gunningin his stealth layout boat, the comfortsof Moose’s tender boat and other as-sorted pictures.

Layout gunning with these guys is agreat highlight in my waterfowl season.I appreciate my brothers and for themallowing me to share in this uniquebrotherhood. I thank God for each ofthem and their friendship.


able (and repeatable) ar-row flight on the prac-tice range. Carbon ar-rows are light, fast and

very straight, so what accounts forthe variation in flight on therange? Innerloc® believes, andtheir testing supports, that the cul-prit is the broadhead’s orientationas it bottoms out and tightens

against the arrow in-sert.

Here’s the sce-nario.

A 300 fps bowlaunches an arrow atapproximately 200mph. In a perfectlytuned bow (in a per-fect world), theblades slice precise-ly through a 200mph wind and thearrow shoots to thesame impact pointevery time. Ofcourse, we live inthe real world andthis actually NEVERhappens. The bestwe can hope for isworking to make the

tiny glitches in nock points, arrowrests, arrow spines, etc. REPEAT-ABLE from shot to shot. It is thenthat tight consistent groups beginto take shape. At this point, the

only adjustment that is NOT re-peating itself from shot to shot isthe posi-tion of thebroadheadblades onthe carbonshaft. Inthe fewnano sec-onds thatthe fletch-ing is try-ing to sta-bilize thearrow, theb r o a d -head, atsome point, may be slightly influ-enced the “wind”. At 200 milesper hour, even thesmallest glitch inbow tuning can cre-ate minute changesin the forces of thewind against thebroadhead. In fact,at these speeds evenmechanical headsare subject to suchforces. To deal withthese forces, Inner-loc® has createdB.A.T., Blade Align-ment TechnologyTM.

Innerloc’s challenge has been togain control of thelast remaining “un-adjustable” tuningcomponent and theyhave done so withamazing results.B.A.T. is featured intwo new heads, theFalconTM and theCarbon TunerTM.Both feature aunique dual-threaded“stud” that offers in-sert threads and

Innerloc® Defines a NewCategory of Broadheads

at ATA Trade Show

The ongoing debate over the im-portance of tuning broadheads totoday’s lighting fast bows is an is-sue put to rest by Sullivan Indus-tries at the recent ATA Trade Showin Indianapolis.Most industry gurusagree that as bowshave gotten fasterthey have becomeslightly more diffi-cult to tune andslightly less forgiv-ing to shooter error.Add to this the mar-kets growing prefer-ence for carbon ar-rows that can’t takethe necessary heatneeded for tuningglued-in broadheadarrow inserts andyou’ve got...well,you’ve got a lot ofarchers shootingbigger groups.While it’s true thatthe speed of these bows provides alarger “kill window” at variousranges, many archers agree thattheir confidence builds with goodtight groups and consistently reli-

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broadhead body threads. Together,the dual-threaded stud allows new

.027 thickblades tobe posi-tioned andt i g h t e n e dat anypoint inthe insert,r e s u l t i n gin broad-head bladeorientationthat match-es perfect-ly from ar-row to ar-

row. The Falcon head carries theentire concept a step further with a

single piece tip thataligns the tip edgesto the blade edgesand makes the entirehead more compact.Falcon broadheadusers can expect per-fect alignment fromthe tip through thefletching and thenock. With Falconheads, an archer canset-up every arrow inhis quiver exactly the

same. The Falcon will be availableas a stainless 100gr head or as an

85gr stainless/alu-minum. The CarbonTuner will be avail-able in a 100gr mod-el similar in designto Innerloc’s suc-cessful replaceableblade line with tun-ing capability. Formore information onB.A.T. and technicaldiscussions, visit In-nerloc’s web site at:

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byLarry

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Dozard


three years we saw more baitfishand reaped benefits or better catch-es. A few years ago Bull ShoalsLake in Arkansas was 30 foot or soover pool but had a tremendousspawn and fishing was awesomefor 4 years. We noticed a taper offin size of fish last year but as Iwrite this the lake was about 39-41foot over pool (maybe a record) sothe fishing should be great for nextfew years again.

High water conditions oftenmeans increased current, murky ormuddy water, floating debris andwhen waters rise into the launchramp parking lots, many launchareas may be closed and you mayneed to do some checking. As forfishing, we have found that head-ing to the backs of creeks or backsof coves where the muddy andclear water meet and fishing thisedge can be productive. Anotherspot is to maneuver over areas offlooded vegetation with yourtrolling motor where fish are feed-ing on worm and insects.

When lakes drop back down,those large numbers of baitfish getpushed or squeezed into a smallerlake area and the predator fish havean easier time finding their primaryfood source. This makes for a muchbetter survival and better growthrate for the game fish we all try tocatch.

Another factor of these highwater conditions is with the largeamounts of water released orspilled by these lakes makes for animpact on more fish showing updownstream.

Now after all this flooding may

come a hot summer and with allthat more bait or food, your fishingsuccess may seem slower but wecan assure you there will be morecatchable and better sizes in thenext couple of years.

Knowing the lake or stretch ofriver you will be fishing is impor-tant since fish will be near struc-tures such as ledges, rocks, trees,stumps, logs which may not be vis-ible on the surface now. Sincethere may be no way you wouldknow this is where a good topo-graphical lake map is important nomatter what type of fishing you do.It will provide information as tothe terrain and general depths youwill be dealing with. Knowing iflake is normally a shallow or deeplake, are there flooded old roadbeds, where the creek channels are,etc. A good contour map will pointout all those prime underwaterfishing spots such as humps,islands and flooded timber. This isa great time to have a lake mapwhile the lakes are high and hard tokey into areas from the shorelinethat is exposed. There is now a newtopo/contour map with 3D imageon back available for EvergreenLake at the park headquarters atthe lake. Be sure to get your copynext time you are there.

EVENTS: Illinois Free FishingDays will be June 6 - 9th this year.Get out and enjoy fishing duringthis weekend when a fishinglicense is Not required.

PRODUCTS: We are testing

some new baits this year and one isthe American Spirit Double DancerLure a versatile spoon that can becast, trolled or jigged. We hadgood success trout fishing and willbe putting to use more. Check themon the web at www.american-premiercorp.com and look overtheir catalog.

We still have a few 2008 FishingCalendars full of money savingcoupons & more and our 2008Fishing photo contest is underwaywith winners receiving a pair ofFishGillz floating polarized sun-glasses each month. Check our sitefor the new photo theme eachmonth and to see the past winnersor for details, fishing reports, newproduct reviews and more fishingmaterial at www.larrysfishing-hole.com.

Till Next Time GOD BLESS &GOOD FISHING !

HighHigh WWateraterThe heavy rains we had early had

caused high water conditions onmost rivers and many lakes. In fact,it created flooding in low-lyingareas. I heard some anglers statethat the soggy conditions damp-ened many of their outings. Lakesswelled to about 2 times its surfacesize. Many southern Illinois lakeswere well over pool and evenspilling as were other southernstates lakes that swelled to 2 timesor more its normal surface size.Rains are unpredictable and caneven ruin a spring fishing trip andfishing high water requires a highdegree of persistence.

But on the bright side this shouldmake for better fishing for the nextcouple of years. These high waterlevels make for the best spawningconditions for most all species offish. We remember past years whenlake levels got into the trees andonto weed flats or bays, for two-

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For a great fishing experience in one of the bestlakes in Northwestern Ontario’s Wilderness, visit Pakashkan Lake Lodge. We provide 26 miles of great sportfishing,scenery, camping, canoeing and wildlife, and a good chance of landing

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and aitsStation 4 - The aquatic environ-

mentStation 5 - Fish identificationStation 6 - Knot tyingStation 7 - CastingStation 8 - Fish cooking and clean-

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mo.The presentation at each station

will last approximately 10-15 min-utes. There will be a five-minute be-tween presentations. A child will berequired to complete seven of thenine stations, in whatever order ortime frame they choose, to receive aprize. Each station can accommodateup to 20 children.

Many of the demonstrations andtips will be from professional anglers.

Pre-registration is not necessary.Registration will take place as chil-dren arrive.

When a child registers, they will re-ceive a packet, which contains an in-struction sheet, a coupon for freefood and drink and a ticket for any

10TH ANNUALBAKER LAKE

KIDS FISHINGEXPO

Don’t miss the 10th AnnualKids Fishing Expo

Saturday, May 17, 2008.The fun will take place 9 a.m.-2

p.m. at Baker Lake in Peru.The Kids Fishing Expo is a free

fishing clinic for beginning young-sters. All boys and girls age 6 and up,plus their parents, are invited to at-tend.

The “how-to” clinic provides in-struction in the following basic fish-ing topics at nine separate stations:

Station 1 - Fishing safety, ethics,rules and regulations

Station 2 - Fishing equipment: rodsand reels

Station 3 - Fishing equipment: lures

8-Week ClassOffered: Learn to

Shoot andGun Safety

Freeport, IL - TheUnited Sportsmen’sYouth Foundation issponsoring a learn to shoot and gunsafety lessons for 8 Wednesdays, be-ginning May 7th, and ending June24th. Class starts at 6pm until dark.

Beginners and kids shoot in a sepa-rate area without crowds in this fun,low-stress sport. Free instructors, t-shirt, hat, shells, and USYF member-

ship to all who register.Kids 18 and under areencouraged to register.Loaner guns are avail-able.

$100 fee goes to pro-viding more programslike this to the youth ofthe local area. Donationsgraciously accepted by

this non-profit Youth Foundation. Space is limited, so call soon! Call for times and to register at 815-

599-5690 fax: 815-232-2743 Write: USYF, 1971 Route 75 E.Freeport, IL 61032

See www.USYF.com for additionalupcoming dates and events.

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raffle or door prizes offered.After completing seven ofthe nine stations, the childmay return the stamp cardfor a prize.

In addition to the clinicstations, several other fish-ing games will be set up.These games are free and“carnival” type prizes addto the fun.

Children do not need to register toplay the games.

Baker Lake, adjacent to the expo,will be stocked with fish and “openfishing” will be allowed. Free baitwill be provided.

The Illinois Department of NaturalResources Urban Fishing Programwill loan rods and reels to the expo. A

Boy Scouts of America Fishing, Row-ing and Canoeing merit badge coun-selor will be on site.

The Baker Lake Kids Fishing Expois sponsored by the Better Fishing As-sociation, Illinois Department of Nat-ural Resources, Illinois Valley Sun-rise Rotary Club and La Salle RotaryClub, in association with the cities of

Peru, La Salle and Oglesby,and Peru River RescueSquad.

For more information, con-tact Mark Dudek at (815)220-3901 or Tom Wall at(815) 223-3671, or visit theBFA Web site at www.bet-ter-fishing-assoc.org


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Sign Up Early! Call Connie Martin: 309-241-3422

Tri County Ducks & Geese Forever

Held at Jacob Hill Trap Shooting Range20516 E. CO HWY 22 • Canton, IL • (309) 668-2501

COME TO WEBFOOT DAY! Kids up to age 16 welcome, accompanied by an adult. A Great Day of

Fishing, Bow & Arrows, BB Gun & Trap Shooting with Adult Present. Breakfast & Lunch provided!

Registration 8:00 a.m. • Fishing 9:00 a.m.

For questions call: Jorita & John Hill: (309) 346-4278

Webfoot Day • Sat. June 14th

Here are a few words from DeniseAdams, owner of the new Tater’s Bait(formally Bob’s Bait on N. Grand in

Springfield. Pick up ASO at the store!)“My deer was shot in Sangamon

County with a 20 gauge shot gun. Myfirst shot was on the top of head and thedeer was stunned and I had to ask myhusband do I shoot it again? He saidyes so I shot it again hitting it in the

belly. Then my husband and son had tochase it 500 yards and he had to put itdown with a third shot. My husband

(Tom) and my son (Brian) had to carryit out of the brush. It made me feel

really good to take this deer becauseI’ve had several strokes over the pastcouple years. And it feels great to stillbe able to get out and try new things. I urge others to try things that theyhave not been able to do before.”

NICE SHOT DENISE!

Cheryl Murraywith a fine Rio

Grande gobbler she

harvested W. ofRock Springs,TX. Cheryl

and her husband Bob

were the guestsof Rob Rowelland his fiance´

Cindy. The11,000 acre

4-Square ranch is located on the Edwards Plateau in West Texas.Cheryl took the bird with her Remington 1187 loaded with Rem. 3”

mag. heavy shot. It was her first gobbler, but she had previouslytaken a bearded hen and a nice jake. CONGRATS CHERYL!


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Under the SpellUnder the Spellof the Gobbleof the Gobble

By Donna [email protected]

Dear Friends,I find it very hard to write to you

today. The day promises to be beau-tiful and sunny. I need to get out andclear off the garden and prune grapes.We already have spinach and lettuceup and have planted peas. We have ahuge garden – have for years.There’s nothing like fresh Veggiesand working in the dirt. I love it –I’ve gardened forever and plan tokeep on. As long as I can plant atomato and pull a weed. I’ll go downhoeing!!

It’s pretty early in the morning so ifI don’t get “rabbit trailed and stay fo-cused, I should be able to do both.That is – spend time writing to youfolks and getting out there in the goodole “Outdoors”.

While I was coyote hunting, I wassurprised to hear a sound I hadn’theard all winter. On the morn of Feb-ruary 8th as I gently closed the doorof my ’79 4X4 pickup “Ole Bess”there it was – faint – but I was sure ofit. I knew that sound. Just like amom can pick out her own kids’voice from a crowded pool as theyyell “MOM” to watch them dog-pad-dle for the first time. Even today, my

daughters being grown with theirown children – I still have “the moth-er ear”. Just the other day, I heard agroup of people walking around townfor exercise. From my yard I couldhear laughter, and knew it was ouryoungest – Jenny – sure enough – sheyelled – HI MOM!!

