Over the past 15 years I’ve got to know some of the best anglers that fish the rivers and streams, the lakes and ponds in the Greater Chicagoland Area. From Lake Michigan to out west beyond the Fox River Valley, from the Wisconsin border down to Kankakee. These are anglers that don’t fish tournaments, hawk products or are sponsored by anyone. They go fishing, they have no choice. It would be easier to ask them to stop breathing.
I’ve always considered pulling together fishing reports from this hard core group. Put them up once a week to summarize what the dedicated anglers are doing.
But then, I get an email from Kankakee River Sage Norm Minas this morning. A small two paragraph fishing report. A summary of being out in the river yesterday, in the rain. I can’t help but question that whole idea of fishing reports after receiving one such as this:
As the murky waters inched higher along sodden shores, debris passed swiftly, dislodged from temporary abodes. Under dull, leaden skies, springlike air gave some respite to the frigid waters swirling around my legs. The raw, wetness from above upon my hands however, gave lie to any pleasant promises from man made measurements of nature.
Where the rivulets roiled downward, the creeks crashed in, and at the interface of dirty, debris filled intermittent flows with the sullen and swollen river, the fish feasted. Through the cresendo of rain upon the surface and the rusty leaves running rampant, the rattlebait worked it’s rythymic magic. Broad, bulky bronze, long slender gold and peaceful, solitary serenity were the reward for venturing forth on such a day as this.
The average angler needs GPS coordinates of fishing spots. Maps with pin points clearly marked of exactly where they should be fishing. Is there parking near by? What were you throwing? What were you fishing for and you got any weights on those fish?
And yet, when I read Norm’s report, I know all those answers.
I’ll have to give these fishing reports some thought.
See what the other anglers can come up with. Norm has set the bar rather high with this one.
