Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame

Four individuals will be honored for decades of conservation work and advocacy of outdoor recreation opportunities as they are inducted into the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame, a program of the Illinois Conservation Foundation (ICF).

Dr. Thomas C. Dunston, Dr. David Kenney, Bob Long, Jr. and Ed Mullady were selected from dozens of nominees submitted by citizens from throughout Illinois for induction as the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame class of 2011. The induction ceremony will be conducted during the annual Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, March 26, 2011 at Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace.

I had planned on doing a much more extensive write up on this, including an in-depth interview with Bob Long, Jr., but I never got around to it. I normally don’t attend things like this, but I will be going to this one. Bob Long, Jr. is a good friend of mine. Over the years we’ve spent a lot of time basically hanging out and talking as well as hitting various rivers for fishing. In the past 5 years, with him in Chicago and me a little further out west, there has not been enough time together. Though he is an exceptional river fisherman, he claims to have learned even more from me. I don’t see how. I learned quite a bit from him.

Ed Mullady is probably the biggest influence I have on how I go about what I do on the Fox River. From the sharing of fishing info and fishing spots, to outlining those spots in river maps to preserving and protecting a river you love, I’ve borrowed all that I do from him. He’s been doing this on the Kankakee River for over 50 years. I know he’ll have me beat on that score, it will take me 35 more years to match his efforts and I have a feeling I’ll be long dead before that.

Bob Long, Jr., Chicago

Bob Long, Jr. is one of Illinois’ best known advocates and promoters of youth fishing and the participation by youth in the outdoors as “The Fishin’ Guy” for the Chicago Park District. Long’s involvement in youth education and youth fishing took hold in 1991 when he joined the Fishin’ Buddies fishing and conservation education program on Chicago’s south side. The program was established to instill in youth through fishing and conservation programs a love of the outdoors and a need to protect the land, air and water.

As an extension of those efforts, Long has managed Mayor Richard Daley’s “Fish ‘N Kids” program through the Chicago Park District, providing fishing opportunities at park district lagoons, the Chicago River and the Chicago lakefront to more than 12,000 children and their families each year. The program provides fishing tackle, bait and instruction free of charge to introduce inner city youth to the excitement of catching fish and protecting nature.

I think I first met Bob in 1998 or 99. I’m certain it was through one of the local fishing forums, by then I was already exploring the Fox River on a regular basis and leaving my ponderous reports about the exploring on the forums. I guess it was one of those situations where we just hit it off and began meeting up to fish the river.

This eventually led to Bob asking me to be his assistant for Mayor Richard Daley’s “Fish ‘N Kids” program through the Chicago Park District. Six months out of the year for 4 years we got to hang out and talk. Yes, a lot about work, but quite a bit about fishing in general and life in particular.

Even though the reason given for Bob being inducted into the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame primarily focuses on his kid fishing achievements, there’s much more to him than that. I don’t think anglers that fish in Chicago realize how much access is available to them due to Bob’s tireless efforts to get them access to the city’s lagoons, rivers and lakefront. Bob got me involved with Mayor Daley’s Fishing Advisory Committee and I was able to attend meetings for a few years. Numerous times I saw him go to bat for more and better access for anglers to Chicago waters.

Many times I’ve heard him tell people, “Why do you want to put a fishing pier there? There aren’t any fish there.” He would then proceed to tell them exactly where one should go. That advice was not always heeded.

Now expand outward from the city. Bob is an exceptional angler with all gear, but has a love of the fly. He’s the one that got me interested in fly fishing long ago. His love of rivers probably exceeds mine and we’ve had the opportunity to explore a number of the rivers and creeks in the Chicago area.

Bob is also an exceptional teacher. I’ve seen him speak before groups about fishing the local rivers. He approaches that with the same level of passion that I see him approach everything he does.

Lastly, Bob is an outstanding photographer and story teller. It’s rare when you see him out on the water that he doesn’t have a camera dangling around his neck. Besides the rivers he’s fishing, he documents his journeys to and from his locations. He also has an exceptional way with words and it would be worth it to go to his flickr photo site and spend the time looking and reading.

Ed Mullady, Kankakee

Ed Mullady has published The Sportsman’s Letter, one of the nation’s longest-running outdoors publications, since 1958. Nominators and other friends refer to Mullady as the “Godfather of the Kankakee River” in recognition of his passion for, knowledge of, and dedication to protecting the Kankakee River basin. When Mullady isn’t writing about fishing, he may be reporting on fishing and outdoor recreation on his Sportsman’s Letter show on WKAN Radio. Or he may be conducting fishing seminars, educating thousands of anglers of all ages on the excitement of fishing in Illinois. Or he may be crafting and updating his popular maps detailing fishing and other recreation opportunities along the Kankakee River.

Mullady has also served with distinction on public and private committees, task forces and commissions focused on protection, restoration and stewardship of the Kankakee and other waterways in northeast Illinois. Among the many honors bestowed on Mullady was the 2001 Isaak Walton League “Russell Sinclair News Media Award” for advocacy of wetland and wildlife conservation.

Ed Mullady has probably been my biggest influence on everything I’ve tried to do on the Fox River.

I was first given a copy of his Kankakee River Fisherman’s Atlas in 1988. I was fascinated by the amount of information he packed into that small atlas of maps about the Kankakee. Having a degree in fine art and a fascination with hand made artists books, I liked the way his atlas came across. There’s an inherent passion that comes through. Someone had to draw and paste all this information together, then go through the trouble of getting it all printed and distributed. Because of the way it’s written, you feel like info is being shared by a good friend, even if you never met him.

I didn’t fish a river at all until 1996 when I threw my first lure into the Fox River. I immediately went out and bought the latest version of the Kankakee Atlas, I still have it. The atlas gave me all the information I needed for fishing a river. I figured the same principles could be applied to the Fox. It would still be a few years before I even got around to fishing the Kankakee.

I also subscribed to his Sportsman’s Letter and have quite of few of them in my collection. One of the things that always impressed me was his love of the Kankakee River. Mixed in with info and stories on catching fish was all kinds of info on preserving and protecting the Kankakee River. Everything I did regarding fishing, sharing fishing info and my involvement with Fox River conservation efforts were all directly patterned after what Ed still does for the Kankakee River.

Back in 2000, I started my own maps of the Fox River. I have a huge collection of maps and lots of locations pin pointed. Only I’ve never done anything with them. The internet and it’s constant improvement of map sites seems to make those efforts moot. Some day when I have the time I may finish my own some what hand drawn and laid out Fox River Atlas. If for no other reason than I like the way Ed’s looks.

I think one of the things that gets overlooked with all of Ed’s efforts is that he has created a way of presenting information on a river that could be applied to just about any river any where. Someone just has to make the effort on the body of water they love. I know first hand that it is a tremendous amount of work. The fact that he’s been doing this for over 50 years is nothing short of astonishing.

Congratulations to both Bob and Ed for being inducted into the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame. An honor well deserved.