Instantly on that chilly morn inFebruary my “turkey ears” honed inon a Gobble – no mistake! As Iwalked to the stand that I would coy-ote hunt from, the Gobbles becamelouder and a lot of them. They mademy heart sing and filled me to thebrim with excitement and grateful-ness just to be alive and hear turkeys

again. I loved it. Instantly Iwas drawn under “TheSpell” –I became “SpellBound”.

The dictionary definesspell-bound as – bewitched,charmed, mesmerized, hyp-notized, captivated, fasci-nated, enthralled and en-chanted. “Whew” that aboutsums it up for me. I don’tknow abut your, but when Ihear gobbling - I’m like oneof the mice following thePied-Piper!

I’ll confess to you some ofthe crazy and stupid thingsI’ve done under the “influ-ence of the gobble”.Let’s start off with the most

dangerous one. And rightfrom the beginning I’mtelling you not to do this. I

don’t know how I let the “Spell” getthe better of my good senses – but itdid.

I had rained the night before – anice warm spring rain accompaniedby some thunder and lightening. Ihad a hard time going to sleep as un-usual with the excitement of openingday and didn’t get much sleep. Ilooked out side and the storm lookedlike it was moving in to the south.Great – I knew where I wanted to bethat morn so I headed down the roadwith plenty of dark to spare.

I put all my “stuff” in the truck thenight before so I wouldn’t forget any-thing – for once I didn’t! I’d even

oiled the hinges on the topper so theywouldn’t squeak. I was ready.

The horizon to the west was start-ing to light up. Not because of thesun coming up – but lightening. Iwas all ready to go and thoughtmaybe it wouldn’t come back thisway. Just then I heard gobbling –right where they were the night be-fore!

WHAMO – It hit me hard – TheSpell – I said “that does it, I’m go-ing”. I had to go about a mile to myspot and I started hoofing it. All thewhile hearing and seeing the stormcoming my way. The turkeys wouldgobble every time the thunder rum-bled, enticing me on. I was walkingacross an open plowed corn field asthe thunder boomed and lighteninggot closer and I felt “stupider”.

I slogged on like a zombie......boots heavy with mud – now pouringdown rain – carrying my 870 (a nicemetal lightening rod) toward thosemesmerizing bewitching gobbles!!What was I thinking!! I’ll tell you –That if I went back, I could get struckby lightening and become one withthe dirt clods... right by my truck... orI could go on and go out with the lastthing to hear and see was a gobbleand glow. They “gobble – groweled”and that did it.!!! I went on. Thestorm crashed and boomed and I ranacross the field to get into the timberso I couldn’t be the tallest target forthe lightening to hit. But then the treethat was to be my “spot” was thelargest oak on the ridge! I sat there


can get it so easy.So there you have

it.!!!! You’d think that some of thesedifficulties would take care of this ob-session with turkeys. But I’ll bet a lotof you can go right down my list andnod your head and say “Yep – beenthere – done that!”

But the next question from me to youis – will you do it again? I know whatmy answer will be. Gobble On!

Be Safe and Be Back…See Ya, Donna

anyway – defying the lightening to hitme. It didn’t. The storm passed quick-ly., Soon after.. I got my Gobbler. Ithanked God for sparing my senselessself and prayed for Him to forgive mefor being lured by such a spell. I knowHe’s forgiven me – but I’m still underthe Spell!!

For instance, here’s a list of a fewmore times that I’ve succumbed to theGobble.

• Crawled on my hands and kneesthrough mud and Multi-flora

• Fought off mosquitoes and gnatsthat gnawed on my face so that I re-sembled a puffy bumpy hedge-ball

• Encountered ticks, spiders, BumbleBees and chiggers.

• Had a copper-head crawl over myboots in Kentucky.

• I once flew up in the air so high, I’msure I broke the Olympic record forStanding Broad Jump! I pushed downon an electric strand of barbed wire. Ithad never been hot before. I managedto hang on to my gun and land on bothfeet. The judges would have given mea “10” for that alone! Boy did it everjolt me. Surprised the heck out of metoo!!

• I’ve been tired, hungry, discour-aged, disappointed and doubtful.

• My boots have been full of waterand loaded with 10 lbs of mud

• One season I had hurt my knee – soI used a cane to get out into the woods.

• I’ve shivered in the cold and beendripping with sweat, all in the same day.

• I’ve waded creeks over my kneesand sunk to my ankles in mud

• Had a Black Angus bull come upbehind me on the other side of a hedgetree I was sitting against and snorteddirt with his nose – I could see the dust,he couldn’t see me! WHEW If hewould have I’d been up that tree like asquirrel!

• I was frantically taking the barreloff my 870 to unplug mud I’d jammedin it climbing a ridge to get to 3 turkeysgobbling their heads off in a field at thetop.

I don’t know how many cases of poi-son ivy I’ve had. I get it really badsometimes. I’m very careful, because I

Name a Caption…Jeff took a picture of me the other day standing

front of my Mother’s Day Turkey Fan. I thoughtit’d be fun to have contest to see what kind of“Caption” you could come up with for me.

I’ll print your titles in the MAY issue and thena panel of qualified, distinguished judges (me &Jeff) will determine the winners.

ENTER MY CONTEST!!!

WIN THIS! I made a turkey-feather tree orna-

ment for the lucky winner. So emailme those clever ideas. Let me hearfrom some of your witty - and twist-ed minded people - I know you’reout there and let’s have some fun!!

Send those in to me before June15th, 2008 to PO Box 44, Laura, IL

61451 or NOTICE my new emailat: [email protected]

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be a great op-portunity tosee how Menv. Womenpack for hunt-ing trips.

I started mypacking almost one month prior totraveling to Arkansas. Knowingthat dressing for success is essen-tial; I knew I needed to plan mywardrobe accordingly for the

woods. Meeting people for the firsttime you need to make a good im-pression. I packed my camouflage,which would allow me to create amultitude of outdoor ensembles toget me through daytime huntingand late evening dinners.

Some would say, for a short busi-ness trip, there’s absolutely no needto pack more than one suit. Sinceyou’ll literally need to wear it dayand night, the suit you pack for abusiness trip should have a classiccut and be a neutral color that wayit’s easy to match with two differ-ent shirts. Of course, no onepacked a suit for this trip, but thesame philosophy could apply forcamouflage clothing.

I however packed three differentshades of camouflage to make sureI had the environment hue covered.All of which had matching shirts,pants, and jackets. Even my Alpinebow matched my hunting attire. Icouldn’t wait to see if anyone elsehad the same matching camo tech-niques.

One morning over coffee, I posedmy two-pronged question to every-one... when did you start packingfor this hunt and what did youpack? Two of the Knight and HalePro Staff said they started a fewdays before our trip and they bothhad several different changes ofcamo.

One stated he had his favoriteTurkey Calls, which was the firstthings he packed. Lawrence Tay-lor with Pradco Hunting stated hemade a list and started planning amonth in advance. He even took in-to account that there would bewomen on the trip and broughtthoughtful items such as bagels andcream cheese. He told me if thishunt had been all men, he probablywouldn’t have brought bagels.

The women definitely packeddifferent. Barbara Baird brought acoffee pot, gourmet coffee and fla-vored creamer. She too had several

Recently, I was invited to go ona turkey hunt in Newton County,Arkansas, hunting the Buffalo Riv-er and Jene Rush Wilderness Man-agement Area. My good friendVickie Gardner, Vice President forAlpen Optics along with awardwinning photographer, GlennWheeler and several Knight andHale Pro Staff were on this excit-ing trip. With an equal mix of Menand Women, I thought this would

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sets of matching camouflage.Karen Lee, editor for the NWTFbrought beautiful Ozark scentedcandles for everyone as well ashaving matching camo. The womendefinitely had more luggage thanthe men however to my surprise,we all packed similar camo coordi-nates. Everyone was a good sportand this was a fun experiment.

Knight and Hale have a wonder-ful Pro Staff. I was able to learnhow to use the Mini Jenny box callalthough the Hammer Seriesseemed to work the best. The Met-al Hammer was the loudest cuttingthrough the Ozark winds.

On my last day in the Ozarks,when I reached the clear-cut, it wasalmost light enough to see throughmy Alpen binoculars. Hearing thebreaking limbs, sounds of animals,I knew I was listening to paradise.I got my bow ready around the treealong the edge of the clearing.However I never took a shot.

Contact Keli at: [email protected]

Pro Staff:Alpine Archery

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Elkhorn Rod & Reel SKB Cases

How Men vs. Women Pack for Hunting TripsBy Keli Van Cleave

PinkOutdoors.comPinkOutdoors.com

Here’s one of the pictures fromNewton Co., Arkansas hunt. (Thanks to Glenn Wheeler Photography.)

Although none of us killed anyturkeys...this cute 5-year-old

kid, Zane Wheeler, had a greatday hunting squirrels.


Haley Dunn Captures Bronze At Beijing

Springfield, MO Like most college students,Haley Dunn leads a very busy life. As a 23-year-old recent graduate from University ofMissouri-Columbia with an Agriculture Busi-ness Managementdegree, she hasbeen active in FFA,4-H, band, stu-dent council andathletics. She isinvolved with herchurch and sociallife and works forthe family busi-ness guidinghunts and manag-ing the clubhouse. Oh yes, andshe shoots too.

So well in fact, that Haley justreturned from the 2008 WorldCup in Beijing, China with thebronze medal in InternationalSkeet Shooting. And that’s notsomething not every college sen-ior can brag about.

“I was really excited to comeout of this World Cup with amedal,” said Haley. “This is one of the tough-est competitions of the year because all theOlympians and alternates from every countryare there. To come out third was exciting.”

She has a passion for the shooting andhunting sports and helps the industry by sup-porting firearms and hunting. Since January2006, she has been a member of the local

Hunting Pro Team for Bass Pro Shops in Co-lumbia, Missouri. She was recently selected tobe a member of the Bass Pro Shops Next Gen-eration Pro Staff, which includes filming forthe TV show of the same name.

“The level of support I have received fromeveryone at Bass Pro Shops has made a big im-pact on my shooting career,” said Haley.

She works hard to promote shooting andhunting withwomen and youthas well as men.Some of her ac-complishments in-clude a gold medalfor the 2007 PanAmerican games,a Silver for the Do-minican RepublicWorld Cup in2007 and a 1st

place finish for the 2007 WorldChampionship Team selection. Sofar, in 2008 she has been the Mi-ami Cup Women’s Champion andthe Barbados Open Women’sChampion. And now, the Bronzemedal at the 2008 Beijing WorldCup.

Bass Pro Shops would like to con-gratulate Haley Dunn for her ac-complishments and salute her for

being such a positive role model for the indus-try as a whole.

For more information regarding Haleyplease visit her website atwww.HaleyDunn.com

For more information on Bass Pro ShopsNext Generation Pro Staff and TV show, visitwww.basspro.com

Meg Sitzes kneeling withher dad, Mack, a fisheriesbiologist from the State of

Illinois, as she proudlyshows off her 23 lb. turkey.

The bird sported a nine-inch beard and one

inch spurs. She bagged thisbird during the Illinois’

2008 Youth Turkey Hunt inWayne County. Meg used aMossberg 20-gauge shotgun

to get the job done. This is already Meg’s third

turkey and she hasn’t turned 13 yet. Makes you guys out there usinga 12-gauge shotgun with a 31/2 inch shell feel kind of silly doesn’t it?

DeAnne Prochnow of Bloomington got her first deer on their property near Downs. DeAnnee is the wife of Tom Prochnow, and

Mother to Charlie, Chelsea and Curtis. Also, got her “stripes” from her family guys for doing so!

Thanks to Pat Gregory of Bloomington for sharing DeAnne’s 1st deer with ASO!

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My son Tyler, 13, and I wentturkey hunting on Saturday 4/12. Itwas our second Mother-Son hunt.The previous week we had a mature

gobbler struttin with a hen about150 yards out. We gain lots ofknowledge watching the birds butthe opportunity for a harvest began

to grow dim. I told him his time would come

soon. We went back out on Satur-day 4/19/08 and an hour into thehunt we had a bird coming to ourdecoy, I told him to hold steady andlet it rip and we had abird on the ground. Ido not know who wasmore excited him orme. We were definite-ly blessed.

On Wednesday4/23/08 I was blessed

MYMY SON’S FIRSTSON’S FIRSTSPRINGSPRING GOBBLERGOBBLER

By Lynette WhorleyLynchburg, VA • [email protected]

with an incredible hunt. I made afew yelps early and within 5 min-utes the gobbler had snuck within15 yards of me and I put the videocamera down and went for the har-vest. I wanted to video and then I

told myself theharvest wasfirst and thevideo is alwayssecond. I wasable to capturethe recovery onvideo and itwill be a memo-ry in my mind Iwill never for-get.

Good huntingto all...


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Kris’sKitchen

By Kris WinkelmanPANFISH TACOS

People love fish tacos, especiallythe kids. They’re easy to make,simple to serve and fun to eat.Sunfish, crappies and perch areideal candidates for this dish, butpike, walleye, trout or catfish willwork just as well. Enjoy!2 pounds of panfish fillets2 eggs, beaten1/4 cup oil1-1/2 packs saltine crackers 40-50crackers (crushed)Salt and pepper, seasoning salt totaste1 package flour tortillas or hard-shell tacos (your choice)Sauce:1/2 cup sour cream1/2 cup mayo2 tablespoons milkMix until smooth.

