I dropped off Toni Pellegrino’s mounted walleye Wednesday at the Fishing Connection in Tinley Park.
‘‘I think what I will do is put a skyline of Chicago above it,’’ owner Greg Katello said. ‘‘That will be cool. Cool beans.’’
He plans to put it overhead behind the counter, in a spot now occupied by the mount of a big northern pike and to the right of the mount of a 14-pound walleye he caught.
It has been quite the journey for Pellegrino’s walleye, once the unofficial heaviest modern Chicago walleye weighed on a certified scale.
I think of her walleye as a sort of traveling museum exhibit.
In the wee hours of Oct. 8, 2007, Pellegrino was fishing with her then-boyfriend on the Chicago River near DuSable Harbor.
‘‘I remember it was about 2 or 3 in the morning,’’ she recalled. ‘‘I was fishing for salmon, and then I caught the big one. She was beautiful. I couldn’t believe that I caught such a fish. It was amazing and exciting.’’
They waited until Henry’s Sports, Bait and Marine opened and had it weighed at 6.75 pounds on its certified scale. Henry’s had the fish mounted, then displayed it in the shop for a long time.
In less than a year, Pellegrino’s distinction of having caught the unofficial heaviest modern Chicago walleye weighed on a certified scale was superseded by one caught by Mike Osuch in September 2008 off the point of Northerly Island. His walleye weighed 7 pounds, 5.5 ounces at Henry’s.
As far as I know, Osuch’s remains the unofficial Chicago record, though I’ve heard talk of other big ones not weighed on a certified scale.
Henry’s eventually asked Pellegrino to take her walleye mount, and she took it home. But it was so big that she wanted to find another place for it and asked for my help.
‘‘The walleye means a lot of my past and how much peace it brought to me after my late daughter, Sterling,’’ Pellegrino said. ‘‘I dedicated it to my daughter, put her name on the plaque, just something special to me. I picture it hanging up at the Fishing Connection because I can tell people about it and to go see it and it feels like a home for it.’’
Late last year, Pellegrino dropped it off at our house and I put it in my office. I wanted to make sure it was preserved as an artifact of Chicago fishing, just in case we ever have a Chicago Fishing Museum in my lifetime.
A couple of weeks ago, Pellegrino asked what I was doing with it. I sent her a picture of it sitting behind me as I type. Then she suggested the Fishing Connection, so I set it up with Katello.
‘‘The Fishing Connection is in my hometown,’’ Pellegrino said. ‘‘I grew up with Greg’s wife and am best friends with her sister. I thought it would be a great fit. People I know go to Fishing Connection, and Greg always has a nice story to tell about my walleye.’’
So that is where a special well-traveled walleye will be for the foreseeable future. I still have hopes to be alive long enough to see it hold a special place of honor in a Chicago Fishing Museum.
‘‘I believe it belongs in the fishing world,’’ Pellegrino said.
