Metering is ON

outdoors

Dale Bowman biography

Outdoors columnist Dale Bowman began his reporting career as a correspondent covering state government for WTAJ-TV in 1982. While in graduate school in 1984, he …

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  • Outdoors folks should avoid downtown during NATO Summit

    Around the NATO Summit, the general idea for fishermen, boaters, bikers and walkers/ runners on the Chicago lakefront from Friday through Monday will be to avoid the area from the Museum Campus to 39th. ‘‘Common sense tells you to stay the hell away from downtown,’’ a …Read More

  • 05/23: Midwest Fishing Report

    COTTONWOOD FLUFF: I repeat advice from Steve Magdziarz from three years ago: ‘‘Reel in with the rod tip under- water. Minimizes the dam stuff!’’ CHAIN O’LAKES AREA: Triangle reported bluegills (shallow) should be the holiday bite. White bass are good. For walleye, try split-shot rigs with …

    05/23: Fish of the Week

    Joe Collette of Hoffman Estates made a couple of casts at Independence Grove with a classic spring bass lure, a black-and-blue jig, then hooked up. But it was a muskie, not a bass. ‘‘He came out of the water, it was like a tarpon,’’ Collette …

    05/23: Turkey of the Week

    A lot of young people had TOTW this spring. Let’s end it at the other end of the age spectrum. Spring turkey hunting in Illinois ended with 15,941 turkeys bagged, well more than the 15,121 in 2011 but less than the record 16,605 in 2006. …

  • 05/16: Midwest Fishing Report

    WOLF RIVER WHITE BASS: In Fremont, Wis., guide Bill Stoeger said this should be the peak week for white bass; numbers pick up daily. Best presentation has been jigs and minnows, but spinners and even flies are working. Good-sized fish running 12 to 14 inches …Read More

  • 05/16: Fish of the Week

    It’s time for big  largemouth bass, and Jim Mrugacz sent a photo of this one. ‘‘Caught this 21-incher on [Thursday] in Itasca casting a night crawler on my ultralight,’’ he emailed. ‘‘Thought it might qualify for FOTW.’’ Works for me. …

    05/16: Turkey of the Week

    Bob Spagnoli of Buffalo Grove knows how to fit hunting into a busy schedule. The New Trier teacher and girls track coach made the most of the day he had to hunt turkey this spring on April 22. After a track meet at Lake Park, …

    Film about Indiana wetlands is one big, unhappy ending

    While tales of passenger pigeons darkening the sky and ducks so thick one shot could down many show the rich natural history of the Grand Kankakee Marsh, the stories of the horse thieves and counterfeiters hanging out on Bogus Island in Beaver Lake define the …

    Carlyle becoming great lake

    CARLYLE, Ill. — The extended Jarvis clan asked if I wanted to go crappie fishing as I stashed a computer and camera bags Saturday night. The Northwest Side family knows fishing Carlyle Lake by now. They’ve made three trips Downstate in the last four years. …

    Capt. Tim Wojnicz might have caught Illinois’ first record for burbot

    When I reached Capt. Tim Wojnicz as he was fishing  for perch Thursday, he cheerily said: ‘‘You are talking to Capt. Burbot here.’’ He appears to be the right guy to have caught what should be Illinois’ first record for burbot. It could be the …

  • Is this duck call worth $100,000?

    As Peter Marsh, Roger Ludwig and Donna Tonelli looked at the Beckhart duck call — a rattlesnake carved around the mouthpiece with an alligator, hound, duck, pheasant and other intricacies on the body — they all knew it was special. So Donna called her husband. …Read More

  • 5/9: Midwest Fishing Report

    WOLF RIVER, WIS.: FREMONT: Mother’s Day is the traditional peak for white bass. Guide Bill Stoeger reported they are picking up in the shallows, but the water needs to warm before the peak comes. Most are being caught with a jig and minnow; a few …

    5/9: Turkey of the Week

    Tony Farinella and his son Andrew heard toms on the roost Saturday in Jo Daviess County, but some hens quieted them. After four hours, they repositioned 100 yards past two tons on a ridge. Farinella, a West Chicago accountant, did some soft calling. “We never …

    5/9: Fish of the Week

    Two “awesome’’ FOTW, caught during prefishing for the IHSA state championship for bass fishing last week, highlight the variety of Carlyle Lake. Working a classic black and blue jig, Zach Eldredge of Streamwood High School (with holding help from volunteer coach Mike Rubino) boated a …

  • 05/02: Midwest Fishing Report

    WISCONSIN OPENER: Inland fishing opener is Saturday. Walleye, sauger and pike open statewide. Largemouth and smallmouth bass open in the southern zone, while the northern bass zone opens for catch and release and runs through June 15. Muskie opens in the southern zone; the northern …Read More

  • 05/02: Fish of the Week

    The good year for big brown trout around Chicago fishing keeps going. Chris Ranney caught this 36-incher with a girth of 22 inches at Navy Pier in mid-April. Weighed at Henry’s Sports & Bait, it topped 23 pounds. I think it is the biggest brown …Read More

  • 05/02: Turkey of the Week

    Jake Pals, 11, had the complete turkey experience April 22 in Fulton County. Not only did he shoot his first tom while hunting from a blind with his dad, but they came across a hen on a nest (took a quick photo and kept going). …