Dip fillets in eggs. Roll them incracker crumbs, then put in panwith hot oil, turning fish only oncetill golden brown. Season to tastewith salt, pepper and seasoningsalt. Make fish taco’s the sameway you would regular taco’s. Addcheese, lettuce and salsa.

LOW-CALORIE LEMON WALLEYE

Is there a source of protein that’sbetter than walleye? Not a chance,since fish is packed with nutrientswithout any fat. And the flavor!Especially if you give it a little zingof lemon and bake it, like we’ll do

in this recipe. Serve it with a sideof asparagus and let the ravesbegin.6 walleye fillets1/2 cup flour1-1/2 cups cornmeal2 eggs, beaten1 tablespoon lemon juice1/8 teaspoon garlic powderSalt and pepper to taste

Sprinkle lemon juice over top offish. Set aside for 10 minutes. Mixcornmeal and flour together. Saltand pepper fish fillets, dip in eggbatter. Roll in cornmeal and flourmixture and place in shallow bak-ing dish. Sprinkle with garlic pow-der to your liking. Bake uncoveredat 350! until golden brown. Turnand bake until other side is brown.

WILD PHEASANT - WILD RICE SUPER SUMMER SALAD

Who says salad is a dish servedbefore the main course? This saladIS the main course. It’s loaded withflavor and guaranteed to pleaseeveryone at the table. I like to serveit with breadsticks on the side and

a nice glass of red wine to comple-ment the colors and flavors of thismeal.1/2 cup mayonnaise1 tablespoon lemon juice1 teaspoon curry powder2 cups cooked wild rice (cooked)2 cups cooked pheasant (cooked &cut up)2 celery stalks cut in small pieces1/2 cup carrots cut in small pieces1/2 cup onion (chopped)Salt & pepper to taste2 tablespoons chopped pimentos

Mix mayo, lemon juice & currypowder. Add your cooked pheasantand wild rice, pimentos, celery,carrots, onion, salt & pepper. Mixwell, place in refrigerator for 1hour. Serve in salad greens & cher-ry tomatoes, for garnish.

MEATBALL STROGANOFFHot, hearty stroganoff was

always a favorite in my housewhen I was a kid. When I’d comehome and smell it cooking, boy didI get excited. The same thing isnow true in my home when mydaughter comes in from playingoutdoors. Try this dish in your ownhome and I promise the results willbe the same.1/2 onion1-1/2 pounds ground venison2/3 cup oat meal (uncooked)Salt and pepper to taste1/4 teaspoon dill weed1/4 teaspoon garlic powder1 egg2 cans cream of celery1/2 cup milk1 cup sour cream

Mix onion, venison, oat meal,

salt, pepper, dill weed, garlic andegg. Form into medium-size meat-balls. Spray a 10x13 cake pan andplace meatballs inside. Mix thecream of celery soup and milk, sea-son to taste (I use onion salt, garlicsalt, pepper and dill weed). Pourthe soup mix on top of the meat-balls, cover and bake at 350degrees for 45 minutes. Removethe meatballs and mix sour creaminto the sauce. Place the meatballsback into the sauce, cover andreheat for an additional 15 minutes.

Kris Winkelman’s“Ultimate Wild Gameand Fish Cookbook”

is available for $19.95 plus $9.00

shipping & handling. To order call

1-800-333-0471 or log onto:

www.winkelman.com

REDNECK FISHING TOURNEYJuly 19 & 20 (Sat. & Sun.)See Carp Fly...no poles

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GETTING AN EXPERT OPINION:UNDERSTANDINGLONG-TERM CAREBy: Stephan E. Yoder,

MBA, CLTC, Northwestern Long Term Care INs. Co.

Living into your early 70’s used to becommon; now increasingly more peo-ple are living into their 80’s and 90’s.Improved medical care combined withbetter nutrition and a more activelifestyle tends to result in longer andhealthier lives.

While it is encouraging, an extendedlife brings with it the increased likeli-hood of experiencing a long-term ill-ness. To effectively preserve our digni-ty and freedom of choice tomorrowmeans carefully considering our op-tions today.

Most of us might resign ourselves tothe idea that if we live long enough wewill experience some long-term illness.In the end, how well you protect yourassets could have much to do with thefuture happiness and material securityof your family.

Long-term care refers to a broadrange of services available to individu-als who have lost some level of inde-pendence and need help with daily ac-tivities that most healthy people take forgranted. This necessary assistance isoften the result of a chronic illness - onein which modern medical science hasdeveloped treatments but no cures.Arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease aretwo common, chronic illnesses.

Rehabilitative medical care due toacute conditions is different from long-term care. When medical care is the re-sult of an acute, or short term, medicalcondition (e.g. hip replacements,strokes, or cancer), a hospital stay is of-ten necessary to help stabilize the con-dition.

With these types of conditions,Medicare (for qualifying individuals) orprivate-pay health insurance will usual-ly pay for rehabilitative care, but notcare that is chronic. There is no singleway to identify when or if someone willneed long-term care. Every case is dif-ferent due to the type of illness or injury,who can provide the necessary care,and the financial resources available.

Understanding the types of illnessesand injuries that create the need forlong-term care is important. A chroni-cally ill individual generally has either aphysical or a cognitive impairment.

Physical ImpairmentThe Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)recognizes six activities of daily living(ADLs) as they apply to long-term careinsurance.

These activities of daily living in-clude:* Bathing* Dressing

* Toileting* Transferring* Continence* Eating

When assistance is needed withADLs, some individuals may simply re-quire that a health care practitioner re-main within arm’s reach to ensure thatthe activity completed safely. This is re-ferred to as standby assistance. As thecare recipient’s needs increase, someonemay be needed to physically assist withcompleting the required activity. This isreferred to as hands on assistance. Ingeneral, the inability to perform at least2 ADLs must last at least 90 days.

Cognitive ImpairmentCognitive impairment is a condition

that usually requires care and protectiondue to loss of intellectual capacity, at-tention and /or memory. When a cogni-tive impairment exists, individuals arefrequently able to complete the physicalactivities but may not remember how orwhen to complete them. Common ex-amples of a cognitive impairment areAlzheimer’s disease, senility, or demen-tia.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and re-ceiving annual check-ups at your doc-tor’s office are effective ways of mini-mizing that risk. However, even thesesteps can not eliminate a long-term careevent from happening to otherwisehealthy people, or prevent the normaleffects of aging.

It is important to take the time to edu-cate yourself about your options for ac-cessing long-term care and how you canplan for the future. A good place to startis by visiting www.medicare.gov and goto the Long Term-Care section, or con-sult with your state’s insurance depart-ment for additional information, includ-ing a buyer’s guide, that can further ex-plain long-term care insurance.

One option is to consider purchasinglong-term care insurance. By workingwith a knowledgeable and trusted finan-cial professional, you can learn howlong-term care insurance may help pro-tect you against some of the costs oflong-term care. Today’s long-term careinsurance policies offer freedom ofchoice when it’s needed most — and ata fraction of the cost, which might be in-curred by paying out-of-pocket.

Stephan E. Yoder is a Financial Repre-sentative with Northwestern Mutual Fi-nancial Network. He is licensed and ap-pointed to sell long-term care insurancefor Northwestern Long Term Care Insur-ance Co., Milwaukee, WI, a subsidiary ofNorthwestern Mutual Life InsuranceCompany-Milwaukee, WI.). To contactStephan E. Yoder, please call 309-693-0800or email him at [email protected].

A financial representative is a licensed insurance agent.Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company’slong-term care policy contains exclusions and limitations.Northwestern Mutual Financial Network is the sales anddistribution arm of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insur-ance Company (NM), Milwaukee, WI, and its subsidiariesand affiliates. Northwestern Long Term Care InsuranceCompany, a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual LifeInsurance Company, Milwaukee, WI. Northwestern Mutu-al Life Insurance Company and the Northwestern MutualFinancial Network are not financially responsible for prod-ucts issued by Northwestern Long Term Care InsuranceCompany.

Long-term care insurance products underwritten byNorthwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company.

This material is produced for the marketing and solici-tation of insurance.

90-2305-06 LTC (1205) Policy Form: RS.LTC. (1101),or state equivalent

was no place where the bark wasstarting to peel off. However, Ithought I could detect some discol-oration on the trunk at about eye lev-el. With curiosity having gotten thebest of me, I walked up to the tree.Yes, I was right. There were somevery small areas in the bark that hadvery small brown/reddish streaks. Iasked myself: "Could this tree be indistress?"

I had no idea because I had neverpaid any attention before to elms thatwere alive & leafed out. I had al-ways looked for & at dead elms notlive ones!I was standing just a foot or two fromthe trunk of this live elm when Imade this observation. I thought,"Maybe, just maybe, this tree mightbe under stress." " Perhaps it was inits first stage of experiencing the be-ginning of the end."

My eyes, all this time, from the be-ginning had been focused on thetrunk not the ground. So, I decidedthat perhaps I should pay attention tothe forest floor surrounding this tree.So, I stepped back a couple of feet &I squatted down & bingo I spottedthat first morel. Still in the squattingposition my eyes started scanningmore of the ground in the immediatevicinity. As I did so, I immediatelybegan seeing more & more mush-rooms. I couldn't believe my eyes.This just couldn't be. Mushroomsunder a living elm tree. Who wouldbelieve this?

I ended up finding 32 very nice &fresh yellow morels measuring 3 to 5inches. This was a brand new expe-rience for me! It was a live tree thatstill had all its bark & with green fo-

liage producing a beautiful crop ofmorels. That really made my day & Idon't think I have ever had such a sat-isfying experience as that one. I eventook a color photo of the trunk of thiselm & put it in my 60 page essay thatI sell so that I could show other mush-room enthusiasts what to look forwhen they are out hunting & that theyshould check out those live elms.

That is why I now hunt morels dif-ferently. Yes, I, of course, still checkout the dead elms but when I am inthe woods each spring I pay particularattention to all of the living elms re-gardless of their size. I have now got-ten into the habit of looking for signsof stress that are indicated by thosereddish brown streaks that may be asnarrow as your finger & only a fewinches in length.

Since that day in 2002 I have hadseveral instances where I have foundother live elms in stress as evidencedby those reddish brown streaks & allof them produced morels. The mostrecent experience of finding a liveelm in stress was in April of 2006. Itmeasured 18 inches across, (a verylarge tree) & was full of green foliageand at the base of the trunk I foundthe morels. This tree should producefor several more years.

So, for what it is worth, you justmight want to check out those elmsthat are still alive. You never knowbut what that elm you take time tolook at may very well be under stress& you may be standing right in themidst of a group of morels. You nev-er know. Here is wishing you a verysuccessful season.

Contact Jack at:[email protected]

behold because, even though wedon't like to think of something dy-ing, we have read & been told thatwhere there are dead elms there will,in all probability, be morel mush-rooms & that usually holds true.

So when I enter a timber I am au-tomatically looking for those deadelm trees & that has been my routineover the many decades. My years ofhunting & a review of my manynotes taken over the years has shownthat my chances of being successfulare much better if I can find thoseelms that have just very recently died& still have a lot of bark remainingor at least some bark. That first yearof full death for that elm will, in myopinion, be the most productive year& my notes over the past 5 years hasconvinced me of that. Followingyears provide fewer morels; at leastthat has been my experience.

In May of 2002 I had a new expe-rience that has totally changed theway I now hunt for morels. I now al-so look for the living elms that areunder stress!! Yes, elms that arealive! I had been hunting that morn-ing of May 3, 2002 & had very littleluck. After lunch I headed for anarea that I had not yet hunted. Thisarea had a few dead elms scatteredaround & I knew it had some poten-tial.

As I was walking slowly along Ihappened to look up & I saw an elmtree in the distance. This tree wasalive & was beginning to leaf out.Yes, it had green foliage at the top.As I looked at that tree my eyes de-tected something that caught my at-tention. I was standing about 30 feetfrom the tree & I couldn't quite makeout what my eyes were trying to tellme. The tree had all its bark & there


If you are likeme, spring is oneof my favoritetimes of the year.Why? New life isemerging, thebirds are in fullsong, Mother Na-ture is changingher wardrobefrom a drab gray to a brilliant green& I can finally shed myself of cabinfever. Another reason for spring be-ing my favorite time of the year isamong that new life emerging will bethat ever elusive morel mushroom. Ihave been hunting morels for the past40 plus years & am addicted as aremost other mushroom enthusiasts. Ilove to hunt mushrooms because ofthe challenge, the joy & fun of it, be-ing close to Mother Nature, seeingwildlife, the exercise I get & the sat-isfaction & joy of finding that firstone. That first one found is preciousbecause that tells you for sure thatthe mushroom season has officiallyarrived.

As we all know, for most of us, thekey to having a successful hunt is theability, first of all, to find those won-derful dead elm trees. Those elmsthat have passed away just recently& are just now beginning to losetheir bark. What a beautiful sight to DAVE GARRISON

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Recessions and Bear Markets:

The Connection Isn’t as Close as You Might Thinkby Jeff Rosecrans

Recent economic and capitalmarkets developments have con-tributed to a surge in stock-mar-ket volatility, leading some in-vestors to worry that the odds of arecession have risen—along withthe risk of a significant marketdownturn.

Many investors are nervous be-cause they assume an economicrecession would lead to a declinein corporate profits, which wouldlikely push stock prices down.

It may sound like a plausibleassumption. However, it alsocould be wrong. The historicalrecord suggests the link betweenrecessions and bear markets is nota tight one. Over the past 11 re-cessions (as defined by the Na-tional Bureau of Economic Re-search, a nonprofit researchgroup) the Standard & Poor’s 500Index posted an average annual-ized return of 12.1%—a percent-age point and a half higher thanthe index’s 81-year annualized re-turn. All told, market returns have

been positive in seven of the past11 recessions.

