Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.
WILD OF THE WEEK
Ed Potocki photographed this scene at Shabbona Lake during the thick ice. “Saw this frozen musky in time. Until I realized it was just a log . . . I did a double take when I saw it. Only in a musky hunter!!”
OK, it is a different WOTW, but I love it.
WOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email BowmanOutside@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).
DALE’S MAILBAG
“Any word on DuSable?” Matt
A: Rarely do I get fishing reports from DuSable Harbor, unless I happen to have been physically there. The regulars are extremely tight-lippd and it is difficult to access other than the small anglers parking lot or you literally live downtown.
LAST WORD
“I’ll run the wire through the concrete block and the limbs of each tree and wrap it several times. Then I’ll slide the block off the dock and into a boat stall and watch the tree slowly sink. Instant cover. Instant fishing spot. I’m amazed at how quickly those Christmas trees that only a few days earlier had proudly carried Christmas tradition can attract crappies.”
Brent Frazee, in “Christmas Tree Crappie,” on crappienow.com
WILD TIMES
SHOWTIME
Click here for the complete list of shows, outdoors classes and swap meets.
Through Sunday, Jan. 8: Let’s Go Fishing Show, Gateway Convention Center, Collinsville
Wednesday, Jan. 11 to Jan. 15: Chicago Boat Show, McCormick Place South
Next Saturday, Jan. 14, to Jan. 15: Chicago Travel & Adventure Show, Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont
Next Saturday, Jan. 14, to Jan. 15: Spring Lake Izaak Walton Outdoor Show, Hobart, Ind., (219) 263-3358
FISH GATHERINGS
Tuesday, Jan. 10: Lake Michigan Angler’s Rob Wendel, upcoming store seminars and fishing around harbors after ice-out, Salmon Unlimited, Thornwood Restaurant & Lounge, Wood Dale, 7 p.m., salmonunlimitedinc.com
Wednesday, Jan. 11: Gregg Thomas on crankbait fishing, better figure 8’s and pattern planning, Fox River Valley chapter of Muskies Inc., Schaumburg Golf Club, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 12: Jim Crowley, Riverside Fishing Club, Berwyn Moose Lodge 424 (NOTE NEW MEETING SITE), 6:30 p.m.
ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS
Sunday, Jan. 8: Pheasant, quail, partridge, north zone, ends
Monday, Jan. 9: Second dove season ends
Tuesday, Jan. 10: Final day, duck season, south-central zone
Friday, Jan. 13-Jan. 15: Second portion, Special CWD/late winter antlerless deer season
BALD EAGLES
Next Saturday, Jan. 14: Eagle Watch, Four Rivers Environmental Education Center, Channahon, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/news/2023-eagle-watch-swoops-in-to-four-rivers-on-jan-14/
Through Sunday, Jan. 8: Bald Eagle Days: QCCA Expo Center, Rock Island, Ill., qccaexpocenter.com/baldeagledays
