The start of something?
Muskie sightings in Calumet Harbor may signal ‘ big deal’
Every year in Chicago fishing comes with its own tagline. This year, it would be the big northern pike ( and reports of muskie sightings) on the lakefront. Well, and maybe the crush of big blue catfish at LaSalle Lake ( see Fish of the Week — again).
On June 8, I wrote about particularly good numbers of bigger pike in Chicago harbors and about reports of muskie sightings at Burnham Harbor.
Earlier this month, noted south- suburban bass fisherman Jeff Baffa of Frankfort reported three possible muskie ( not landed) in the Calumet on the lake side of the O’Brien Lock and Dam, in a slip closer to Calumet Harbor than the lock.
He got back out at 5: 30 a. m. Sunday with Argentinean friend Ricardo
Placenti. Using spinner baits, Placenti boated his first pike — a quality one — in the first 15 minutes.
‘‘[ Fifteen] minutes later, I got a muskie to the boat, and it made one more power surge and broke my line,’’ emailed Baffa, who said they caught six smallmouth and three largemouth the rest of the day.
I called Baffa, who explained he was using 17- pound line with no leader. He was trying to land the muskie, which was about the same size as Placenti’s pike, by the gills when it busted the line.
He said it had come out after the spinner bait as he was retrieving it above the grass.
I asked whether he was certain it was a muskie and not just a darkly marked pike. He said it was a muskie and, as he was trying to gill- land it, would have been close enough to see it well. ‘‘ It is a big deal,’’ he said. Yes, it is. We might be seeing the beginnings of something different in Chicago fishing. Or just an anomaly.
In memory
John ‘‘ Johnny Sunshine’’ Pajak of Bartlett died Aug. 16 at 46. Mr. Pajak, who regularly contributed fishing reports for DuPagearea lakes and the Fox River, knew how to make fishing a time to unwind. Memorials can be made to the American Cancer Society.
Hunting
The Illinois Recreational Access Program has 56 sites for archery deer hunting in Clark, Franklin, Greene, Lee, Macoupin, Monroe, Sangamon and Schuyler counties. Deadline to apply is Tuesday ( dnr. illinois. gov/ conservation/ IRAP/ Pages/ Archery- Deer- Hunting. aspx).
Wild things
Reports on IBET, the Illinois birders’ list, come of common nighthawks on the move. Nighthawks in the lights at Sox Park or Wrigley Field are one of my favorite sights as summer winds down — next to the baseball itself, of course.
Stray cast
Sometimes listening to Cubs manager Joe Maddon feels like watching an octopus squirt ink into water ( or maybe like being mesmerized by the bubbles in sparkling wine paired with calamari).