Those results may seem illogi-cal, given that recessions usuallyare bad for corporate profits—and sometimes very bad. Com-merce Department figures showthat corporate earnings have fall-en in all but two of the 10 reces-sions since World War II—withan average annualized decline ofalmost 10%.

Standard financial theory teach-es that the price of a stock shouldreflect the stream of earnings it isexpected to produce. So, all elsebeing equal, lower earningsshould mean lower equity valua-tions and negative returns.

But all things are seldom equal.Other factors frequently influencestock prices, even during reces-sions. These forces can include:

• Inflation. Rapid price increas-es may create uncertainty aboutthe quality of corporate earn-ings—and the real value of futureearnings. This uncertainty canpush down stock prices. Con-versely, if an economic slumpslows inflation, stock pricesmight rise, or at least not fall asmuch as they would have fallenotherwise.

• Interest rates. The Fed typical-ly reacts to a recession by quick-ly lowering short-term interestrates. Long-term bond yields of-ten also decline. Lower rates in-crease the relative attractiveness

of equities, which can help offsetlower earnings.

• Noneconomic shocks. Unex-pected bad news, such as a war orterrorist attack, can drive stockprices down, worsening the im-pact of a recession. Good newslike tax cuts, peace deals or merg-ers, can drive prices higher, de-spite a recession.

• Investor psychology. Some-times markets rise and fall forreasons that seem to have little ornothing to do with economic fun-damentals. The 1987 bear market,for example, occurred at a timewhen economic growth was ac-celerating. It’s also important tounderstand that financial marketstend to be forward looking. Thatis to say, prices are usually influ-enced by what investors expect tohappen, not what has already hap-pened.

Periods before a recession oftensee a spike in market volatility, asinvestors react to rising uncer-tainty about the direction of earn-ings. In seven of the last 10 re-cessions, profits also peaked be-fore the economy did, giving in-vestors additional reason to becautious. By the same token,however, the market often hitsbottom and starts to recover be-fore the economy does—as in-vestors begin to anticipate a re-bound in earnings.

Past performance is no guaran-tee of future results, but history

suggests that recessions, like bearmarkets, are short-term correc-tions in a longer-term risingtrend. Investors who have tried tosecond-guess the market—for ex-ample, by exiting the stock mar-ket when they thought a recessionwas at hand and jumping back in-to the market when they thoughtthe economy had hit bottom—of-ten have been disappointed.

For most investors, the wisestcourse is to develop a long-terminvestment strategy and stick toit, even during market correctionsand economic downturns.

Jeff Rosecrans is a FinancialAdvisor with Smith Barney locatedin Peoria, IL and may be reachedat 309-671-2843 or [email protected].

Citigroup Inc., its affiliates and its em-ployees are not in the business of providingtax or legal advice. These materials and anytax-related statements are not intended orwritten to be used, and cannot be used orrelied upon, by any such taxpayer for thepurpose of avoiding tax penalties. Tax-re-lated statements, if any, may have beenwritten in connection with the “promotionor marketing” of the transaction(s) or mat-ter(s) addressed by these materials, to theextent allowed by applicable law. Any suchtaxpayer should seek advice based on thetaxpayer’s particular circumstances froman independent tax advisor.

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: NOTFDIC INSURED, NO BANK GUARAN-TEE, MAY LOSE VALUE

Smith Barney is a division and servicemark of Citigroup Global Markets Inc.Member SIPC.

most important. This includes anything from Visa, MasterCard,

Discover, American Express, gas cards and/orretail credit cards like Macy’s or Target. The bal-ances that you carry on your credit cards canaffect your scores almost as much as whether ornot you make your payments on time.

This category calculates the proportion of bal-ances to credit limits on your revolving credit cardaccounts - also referred to as ‘revolving utiliza-tion’. Simply put, the higher your revolving utiliza-tion percentage, the fewer points you will earn inthis category.

So what is revolving utilization and how is it cal-culated?

To determine your revolving utilization, you’llneed to add up all of your current balances and allof your current credit limits on your open revolvingcredit accounts (except for Home Equity Lines ofCredit). This will give you a total balance and atotal credit limit. Divide the total balances by thetotal credit limit and then multiply that number by100. This will give you your total revolving utiliza-tion percentage.

Remember, the lower your utilization percent-age, the more points you’ll earn and the higheryour credit score will be. To earn the most possiblepoints in this category, you should try to keep yourrevolving utilization at 10% or less. If you can’treach 10%, just remember that the lower the bet-


5 Steps to a Credit MakeoverLaure Feld is “Your Credit Wiz”

American Mortgage Lending, Inc.

Great Credit Requires More thanPaying Your Bills on Time

A lot of homeowners have the mind set thatmaking payments on time automatically equatesto good credit and credit scores.

Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further fromthe truth.

While paying your bills on time accounts for alarge portion of your credit score, there’s still a lotmore to it. In fact, paying your bills on time onlydrives 1/3rd of the points in your credit score,which means that 2/3rds of your score has noth-ing to do with making on time payments.

Five main categories go into making up youroverall credit score calculation. Let’s brieflyreview each category and how much they count:

ter. While 50% is better than 60%, 40% is betterthan 50% and so on.

How you pay your bills and your revolving utiliza-tion are by far the most important factors used todetermine your credit scores. They account for2/3rd of the points in your score. That’s a heftychunk! Needless to say, if you don’t do well in bothof these categories, your scores aren’t going to bevery good regardless of how you do in the remain-ing categories.

While the remaining categories are worth fewerpoints, they are still very important for consumerswho want to earn the highest scores possible, cer-tainly a requirement in today’s difficult creditenvironment:

3. The Age of Your Credit History - SecondaryCategory

Don’t confuse this with your age. It’s the age ofyour credit reports. Basically, the score is lookingto see if you have a lengthy history of managingyour credit obligations. The age of your credit his-tory is determined by the “date opened” on theoldest account listed on your credit report. Theolder your credit report, the more points you willearn in this category.

There’s really not much you can do in this cate-gory except wait it out. As your reports get older,you will gradually earn more points. This meansthat you should never try and get old, good

1. Payment History - The Most ImportantCategory

This category is pretty self-explanatory. Itdoesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that ifyou pay your bills on time, you’ll do well in this cat-egory. Likewise, if you have a history of late pay-ments, collections, chargeoffs, public records,etc. - you’re not going to do so well in this catego-ry.

In addition, the number of negative items onyour credit reports is important. The more inci-dents of credit transgressions, the more yourscore will suffer. And if you have recent negativeinformation that will punish your scores more thanif they are several years old.

2. Debt - A Very Close SecondThe most important non-payment category in

your credit score is, by far, the amount of debtthat you carry. And while your installment debt(auto loans and mortgages) are factored into yourscores, it’s really your credit card debt that’s

THE FINANCE LADY~ Problem Solver ~

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Real EstateChatter

By Mary Ann VanceSpring is Termite Season

Spring is here and with it comes warmerweather and the renewal of life across cen-tral Illinois. Unfortunately, it also brings anunwelcome pest - termites. Spring is ter-mite swarming season in Illinois. Illinois’termite swarming season traditionallypeaks from April to May, causing millionsof dollars of damage across the state eachyear. According to the National Pest Man-agement Association (NPMA), termitesdo $2.5 billion in damages to U.S. homesannually. That is more annual damage thanis caused by all fires, storms and earth-quakes put together.

They primarily feed on wood, but alsodamage paper, books, insulation, and evenswimming pool liners and filtration sys-tems. Termites can injure living trees andshrubs, but more often are a secondary in-vader of woody plants already in decline.

Without a periodic inspection of yourhome, termite activity can remain unde-tected for years. While buildings may be-come infested at any time, termites are ofparticular importance when buying or sell-ing a home since a termite inspection/in-festation report is normally a condition ofsale. Some signs of their activity show upunexpectedly, while others are discoveredby accident or during renovations. Ashomeowners turn their attention to springcleaning and yard work, they should also

be alert for signs of termite activity.Here are some key signs of a ter-mite infestation:

Swarming - Atermite colony ma-tures in 3-5 years and begins toproduce swarmers (wingedadults). Swarming usually occursduring the day, particularly on

warm days following rain. Swarmersfound outdoors near tree stumps, land-scape timbers, etc., are not an indicationthat your house is infested, but they serveas a reminder that termites live around us.When swarming occurs indoors, it usuallymeans that you have an infestation some-where within your house. Several speciesof ants also swarm at the same times of theyear as termites. Winged termites and antslook somewhat similar, but you can tellthem apart by certain features. If you’re notsure whether you have termites or ants,show them to a pest control professional.

Mud Tubes - Unlike ants, termites donot roam around out in the open. They willeither tunnel through wood (or other mate-rial) or else travel inside pencil-size (orlarger) mud tubes that they build from soil,wood particles and other materials. Youwill find these tubes on foundation walls,floor joists or other parts of the house.Tubes may also hang from the floor sys-tem or may be found protruding fromcracks between boards and beams andeven through holes termites may chewthrough sheet rock on walls and ceilings.Break open the tubes to see if termites arestill active. An empty tube doesn’t neces-sarily mean that termites are gone; theymay have simply abandoned this particulartunnel. Termites often rebuild damagedtubes, which is another indication of cur-rent activity. ‘Old’tubes are dry and crum-ble easily, leaving behind “etching” on thesurface that may be visible for years (an in-dication that a house had termite activity atsome time). Without knowing the inspec-tion history of the house, it is impossible totell or guess at the age of tunnels or etch-ing.

Tubes that are found on ceilings or on

the second floor of buildings may indicatethat you have a “secondary” or above-ground (“aerial”) infestation, i.e., the ter-mite colony actually lives in the buildingand the termites are traveling up from thesoil. Mud tubes built by an abovegroundcolony usually contain materials other thansoil, e.g., wood and sheet rock or whateverthe termites are feeding on. Secondary in-festations occur when there is a seriousmoisture problem or leak somewherewithin the structure. In such situations, athorough inspection may require removalof siding or interior wallboards, etc.

Below are some tips to help you keepyour home termite free:

* Repair any roof or plumbing leaks assoon as possible. These leaks can allow ter-mites to survive above ground in a house.Finding and correcting moisture problemsis the first step to eliminating termites.

* Eliminate any wood-to-soil contactaround your foundation and remove wooddebris near your home.

* Prevent mulch and soil from touchingthe siding of your home. They make itmuch easier for termites to enter.

* Store firewood away from your home. * Use mesh screens on all windows and

doors, as well as in ventilation openings forattics and crawl spaces.

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accounts removed from your credit reports. Youwant the history!

4. New Credit/Inquiries - Secondary CategoryWhen you apply for credit you are giving the

lender permission to pull your credit reports andcredit scores. Each time this happens, your creditreport will reflect what’s called an “inquiry.” Toperform well in this category, you should really on-ly apply for credit when you need it.

5. Credit Mix - Secondary CategoryWhat types of accounts do you have? You will do

well in this category if you have a nice diverse listof different types of accounts in your credit re-port. This includes mortgages, auto loans, install-ment loans, credit cards, etc.

If your credit report is dominated by one type ofaccount (or lack of others), this could negativelyaffect the number of points that you earn fromthis category. That pretty much covers the factors that are usedin determining your credit scores. Let’s do a quickrecap:

1. How you pay your bills - on time is good, late isbad

2. How much you owe your creditors - keep yourcredit card debt low (10% utilization is optimal)

3. How long you’ve had credit - the longer thebetter

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STEPS…Cont’d. from previous pg.


I’m as guilty as any other outdoorcommunicator when it comes to tryingto keep up with and write about the lat-est trends in new products, techniquesand electronics. Most outdoor articlesare geared toward the better than aver-age to semi-pro anglers. Not this one,it’s for beginners only or anyone whomay have forgotten some of the basicsof fishing.

On my radio show I have receivedcountless phone calls from anglers thatsay they never catch any fish on a regu-lar basis. My Muscatine Journal readerscomplain that often they don’t catch afish at all and folks attending my semi-nars often hold back until the seminar isover to tell me the same thing. Adven-ture Sports Outdoors readers generallyhave a working knowledge of how tofish, but newcomers to the sport can al-ways use a little advice, this is the pur-pose of this article, to help people catchfish and enjoy the great outdoors.

Baby Steps For BassAll journeys begin with baby steps. In

this case it’s simply getting to knowyour quarry that can help you catchmore fish. Each species of fish haveunique characteristics that anglers needto know to track them down and catchthem. Bass are one of the most popularfish, seems everyone wants to catch abig bass. Bass fishing can be as compli-

cated or assimple asone wants tomake it.When we arefishing forfun bassaren’t thathard to fig-ure out. Knowing the following informationwill help you take more and probablybigger bass. Bass are a warm waterspecies, the warmer the water the hap-pier they are. They feed better inwarmer water. Bass love shoreline cov-er most of the time and cruise aroundanywhere there is rocks, trees, stumpsor weeds searching for dinner. Bass willand do eat most anything that will fit intheir mouth and that’s quite a bit.

Largemouth have their name for thatreason, they have a large mouth. Theyare capable of eating small pods of baitfish all at once, a large crawfish, bluegillor any other sunfish, large shad, snakes,turtles and even each other. Bass willeat anything that moves. Bait selectionisn’t always important when bass fish-ing, but the mistake most new anglersmake when bass fishing is using toosmall baits.

A bass won’t spend much time or ef-fort chasing after a morsel of food. Tinycrankbaits, spinners and small minnows

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may take a few small fish, but largerbaits always work best in the long run.Use only baits and lures designed forbass. Large spinnerbaits, crankbaits,plastic worms and jigs will do the trick. Fish only where there is good cover andkeep the baits moving. Bass usuallytuck away into a hiding place and waitfor food to come to them, then race outand attack. There are times especiallyafter a cold front when bass move awayfrom the shorelines and suspend or sim-ply shut down. For beginners, that’s agood time to search for easier to catchfish. Bass can still be caught but it’s

never easy.

SunfishFor the purposes of this article, sun-

fish will be defined as green sunfish, re-dear and bluegill. Crappie are also con-sidered a panfish but deserve a wholeparagraph of their own, there are somemajor differences between sunfish andcrappie. All an angler need do to under-stand how panfish feed is look at theirmouth. They have very small mouthsthat limit exactly what size dinner theywill seek. Even with a large “bull”


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bluegill it’s hard to find one that an an-gler can even insert his pinky fingertipinto its mouth, they are that small.

I have watched hundreds of anglers,young and old miss fish after fish whiletrying for bluegill. The bait they are of-fering is simply too large or the hook istoo big. The bobber keeps going under,but on the hookset, no fish. The panfishis just eating away at the outside of thebait, especially if it’s a glob of worms.They’ll grab a bite, run with it and pullthe bobber under.

Small segments of worm on a lightwire hook works much better. In fact, Ihave found that by using a 1/16 ounceplain jig head with a wax worm or wormsegment is even better. The ball head ofthe jig keeps most panfish from swal-lowing the hook so to speak. They take

the baitand hook,but whenthe jigh e a dt o u c h e st h e i rm o u t hthey quitswallow-ing and bythen theb o b b e rshould be

under and you should beable to get a good hook-set.

Bluegill and their fam-ily love to frequent shal-low water with cover.Most times the panfishwon’t be snuggled up inthe cover like bass, butprefer to suspend alongthe outer edges of thecover or above the coverin small schools. Thesefeisty panfish feed onplankton, insects, min-now fry and just aboutanything else that will fitin their mouth. Panfishare short and compactand can put up a good fight by makingshort circular runs when hooked.

These fine fish are seldom in deep wa-ter except during winter. My favoritetechnique for finding bluegill and theircousins is to simply troll along slowlyand look for them. They will be in shal-low water with cover and often you’ll seelots of dimples on the waters surface asthese fish feed. Light lines and tackle arethe key to success, but hook or jig size isvery important, keep it small.

Crappie-King Of PanfishMost anglers that pursue panfish look

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TOO… Cont’d. from previous pg. for crappie. Crappie areexcellent to eat, can put upa decent fight and are usu-ally in large schools. Crap-pie prefer a little deeperwater than bluegill but notmuch deeper. I look forcrappie in water four toeight feet deep. Crappielove to suspend in andaround brush cover or inthe limbs of fallen trees.

Small crappie’s eatinghabits are not much differ-ent from the bluegill fami-ly, but “slab” crappie, thebig ones are different.They actually prefer largermeals. Medium to largeminnows fished under afloat fished slightly above

the crappie will take some nice fish. Crappie love to feed

in an upward motion.It’s important to use aslip bobber for crappieso if an “up-bite” oc-curs your bobber willfall over indicating astrike, with a fixedbobber you’ll missmost “up- bite”strikes. Jigs in the 1/16to 1/8th size rangetipped with a shad im-itating soft plastictrailer is another ex-cellent choice forcrappie.

While on the sub-

Trayven Howard caughtthis nice bass that clearly

shows why they arecalled Largemouth.

ject of bobbers, you may wish to try thenew Bullet Bobber, It’s a unique bobberdesigned to be moved for active fish. Itcan be guided 180 degrees from whereyour cast hits. No other bobber can dothat, and it’s excellent for kids becausethey usually like to move their baits of-ten. www.bulletbobber.com.

Crappie feed mostly on minnows,panfish fry and larger insects andsometimes even crawfish. A slabcrappie has a large mouth for a pan-fish so using slightly larger baits forthem than you would use for otherpanfish can reap some great benefits.Just remember to swim any crappiebaits slightly above the depth thecrappie are using. For some reason aBlakemore Road runner, 1/4 ounce,white marabou with a red head hastaken more crappie for me than allother baits combined. I think the un-

der-the head-spinnerattracts them andmakes them bite. Aminnow can beadded to the RoadRunner at times. I also spray the bait

with Fish FormulaCrappie fish scent,seems to add quite afew fish to my creel.Hope this helps getsome new anglersstarted off in theright direction.

God bless and goodluck, Johnnie.

Trayven Howard with a slabcrappie caught on a small jigfished below a Bullet Bobber.

Constant movement of the baitattracted the crappie to the jig.

This large crappie has a mouth big enough to

eat medium to large minnows and even

some bass baits.


Arguably one of themost famous decoyrigs within the decoycollecting world is the‘G.K. Schmidt’ rig.First and foremost isthe condition of theCharles Perdew andPremier Mason Mal-lard decoys bearing the brand. These decoys werefound at an estate auction during the late 1960’sand were in unused pristine condition. The ‘G KSchmidt’ brand is burnt into the bottom of thedecoys and it looks as if it was done yesterday.Sometimes the condition of these birds havecaused some would-be buyers to pass on themthinking they were contemporary reproductions.

Decoys with the famous G.K. Schmidt brandhave fascinated collectors for decades. Gene‘Sandy’ Schmidt (no relation) and Bruce Millerfrom Rockford, Illinois were among the first de-coy collectors to learn of the G.K. Schmidt de-coys. They purchased most of the ‘G K Schmidt’decoys from a local gun dealer during the late1960’s. During a 1988 interview, the gun dealerexplained that he had attended an estate auctionin 1966 where approximately 40 decoys from theG.K. Schmidt rig was sold. The decoys were sup-posedly found stored in the basement of a bank

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hen. This decoy changed hands a few times andeventually sold at the Guyette & Schmidt in April2001 for $18,000.

Tonelli heard in 1969 that Sandy was consid-ering selling his entire decoy collection includingthe G K Schmidt decoys. At the time Tonelli did-n’t have the $15,000 that Sandy wanted for hiscollection of roughly 500 decoys including theG.K. Schmidt decoys, so he contacted RandyRoot. Together they brokered the collection toWalter White. When negotiations stalled betweenthe asking price and a $14,000 offer, White of-fered to ‘flip’ for the difference and asked Tonel-li if he had a coin. When the nickel landed, Walterhad won the flip. Several years later WalterWhite’s decoys, including a pair of mallards, apair of green-winged teal, 3 blue-winged teal, acanvasback drake and 3 pintail from the G.KSchmidt rig, were purchased by Randy Root andTom Figge.

Bruce Miller had moved to California with hisdecoy collection and it wasn’t until 1994 that hedecided to sell his decoy collection including hisG.K. Schmidt birds. He consigned a green-wingedteal sleeper hen, mallard pair, canvasback pairwith sleeper hen, pintail pair to be sold at R.WOliver’s in October, 1994 sale.

Since the late 1960’s, aside from the Rockfordgroup, G.K. Schmidt decoys have been found atthe Ann Arbor Flea Market, the Kane County FleaMarket, an antique shop in Aurora and at an es-tate sale in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In the early 1990’s Joe was chatting with fel-

low decoy collector, who had just returned fromdoing the Ann Arbor flea market. In the course ofthe conversation Tonelli asked if anything goodhad turned up at the weeklong event.

“Got an obvious fake Perdew green-winged tealthat looked like it was made yesterday. Someoneeven branded the teal and Mason like the repaint-ed decoys to make them look legit. You can evensee the fresh burn marks around the G KSCHMIDT.” As soon as he got of f the phone,Tonelli called Fritz and asked if he still had thedecoys. “Yeah, and I know they are right. Gotthem out of a cabin in northern Michigan.”

Long story short, Tonelli bought all the decoyssight unseen and told Fritz about the identifying‘G K Schmidt’ brand. Fritz’s response: “I’m gladyou got the decoys. I can’t wait to tell all the‘blankity-blank’ decoy collectors that were atAnn Arbor and said the teal was a fake that theywere wrong!”

During the summer of 1993, we came acrossan auction ad in the Action Auction News, a Wis-consin trade paper that listed a Schmidt decoy,we didn’t pay much attention to the ad thinkingthe decoy was probably a Benj or Frank Schmidtdecoy and quite frankly forgot about the sale. Acouple of days later a good friend, Art Hansonfrom Wisconsin called describing a nice Perdewpintail drake branded ‘G.K. Schmidt’ that hebought at the sale ‘for a song’. He consigned thedecoy to Guyette & Schmidt’s 1994 April sale:selling price $12,650.

and included pristine Perdews painted by EdnaPerdew, a dozen Mason Mallards in original paintand various decoys by Mason and Robert Ellistonrepainted by Edna. All had the G.K. Schmidtbrand; most of the decoys were bought at thesale by the gun dealer for choice at $3.75 andthen $2.50. He, in turn, sold the decoys in hisgun shop and had them on his table at local gunshows for $15 each or $25 a pair.

Sandy Schmidt had 10 G.K. Schmidt Perdewdecoys including 4 pairs with sleepers and an ex-tra pintail hen and undistinguishable hen sleeperand in his collection. In 1968 Joe Tonelli pur-chased the ‘extra’ Schmidt sleeper. This decoyalthough beautiful was a drab grey. In fact onewould be hard pressed to identify its species. Atthe time Tonelli thought it was probably a gadwall

The Hunt for G. K.Schmidt

by Donna Tonelli

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Collection of Joe &Donna Tonelli

Pintail drake sold at Guyette& Schmidt Nov., 2007;

Collection ofDavid Henderson

Brand found on the bottom of G.KSchmidt Mason Premier mallard.

George K. Schmidt (1870-1938),Schmidt seated at his desk as Presidentof Prudential Savings Bank, W North

Ave. Chicago. Photo taken by ChicagoDaily News photographer in 1929.

Collection Chicago Historical Society.


And now ‘the rest of the story’!The second alluring feature of the ‘G K

Schmidt’ decoys is the mysteries that surroundthem: Who was G.K. Schmidt? It was speculatedthat Schmidt was owner of Schmitt distilled wa-ter, but the name spelling didn’t match. Whywere these decoys, sold by auction house in 1966found in the basement of a bank, and why was

there such a variety of species made by Perdewfor one hunting rig? It was suggested that G.K.Schmidt had ordered pairs of decoys to decoratehis office at the bank where he worked. Yet thereare more than 2 decoys of several species withthe Schmidt brand: 6 known mallards, 7 pintail,3 blue-winged teal and 4 green-winged teal. I wasable to answer some of these questions because

Dave Galliher had generously shared with mesome of the Charles Perdew records from his col-lection.

Joe and I have just begun to explore theserecords looking for any allusive clues that maylead to a better understanding of decoy history.While paging through an old ledger, we stumbledonto one of these clues. The first part of theledger contains a record of Perdew’s monthlypayments followed by the addresses of various

businesses that he presumably received mer-chandise from in payment for his decoys andcalls. The rest of the ledger was devoted to cus-tomer orders dating from Nov. 1927 to Feb 25,1941.

The entry that excited us the most was datedNov 12, 1928 from Geo K. Schmidt. This was theoriginal order for the famous G.K. SchmidtPerdew rig! The entry documents in Perdew orig-inal flowing script handwriting an order for “6-canvasbacks (3 hens,) 1 female sleeper, 6 red-heads (3 hens) 1 female sleeper, 1 dozen pintails(6 hens), 1 female sleeper, 1 dozen teal (6green) (6 blue), 1 sleeper hen each, 1 dozen mal-lards (6 hens with 1 sleeper to be female, 1 drakesleeper gratis).” More importantly Perdewrecorded the order as being placed by Geo K.Schmidt, 758 W North Ave, Chicago, Illinois. Be-cause the decoys were found in a bank and sold inRockford, collectors assumed Schmidt was asso-ciated with a Rockford bank. WRONG!

Armed with a full name, address and date, Isearched the US census reports and found GeorgeK Schmidt, a Chicago bank president in 1920Census and his son, George K Schmidt jr., a bankcashier, in the 1930 US Census. Now the historyof the G.K Schmidt rig was becoming clearer. Ifound the 758 W North Ave address listed onSchmidt’s order in Perdew’s order book in the1928 Polk criss-cross directory as the location ofthe Prudential State Savings Bank further con-firming I had found the rightful owner of the G.K.Schmidt decoys.

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SCHMIDT… Cont’d. from previous pg.

Pintail hen sold at Guyette & Schmidt July, 2007 Collection Paul & Judy Paternostro.


were ineffective in combating organized crime.Bribery and corruption were rampant. In 1931Schmidt resigned his position in the Thompsonadministration and announced that he would runfor the mayoral seat on the republican slate. Atthe time many assumed that Thompson wouldstep aside and back Schmidt, but at the lastmoment ‘Big Bill’ decided to run as the incum-bent mayor. I was able to confirm this was thesame G.K. Schmidt by matching photo which ranin several Midwest newspapers announcing hisplans to run for the Republican slate to the one inthe Chicago Historical Society’s collection nam-ing Schmidt as president of the Prudential StateSavings Bank.

It was confusing that I was unable to find anobituary for Schmidt in the early 1930 Chicagonewspapers. What I did find was an obituary forG.K Schmidt, former Chicago City Controller whodied in Logansport, Indiana. That ran in the NewYork Times on Jan. 2, 1939. This led me tobelieve that after his failed attempt to become acandidate for the mayoral election Schmidt leftChicago. This it turned out was not entirely true.

The obituary listed Schmidt as a resident ofLogansport, Indiana. I contacted the LogansportHistorical Society and was able to get a copy ofthe local newspaper’s obituary for Schmidt. Itverified that while Schmidt did live inLogansport, he also maintained a residence inChicago. The Schmidt family had owned the K GBrewery in Chicago that was started during thelate 1880’s. This could explain why Schmidt

maintained his residence in Chicago at 4228Sheridan Road (The address listed on the 1920census.) while he was in Logansport.

The obituary mentions Schmidt was born onDecember 18,1869 in Chicago to Kasper andBarbara Schmidt, both natives of Germany, andthat Schmidt was in the banking business at var-ious times. Apparently he had remained political-ly active in Logansport as the county assessorand a member of the city council.

During the Prohibition Days, Schmidt was ableto purchase a closed Logansport brewery and thereal estate it occupied. During the 18 monthsprior to the repeal of prohibition, Schmidt wentto Logansport and supervised reconditioning ofthe brewery and addition of modern equipment.Schmidt had graduated as a Brew Master fromBrewers Academy at Worms, Germany in 1890and then served as an apprentice as his father’sK.G Schmidt brewery.

Considering his connections with the “Big Bill’Thompson administration it is likely the he wasinvolved with bootlegging. In 1933 soon afterCongress repelled the Prohibition Act, the K.G.Schmidt Brewery was legally operational with G.Kas president, his son George K. Jr. as secre-tary/treasurer and his brother, Ernst as vicepresident. Although George K. Schmidt wasstricken with a heart attack and died January 1,1939 the K G Schmidt Brewery remained in oper-ation until 1951. When Schmidt died his remainswere waked in Logansport and the final serviceswere held at the family home in Chicago. He is

buried in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.This brings us back to one of the initial ques-

tions: why was the original decoy order so large?During the height of the Depression, Schmidtordered 4-dozen Perdew decoys paying a $50deposit and a balance of $95 on delivery a yearlater. The Logansport obituary mentions thatSchmidt was “a true sportsman and during duckhunting season spent many days in the field. Hiscollection of hunting guns was one of the best,proudly displayed to his many friends.”

This apparently was a man who appreciatedfine quality and would have Perdew, Elliston andPremier Mason decoys. Could it be that his newlypurchased decoys were simply lost track of andforgotten in the turmoil of his exit from Chicagopolitics, revamping and starting up of the brew-ery in Logansport? This too may never be known.

Guess the rest of the story is that not all of theoriginal order has been found YET. According tomy calculations there are 6 mallards, possibly 7if the ‘gratis’ drake sleeper was in addition to thedozen ordered, 5 pintail, 3 blue-winged teal, 2green-winged teal, 4 canvasback and 4 redhead‘G.K. Schmidt’ decoys from this 1928 order stillunaccounted for and presumably, 3 ‘G.K.Schmidt’ Mason mallards since they were sold bythe dozen. So Good Luck: The Hunt for the G.K.Schmidt brand isn’t over!

In my quest for more information on Schmidt, Isearched the online records of the ChicagoHistorical Society. Here I found a photo of aGeorge K. Schmidt taken by a Chicago Daily Newsphotographer in 1929. The caption describedSchmidt as president of the Prudential StateSavings Bank. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anyarticle with the photo. This could explain why thedecoys were stored in the basement of a bank andpresumably in this bank and not one in Rockford.But how come they remain at the bank until the1960’s? Did he quit hunting and the decoys weresimply forgotten? We may never know.

My first inclination was to assume that sincethe elder Schmidt was not listed in 1930 census,he may have died some time soon after he pickedup the decoys he ordered from Perdew in Nov. of1929 and this is why the decoys were never used.I found this was not the case.

Apparently Schmidt had been involved in theChicago politics since the turn of the century. Hewas a member of the Chicago Board of Assessorsand served as vice-president of the ChicagoBoard of Local Improvements. In 1928, he wasappointed the City Controller of Chicago. As citycontroller he probably would have been deeplyentrenched in Chicago Mayor “Big Bill”Thompson scandals.

Chicago in the 1920’s was ruled by gangsters -first Johnny Torrio, and then his successor AlCapone. Mayor Thompson was suspected of beingon Torrio and Capone’s payrolls.

During Big Bill’s reign as mayor, the police

Cabin on the IL River Great fishing, duck hunting& relaxation! Located near

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Sandbeach on a 51x400 lot. House is 2 bedroom withapproximately 770 sq. ft.

and many updates. On city gas & cable TV.

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Buck Maurice1175 N. Main St.

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Redhead Drake: provenance collectionSandy Schmidt; Perdew An

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Redhead Hen Sleeper: Sold at Guyette & Schmidt April 2008 auction at Pheasant Run Resort.

Canvasback

Mason Decoy Company among the bestexamples of Mason Premier grade

mallards was part of the G.K. Schmidtrig. Collection Joe & Donna

Tonelli


Attempting to draw back a bow-string in the restricted, demandingairspace of archery range on amagnificent prey animal like thewhitetail deer is spellbinding everytime for me. Most prey animals areequipped with a nearly omniscient,impenetrable radar, capable ofalerting them to danger even be-yond their uncanny hearing, see-ing, smelling, sensing senses ofGod designed survival apparatus.Of course we all know that it is thisincredible challenge that qualifiesour hunting activities as the amaz-ing "sport" that it is. That is why itis so compelling, so much fun, anda source of unprecedented invigor-ation when we are able to applyourselves to the intense test and ac-tually bring home the bacon on oc-casion. Spectacular, soul cleansingrecreation at its finest, no doubt.

Now I surely understand that notall deer are created equal, and cer-tainly not all bowhunters are either.I was raised on the insanely high-strung, ultra spooky Michigan su-per subspecies of maniac deer thatare born looking up into the trees

and walking backwards, all senseson red alert 24/7/365. Fascinatingreally. Though we kill nearly a halfa million there every year duringthe natural season of harvest, andanother 100,000 are smashed byvehicles per annum, I'll bet anotherhuge number die of stress relatedheart attacks simply because theyare so unbelievably fidgety andparanoid. Especially on my huntinggrounds. We are seeing this in-creased spookiness in our Texasdeer more and more all the time.Gungho over the top hunting pres-sure from the Nugent camp bringspanic into their lives I am sure.

I have also celebrated the arrow-ing of the occasional drunken,mentally retarded deer of certainareas of Texas and specific pocketsof Illinois. In these weird areas oflimited human pressure, I must ad-mit that some of the deer could beconsidered downright stupid. Forvarious reasons, they simply accepthuman scent and intrusion as in-consequential, until of course mybroadhead disconnects their pumpstation and they die. But then ofcourse it is too late for them to dis-cover a fear factor with which to

inspire the resurrection of naturalescape instincts that could savethem from the next predator en-counter. And I am here to tell you, Itruly cherish those instances whena less than cautious deer acceptssome of my fumbling, arrow bang-ing, foot scraping, noise makingmistakes, and still stand there andlet me shoot them. I have been tor-tured and ridiculed often enough inmy fifty odd years of bowhuntingto deserve an occasional "easy"deer. Godbless the easy deer. TheyBBQ up real nice and eat good too.

I think I've seen it all, or damnclose. I've hunted in about forty ofour fifty states, most Canadianprovinces, more than a few Africancountries and still have a long wayto go. But more and more I amdriven to stay home and hunt on mytraditional family hunting groundsthat seem to call my name morepowerfully every year. Having thegood fortune of learning to makeintelligent life priorities at an earlyage, I probably hunt more days peryear than most people get to hunt ina lifetime. How cool is that?

That God loves me madly is quiteobvious, for He made me a hunter,then created conditions that havecaused the deer herds of NorthAmerica to explode in my lifetime.This is good for a family who cher-ish venison and the hunt. ThatAmerican hunters kill, grill andserve more than 250 million mealsof venison to our fellow needyAmericans at soup kitchens and

Central Illinois’

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The remainder 406+/- is filled with multiplesloughs and stands of trees. The property hasmany 4-wheeler trails for ease of hauling out

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The shape of the property allows it to be split into several parcels.

HUNTER'S PARADISE! Looking for some of the best hunting in Central Illinois???

Deer, turkey, pheasants, quail, ducks and geese!This farm is an income-producing property with

eight remaining CREP payments of $47,426/yearthat go with the property.

It has 135 acres of tillable land. The remainder 406+/- is filled with multiple

sloughs and stands of trees. The property hasmany 4-wheeler trails for ease of hauling out

your trophy buck. This property has it all! Even includes a recently-remodeled

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The shape of the property allows it to be split into several parcels.

Price less CREP payments is $2,205.48/acre.If you've seen what land has been doing lately, you know that this is a truly reasonable price.

Don't miss out on this one!Don't miss out on this one!Aspen Real Estate, Jeff Canterbury, Springfield, IL

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Backstraps for the Massesby:

Memories of Charlton HestonI was privileged to have the

legendary Charlton Heston onmy radio show in Detroit backin 1995, and there, as duringmany such memorable encoun-ters as a fellow NRA Board OfDirector and NRA President,he was everything the legendindicated him to be, and more.He defined intellect, humor,goodwill, decency, Americanspirit and dignity. As an awe in-spiring actor, civil rights leaderand US Constitutional activist,he lived the ultimate “we thepeople” participation and cele-bration. His unwavering fightfor Second Amendment rightsproved a courage unrivaled inthe oftentimes unforgiving,fickle Hollywood industry. Hedeeply inspired me and legionsof freedom loving Americans toalways stand up for the self-ev-ident truth fueled AmericanDream. Mr. Heston and hiswarrior spirit lives on in thehearts and souls of freedomfighters everywhere. In thewind, he’s still alive.

~Ted Nugent


homeless shelters through ourHunters for the Hungry charitiesevery year is about as good as itgets. Reducing overpopulated deerherds is our responsibility, andkilling more and more female deereach season is the best way toaccomplish this balancing act inmost instances. I like this.

I thoroughly enjoy my patientambush time in treestands andgroundblinds on beautiful, wildlifeinfested habitat. I take deep intomy heart every birdsong, windchange, barometric rise and fall,scent, sound, sight and spiritualbreeze. I feel that mighty spirit ofcreation and genuflect in His pres-ence, most apparent and profoundin the wild. I put my heart and soulinto being the best, most efficient,effective reasoning predator I canbe. Sure, there are many days whenthe freezer is full and the local soupkitchen pantries are bulging withprotein, that I let many, many deerwalk by without drawing my arrowback. I love deer for all the rightreasons. But more often than not, Itake an approaching doe as the giftfrom the heavens that it is, truly abowhunting trophy of a lifetime. Iget all psyched up, giddy andfocused in preparation for a good

arrow, the recipe for which israther demanding and exciting.

When it all comes together andluck is on my side, the Gods of thehunt smile down upon me and thedeer, and that mystical arrow zipsthrough the vitals of the beast, I amone very happy hunter. I processmy prize and I say the backstrapprayer and continue the pure cele-bration. You can't grill it till youkill it. It is as it should be.

For more Nugent Spirit celebration,

or signed copies of Ted's book,

"BLOODTRAILSII-THE TRUTH

ABOUTBOWHUNTING"

CALL800-343-4868

or visittednugent.com

"The Growing Years, Part 1"

1954! Willie Mays made the catch, the AmericanDistillery in Pekin exploded, and we bought our firstTV! I was ten, and it was the second of our years atNokay. We invited Cliff Bliss and his family to go withus so we could show them our lake, being veterans, ofcourse. We were still rookies ourselves and had agreat deal to learn about fishing Minnesota. So theyears between 1954 and 1962, when I graduated fromPekin High School, were my growing years. I matured,sort of, from wide-eyed child to experienced teenagerwhile my love for all things Nokay and Minnesota grewwith me. After the summer of '62 and subsequentsummers of work, college and life changes, I no longeraccompanied Mom, Dad, and Mark to the lake, but Imanaged to spend at least a few days there each year,and later we continued to share time and cabinstogether. My growing years provided some of the rich-est memories of my childhood and my life. Mom and

Dad made them so.Preparations for the trip began weeks in advance

and continued through the final packing of the car.Packing always began with the outboard, which grewfrom the original 1 1/2 horse to a three and eventuallyto a seven horse Johnson. Power! Suitcases werealways placed on the sides of the back floor "hump"and covered with blankets to provide a "bed" for who-ever didn't get the back seat. Our cane poles eventu-ally gave way to more modern equipment, and more"stuff." But despite some changes, traditions of thetrip remained pretty consistent. We didn't want toruin a good thing.

We always left for Minnesota at two o'clock in themorning! The awakening (if Mark and I could sleep)and final preparations provided feelings of urgencyand excitement, which were borderline romantic.Travel through the dark was interrupted and punctuat-ed by favorite places and landmarks that we always

FOR SALE:128 ACRES OF HUNTING

LAND IN ADAMS COUNTYThis is a pristine hunting area with good

farmland accompanying. There Are85 acres ready to be tilled and

planted with the best food plotsaround. Then you have 43 acres of

good quality timber that has a creek running through it. Entrance on blacktop and

has easy access. This property has producednice turkey and has P&Y and B&C deer on it.You will also enjoy great Upland Game and predator hunting during the seasons. Don’tlet this one get away call today and take the

tour to pick up next years huntingspot. This one is a steal at

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NEED 300-1000 ACRES TO LEASE

Land desired specifically around a 100-mile radius of Quincy, IL.Need a long-term lease with a cabin/home for Hunting. Cabin

not required. Willing to pay top dollar for property.

Call Bobby at: 843-384-0888

LAND FOR SALE IN CASS CO.

35 min. from Springfield, ILExcellent deer & turkey hunting158 acres, 125 tillable, balance in timber, pond & 3 springs.

$4,200/ac.

CALL STEVE 217-652-5536

Support WWP Outdoors!Call 877-TEAM-WWP (832-6997) or visit:

www.WoundedWarriorProject.org

MINNESOTA MEMOIRS

By Dave Evans



had to see. Mom always made sure we were up forthe sunrise, the winding hills and roads to Galena,and the crossing of state lines. We usually stoppedfor breakfast in Lancaster, Wisconsin, and producein Hastings, Minnesota, and any change from whatwe always did met with disapproval because we did-n't want to change anything. Altering ritual ishardly acceptable. The long trip over scenic Route61 through Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesotawas always made even more special by the appear-ance of treats from Mom's travel bag. She packedsoda, snacks, and comic books that were pleasantdiversions from some tedious moments when Markand I began to consider, "How much longer?" If, asis said, "Getting there is half the fun," then ourtrips proved the adage. The route has changed, andnow I drive it to and from Nokay many times fromMay to October. I never tired of it then, and I don'ttire of it now. Today we can make it in ten hours, ifwe wish, instead of the original fourteen. I still en-joy every mile of the 570, but the trips with my par-ents and Mom's treats will always be among thebest ever.

One of the funniest travel events occurred at theRainbow Café in Lancaster. Mark always orderedpancakes but did not like the syrup there. Mom,ever concerned with her kids' wants and needs,packed a small Tupperware container with good ol'Log Cabin for Mark's breakfast. When the waitress

brought our orders, she forgot the syrup. Before wecould tell her not to bother, she left to retrieve itand returned to see Mark's pancakes swimming inMom's syrup. She glanced alternately at her pitch-er and Mark's plate several times, shook her headslightly, turned and walked away without comment.We always wondered what was going through hermind and if she ever awakened with visions of mys-tery syrup in her head. We have shared the humorof that episode many times over the years.

I'm not sure exactly in what years more modernconveniences were added to the cabins, but even-tually we were treated to at least cold running wa-ter in the kitchen, stoves with pilot lights, and final-ly a screened-in porch with an attached bathroomwith a shower and hot water. Sadly, we weren'troughing it anymore, but we still had to carry hotwater from bath to kitchen and didn't really mind. Idon't remember either when the wooden boatswere replaced by aluminum Lunds, but our big mo-tor seemed to make us fly across the lake. Wholenew vistas of fishing opportunities opened. A cou-ple of the cabins still lacked the shower, but our fa-vorites (#4 and then #1) provided luxuries beyondour early expectations. A fish cleaning house wasshared, and some resorters still used the showerhouse. Otherwise the resort remained pretty muchthe same as it was in 1953, except that the Larsonsreplaced their old lodge with a new home, and cabin

#3 was moved from Heron Lake to sit with other fiveon Nokay. Our fishing techniques and skills alsomade advances.

We added spinning reels, ultra-lights, metal live-nets, a second anchor, telescoping extendo-poles,and more tackle than anyone needed or had tohave. As a birthday present during the seventhgrade, I received my first real outfit: a seven-footShakespeare spinning rod with matched WonderReel that hung under the rod. The reel was close-faced and "activated" for casting by backing thehandle. I loved it and used it for everything fromsunfish ("gills" as we called them) to northerns.Of course with light line my bass fishing was limitedto the edges of bulrushes and pads. Horsing a largefish or a snagged lure from the vegetation was im-possible. A large fish would bend my long rod dou-ble, so the action was fun. Dad used a new Ambas-sadeur reel, and I envied his skill and ability to godeeper into the weeds where more fish were likely tobe. His steel rods and heavy braided line allowedbolder casts with more consistent results. Manyyears and backlashes later I learned to master thecasting reel and now have more of those rod andreel combos than I "need."

Trolling motors were a future luxury/necessity,so good oars were an integral part of bass fishing.Mom would row for us on early bass mornings andmastered both speed and distance from cover for"the guys." She said it was good for her waistline,and she enjoyed being part of the morning. She wasexcited as we were about each catch and some-times "manned" the dip net. Sometimes I feltguilty about her doing the work and was reluctantto criticize or give direction. She never complainedbut did remind us that we were pretty lucky. Wewere always lucky to have Mom. When we boughtthe first transom-mounted troller, everyone appre-ciated the technological advance, especially Mom.What wonders developed over the years!

Next month I'll have more details on the growingyears.

Next: The Growing Years, Part 2, Copyright:2008

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Kids and Gobblers:What A Blast!By Mike Roux

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The two gobblers stood eyeball-to-eye-ball in the plowed field. They purred ag-gressively at each other as they positionedthemselves for the fight. With a flappingof wings they locked their long, uglynecks around each others and made thedust fly as they flopped.

I picked-up my MOUNTAIN

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MEMOIRS… Cont’d. from previous pg.

Spencer Dietrich, along withMike and Caleb Roux had one

heck of a morning as Mikeshowed his boys the fun and excitement of spring turkey

hunting. (Photo by John Caldwell)

There are few things more fun andmore gratifying than sharing a successfulturkey hunt with a young hunter, espe-cially if that young hunter is one of yourown. However, there are some "do's anddon'ts" when it comes to guiding ayoungster on a spring turkey hunt. Iwould like to take a few minutes to dis-cuss those issues today.

First, let's look at some things to avoidthat make turkey hunting in the springunpleasant for kids. The first deterrent isthe alarm clock. On the opening day thismay not be a factor. But if multiple daysare required to get your young hunterclose to a gobbler, a better plan of startinglater in the morning might be your bestbet.

You need to located a late morningstrut-zone and construct a natural blind.Let your protégé sleep-in until seven oreven eight o'clock. Get into positionbetween nine and ten and let your decoysand calling do the work. As veteranturkey hunters we know that late morn-ing toms can be very aggressive andcould give a young gun a real thrill. Thismethod will help prevent "sleepy hunterburn out".

Do not sit your new hunter down undera locust tree or in a multi-flora bush.Please take along a comfortable seat.Take a few extra seconds to make surethey are not in an awkward position oruncomfortable. Also remember that yourshooter is much smaller than you are.Make sure they are sitting high enough tosee and hit their target when he arrives.

My final piece of "don't do" advice isnot to expect too much of any younghunter. Their pace and their enjoymentmust top on your list of priorities. If bag-ging a 25-pound tom with an 11-inchbeard is the only way you can measuresuccess, then take your kid to the zoo.FUN is the name of this game and you dowhatever it takes to make this experiencefun for them. If that includes an hour-long nap right at fly-down time, then letit happen. We must take every opportu-nity to make kids fall in love with hunt-ing.

Now for some things to make sure youdo when the kid, the gun and the gobblerall arrive on the same morning. Bugspray is a MUST. There is nothing thatturns me off quicker that scratching bugbites while waiting on that perfect shot.Kids are worse. They are looking for rea-sons to fidget and bugs are their bestexcuse. Spray everyone down real goodand hope they will sit still.

A good tip anytime you are taking achild away from the comforts of home isto pack lots of drinks and snacks. Even ifyou only drive a few minutes to hunt andyou do not plan to be out more than acouple of hours, snacks make a kid's dayand you will keep them in the field longerby providing a few creature comforts.

Sometimes a spring hunt can be hot. Ifyou are in a manufactured blind and/orwearing a head net, the heat can be sti-fling. Keep your youngster cool bybuilding natural cover blinds, which aremore open and airy and use camouflageface paint instead of a net. The face paint-ing can be the best fun you have all day.

I can also recommend just about theopposite on the right days. Often springweather can be cool and wet. This does

not mean the gobblers go inside, but youcertainly can. These are days when amanufactured blind is perfect for bothwarmth and to stay dry. On a bad day, theright blind can give you many morehours of comfortable hunting, and everyminute you can stay in the field increasesyour chances to fill both their tag andyour skillet.

These easy to understand tips are justsome of the things we can do to help passalong the tradition of spring turkey hunt-ing to the next generation. We owethanks to those who mentored us throughthis process. The best thanks we cangive, is to make sure our kids learn toappreciate what the Good Lord has givenus and to manage those resources proper-ly. Hunting is one of those ways.

SCREAMER box call and cut very loud-ly. The toms stopped fighting and beganto race to the sound of the vocal hen. "Let'em come," I whispered to Spencer, mymiddle stepson. "Shoot the big one,"advised Caleb, my son and Spencer'sstep-brother. Caleb had killed a 23-pound gobbler two hours before this fightbroke-out.

At twenty steps Spencer ended therace, the fight and his hunt with one shot.A second 23-pound spring gobbler got inline for our skillet. And as the 21-poundcompanion of Spencer's bird circled hisflopping buddy, I filled my tag by addinggobbler number three to that incrediblemorning.


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745 ILCS 65/4. [Effect of invitation or permission touse premises] Sec. 4. Except as specifically recognized by or provid-ed in Sec. 6 of this Act [745 ILCS 65/6], an owner ofland who either directly or indirectly invites or per-mits without charge any person to use such propertyfor recreational or conservation purposes does notthereby: (a) Extend any assurance that the premises are safefor any purpose. (b) Confer upon such person the legal status of aninvitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed. (c) Assume responsibility for or incur liability for anyinjury to person or property caused by an act or omis-sion of such person or any other person who entersupon the land. (d) Assume responsibility for or incur liability for anyinjury to such person or property caused by any natu-ral or artificial condition, structure or personal prop-erty on the premises.745 ILCS 65/2. [Definitions] Sec. 2. As used in this Act, unless the context other-wise requires: (c) "Recreational or conservation purpose" meansany activity undertaken for conservation, resourcemanagement, exercise, education, relaxation, orpleasure on land owned by another. (d) "Charge" means an admission fee for permissionto go upon the land, but does not include: the sharingof game, fish or other products of recreational use; orbenefits to or arising from the recreational use; orcontributions in kind, services or cash made for thepurpose of properly conserving the land.

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BOBCABOBCATT HUNTS HUNTS -- Season Dates: December 15 - March 1

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OUTDOOR OUTDOOR CONNECTIONCONNECTION

By Gerald A. Sampen421 Olive St. • Emden, IL 62635

217-376-3873 • [email protected]

Customer Report to Outdoor Connection In Tribute To His Agent

Mule Deer Hunting In ColoradoBy Michael F.

Rich and I just returned from ourhunt in Colorado with one of OutdoorConnection's outfitters there. To saythe least this was the BEST hunt thatI have ever been on. We arrived at thelodge just after noon on our first day.

Mule Deer Mule Deer Hunt & Hunt &

WWinter Funinter Fun

The camp cook, Susan, greeted usand immediately she made us feel athome. She explained that Dave (own-er) and the guide would be thereshortly and we would get the paper-work and things started. We checkedout the accommodations and asked afew questions and found out that wewere the only hunters in camp for theweek. Finding this out was reallynice; having the camp exclusively tous was really nice.

When Dave arrived we sat downand completed the paperwork. Thenwe met our guide, Seth Musgrave,who made a great impression fromthe start. He is a very knowledgeableguide and also a very nice person. Af-ter completing the paperwork, Sethtook us down to get our tags. Thenwe went and shot our rifles. It wasnice to have that opportunity to makesure that our rifles were still on. Thenwe went back to the lodge and Sethexplained how we were going to huntthe mule deer and the terrain that wewere going to hunt. It is a lot differ-ent than we are used to in Wisconsin.

I would have to say that we sawover 100 deer every day of the huntand at least 10 bucks every day thatwere big enough to shoot. We alsosaw a lot of antelope and some elk.We had snow, rain, sleet and suneveryday of the hunt, which shouldhave made things challenging, butSeth knew where the deer were goingto be and put us on them everyday.The food was fantastic; we ate home-made meals and they were delicious.

You will not lose weight when hunt-ing with this outfitter.

Rich harvested a real nice 4x5 muledeer on the second day of the hunt atabout 5:30pm and Seth had it back incamp and caped out by 8:00pm thatevening. I harvested a nice 4x5 muledeer on the third day of the huntabout 8:30am and it was back incamp and skinned out by 10:00am.Seth did a wonderful job of skinningand removing the antlers from thedeer. Dave provided us with nice fa-cilities to butcher the animals and getthe meat ready for the trip home.

Dave, Joan, Eric, Susan and Sethmade the trip what it really was.Everyone made you feel like youwere good friends. After dinner onthe third night everyone said theirgoodbyes and hugs were exchanged.You really knew that you had madefriends for life.

I am looking forward to the daywhen I can get back out there againand hunt. Thanks to our agent forplanning such a great hunt for Richand I! COH2

Sincerely, Michael

Report By Minnesota Outdoor Connection Agent:

Ice Fishing On Lake Of The Woods

My son Matthew and I made whathas become the annual pilgrimagenorth through the frozen Januarywoods of Minnesota to Lake of theWoods for a couple of days of icefishing. Our outfitter, located at the


Now that warmer weather has fi-nally arrived, a young man's fancyturns to..."Bass baits!" If I had tocount them all I would have to takeoff my shoes and socks to just comeclose to the number of baits and theways to catch bass that are on themarket today, and then I would needfour feet! Well, every time I think Iknow every way that there is to hookthe wily bass a better mouse i.e.; basstrap comes along.

I'm speaking of the "Clicker Rig."If I hadn't seen it, and done it with myown eyes, I wouldn't believe thatthere are still a few innovations thatare different and more tantalizing toMr. Bass than the ones already beat-ing the bassy waters to a froth.Crankbaits, jigs n pigs, spinner-baits,Texas rigs, drop shot rigs, Carolinarigs, I'm sure I've missed a dozen ormore, but that's all right.

How about the "Clicker Rig?"Since it was designed in Illinoismaybe it should be called the "Illi-nois Rig." In any case it catchesfish...BIG fish! First of all, you mustunderstand, I am not a bass fishermanin the true sense of the word. I am afish fisherman. If the bass are not bit-ing, the crappie rigs come out. If the

crappies arenot biting,b l u e g i l l swill be OKwith me. Iam not realfussy.

I might draw the line at carp... butthen even that is questionable might. Ijust love to catch fish, and I'll use any(legal) means possible to do so. Bigfish are a bonus. Here enters the"Clicker Rig." On my first outing us-ing this rig I shocked even myself.Usually I'm pretty thick skinned anddon't get impressed too easily. Withmy first attempt using a clicker rig Iwas seven for nine on big bass in justthree hours of fishing. Not bad, but nobig deal, until you realize that the runtof the catch weighed in at a little over3 1/2 pounds!

That is scale weight, not "it lookslike." The biggest bass was just over5-pounds. This is the same body ofwater that I have fished for three orfour years, and the occasional 3-pounder was cause for excitement. Inever before had put together a stringof bass that weighed in at over 25-pounds in that short of a time. The re-

convergenceof the RainyRiver and thebig lake, onceagain didn'td i sappo in t .The guides,staff andowner reallygo out of theirway to makethe little one'sfeel right athome. A fiveyear-old at

7am, when the temp is 25 below zerocan be interesting, but Gregg and hiscrew really made him comfortableevery way they could. With a big coldfront that went through, the fishingwas a little tough at first. But the sec-ond afternoon we had a flurry thatwill keep my fishing buddy braggingfor years to come. Yes, the little guyout fished Dad once again-and heeven snuck in a nap in the fishhouse!!! Oh well, if it keeps him fish-ing, he can out fish me anytime! Lit-tle kids, big kids, families--It's toughto beat a day on the water where allyou have to worry about is if the fishwill bite!!! MNF6

Ask for specials often times offeredto us. An example.... Save from$698.00 to $1,373.00 per person onselect dates on famous WollastonLake in Saskatchewan for trophypike, lake trout, walleye, andgrayling.

ILLINOIS LAND FOR SALE…WE SERVICE ALL ILLINOIS COUNTIES!

ALSO LICENSED IN IA & MN • OVER 125+ PROPERTIES TO CHOOSE FROM • NOW OFFERING PROPERTIES IN WI

( 2 1 7 ) 3 9 2 - 2 3 9 1 • 1 - 8 6 6 - 8 74 - 4 4 8 0 • W W W . B U Y W H I T E T A I L P R O P E R T Y . C O M* A D I V I S I O N O F AG R I L A N D M I DW ES T , I N C

ADAMS CO:140 acres 47 acres CRP., 16 acres tillable- excellent trophywhitetail deer and wild turkey hunting, $3750/acre($525,000)

245 acres 200 acres timber, 40 tillable, 5.5 buck brush, largestocked lake, incredible trophy buck, wild turkey, coyote andsmall game hunting, $3990/acre ($977,550)

BROWN CO:42 acres with home 42 acres pond, tillable area ideal for cropincome or wildlife food plots, fantastic whitetail deer, wildturkey and small game hunting, great fishing $320,000

202 acres 81 acres in CRP- generating $8030/yr, , Pike countyborders the south side of property, located in the "Golden Trian-gle"- bruiser buck country, excellent trophy whitetail deer, wildturkey and small game hunting (Borders Pike County)$4500/acre ($909,000)

CALHOUN CO:56 acres with hunting cabin 43 acres hardwood timber, 13acres pasture, established food plots - located in the "GoldenTriangle", excellent trophy whitetail deer and big gobbler hunt-ing- has been trophy managed, 10 tree stands included withproperty (Agent Owned) $5312.50/acre ($297,500)

75 acres Excellent Waterfowl Hunting Property, 35 acresbrushy fields and some timber, excellent duck and goose hunt-ing, located in the heart of the Mississippi F lyway, also an abun-dance of whitetail deer roaming the area) $6000/acre($450,000)

FULTON CO:9 acres 5-1/2 acres tillable- balance in timber and brush, excel-lent road access, several rubs and tracks- whitetail deer andsmall game hunting, $5500/acre ($49,500)

13 acres 13 acres wildflower and prairie grass mix, young trees-150 of each- Alberta Northern Spruce, Australian Spruce, Col-orado Spruce, Red Maple, Oaks, Dogwood Bushes, borders astrip mine lake- spectacular fishing, great road access,$6500/acre ($84,500)

15 acres with log home, 5 acres tillable, balance in timber,creek, pole barn, great whitetail deer and wild turkey huntingright out the back door, excellent road access, perfect set upfor horse or cattle $220,000

34 acres with home 32 acres timber, balance in food plot,creek, spectacular whitetail deer and small game hunting- own-er has harvested several Pope and Young bucks on this property$385,000

175 acres 155 acres CREP, 20 acres timber and pasture - not inCREP, approximately 100 acres timber - 60 acres new growthtimber, balance in big timber, numerous deer signs - rubs,trails, bedding areas, excellent trophy whitetail deer and wildturkey hunting $2950/acre ($516,250)

KNOX CO:20 acres with pole barn and built in living quarters excellentwhitetail deer, wild turkey and small game hunting- property is anatural travel corridor , $192,500

33 acres with home 2.2 acres CRP, 8.2 acres CREP, 1.5 acrestillable, remaining timber, and creek, excellent whitetail deer,wild turkey and small game hunting, mature hardwood timber$360,000

480 acres with home 100 acres mature timber, great whitetaildeer and wild turkey hunting $1,650,000

LOGAN CO:40 acres approximately 22 acres tillable, 10.36 acres CRP, re-maining in timber and creek, property is bordered on two sidesby a Quail Refuge Area, excellent whitetail deer, wild turkey,pheasant and small game hunting, creek of fers fishing$5000/acre ($200,000)

235 acres (Logan & Tazwell Co) approximately 143 acres till-able, 40.3 acres CRP, excellent trophy whitetail deer, wildturkey, pheasant and small game hunting, creek of fers fishing-$5600/acre ($1,316,000)

623.11 acres (Logan & Tazwell Co) approx. 430 acres tillable,57.11 acres CRP, remaining timber, creek, pasture, pond, creekof fers fishing excellent whitetail deer, wild turkey, pheasant andsmall game hunting. $6000/acre ($3,738,660)

MARSHALL CO:10.5 acres with home 8 acres big mature hardwood timber,spring fed creek, excellent whitetail deer, wild turkey and smallgame hunting $315,000

16 acres with home 11.4 acres alfalfa, 1.12 acre stocked lake-bunker fruit trees, blackberries, raspberries, grapes,$322,500

MCDONOUGH CO:20 acres with home 3 acres pasture and food plots, remainingwoodland, excellent whitetail deer, wild turkey and small gamehunting, many mature oak, hickory and black walnut trees,$185,000

75.44 acres with home 16 acres tillable, 3 acres pasture, creek,pond, remaining timber, excellent whitetail deer, wild turkey andsmall game hunting, mature hardwood timber $465,000

98 acres 53.2 acres CRP/CREP-, remaining in timber stockedpond and creek many mature hardwood trees, excellent whitetaildeer , wild turkey and small game hunting, $2600/acre($254,800)

PIKE CO:68.5 acres 8 acres tillable with balance in timber and spring fedcreek, exceptional trophy buck, big gobbler, critter calling andsmall game hunting $274,000

246 acres 56.39 acres in CRP- 12.67 acres tillable, balance inbig buck timber, trophy managed for 10 years, established foodplots, incredible trophy buck, big bearded gobbler, coyote callingand small game hunting $5200/acre ($1,279,200)

SCHUYLER CO:10 acres with home 4 acres fenced pasture, remaining timber,stocked lake- excellent whitetail deer wild turkey and smallgame hunting, $310,000

20 acres timber and rock bottom creek, many deer rubs,scrapes, trails and bedded areas, many mature hardwood trees,excellent whitetail deer, wild turkey and small game hunting$3950/acre ($79,000)

57.46 acres 10.87 tillable acres and 34.7 acres CRP, remain-ing woodland, excellent whitetail deer, wild turkey and smallgame hunting, many rubs scrapes, trails and bedded areas,$3200/acre ($183,872)

80.17 acres 21.15 tillable acres remaining woodland, andcreek, excellent whitetail deer, wild turkey and small game hunt-ing, wetlands could be established near creek area for waterfowlhunting, mature hardwood timber $3550/acre ($284,600)

160 acres Two lakes - 5 acre lake and a 2 acre lake, 121 acrestillable, remaining timber, excellent hunting, fishing (AgentOwned) $2900/acre ($464,000)

MISSOURI LAND FOR SALE…CLARK CO:95 acres with cabin 80 acres mature timber 14 acres tillable-pond and creek, excellent trophy whitetail deer and wild turkeyhunting, $247,000

HARRISON CO:133 acres 26 tillable acres- 61 acres CRP until 2012-, 2 largestocked ponds, excellent trophy whitetail deer and wild turkeyhunting, this property straddles the border of Iowa and Missouri$2150/acre ($285,950)

173 acres with home 81 acres CRP-, 26 tillable-, timber, 2large stocked ponds, abundant trophy whitetail deer and wildturkey, this property straddles the border of Iowa and Missouri$2602/acre ($450,000)

MACON CO:89 acres approximately 70 acres timber and brush, remainderin tillable, food plot, grass, creek and pond, excellent trophywhitetail deer and wild turkey hunting $2190/acre ($194,900)

ST. CLAIR CO:2037 acres with home, 1800 acres timber, 150 acres tillable,balance in food plots, creek, 11 ponds- 4 stocked, excellentwhitetail deer, wild turkey and small game hunting, trophywhitetail managed for over ten years- giant double drop tine washarvested here and multi-bearded turkey genetics are common,300 yard rifle range $1375/acre ($2,800,875)

Here is one happy fisherman.This 2 3/4 pound, 17 1/2”

crappie was caught by Randy Ganschow of Mendota on a recent trip to Kentucky

Lake. This “hawg” was caughtlate Saturday afternoon March 29, 2008.He was

accompanied on the trip withKurt Bruno, also of Mendota,

and Dave Ganschow of Normal.While it was still a little

early for the spawn, they didmanage to catch a large numberof keepers (over 10” in length.)

Dave landed a 2 1/4 pound, 16 1/2” crappie the following

morning. Thanks to Dave Ganschow for sharing his great

fishing experience in Texas!

A BASS RIG THATWILL WORK!By Capt. Herman Kunz



makes fish appear out of now where?It is simple and easy to rig, you justneed a few items, most of which

should be in your tackle box. Firstadd a Lindy-Little Joe bobber stopperto your line. It can be adjusted up ordown and eliminates the damagedline you can get by pegging...And no,you won't be using a bobber.

Second, use a bullet weight appro-priate to the depth of the water thatyou are going to be fishing in. To methe smallest weight that you can getby with, the better off you will be.Most of my fishing/experimentingwas done with 1/16th and 1/8thounce bullet weights, although on theworst day, I was using a 1/4th ounceweight. Next slide onto your line a3/16th inch chartreuse bead.

When you look at this rig, the beadactually looks like an eye as it snug-gles into the hollow of the weight.My beads are plastic. Glass wouldprobably work as good or better ifand when you can find them. Next,tie on a # 3 or # 4 Daiichi BleedingBait Bass Hook. Finally, to the hookI've been using a 6-inch Texas riggedBerkley pumpkinseed colored PowerWorm. That is all there is to the rig.

By moving the bobber stopper upor down an eighth of an inch or sofrom the weight you can make thisrig click in different cadences againstthe bead. Up close you get sort of arattle, moved away a bit, you will getmore of a tap, tap. I usually kept mineabout a 1/16th of an inch from theweight. It works for me. As far as theline itself is concerned I like usingSpiderwire in the 6/30weight combi-nation.

At times, when faced with gin clearwater conditions, I have tied on a twoor three foot leader of Berkley Vanishfluorocarbon line. It seems to helpquite a bit. Here I think personal tastecomes into play, use the line that youare comfortable with.

What makes this rig work? You tellme! Is it the "clicking" that provokesthe strike? Is it the beady eye lookingback at the fish? Is it the "BleedingBait Hook" that simulates an injuredmeal? Or is it the Berkley Power Baitthat by design, is made to attract thebite of a hungry fish? I don't know!

All I do know is that since I havebeen using this exact combination,my bass fishing success has gone upa thousand percent. You can try ex-perimenting with different coloredbeads or worms, but for my money,this is the rig that "keeps gettin bitten,while it keeps on clickin!!" Try it,you might like it!

just before plunging back into thedepths, free of any encumbrances likehooks or lines.

I probably should have set the hookharder instead of just sitting there inawe. This venture was in just twohours of fishing. Now I became excit-ed! These weren't just tap, taps, buthonest to goodness slam bams! Thelast test was on a day when fishingwas to put it mildly, rotten. Hardlyanyone I had spoken to had any fishat all. This day I boated seven fishand although they were all "shortfish" but one, it was five more thananybody else on that particular bodyof water had gotten a look at that day.

So just what is this magic rig that

al truth be known it was a first! Then again, like I said, "If they

don't come easy, I fish for somethingelse." I like the "jerk" at the end ofthe line. (No wise cracks hereplease!) Was this a fluke? Did I justget lucky? Or did I really stumble on-to something? I had to find out.

A week later I tried the "ClickerRig " again. This time the catchingwas not as good...But! I had 5bass onthe line, two of which I never sawand three that made an encore ap-pearance by leaping out of the waterand staying visible just long enoughfor me to see that these three fishwere all in the 3-pound plus range,and then giving me the middle fin

RIG… Cont’d. from previous pg.


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