Lake Michigan offers endless mysteries, joy
January 3, 2012 7:46PM
A snowy owl takes to the air after perching on a chimney on Thursday Dec. 22, 2011 in Sandy Point, Wash. (AP Photo/The Bellingham Herald, Andy Bronson)
Updated: February 5, 2012 8:15AM
It’s one thing for a Try gizzard shad, whitefish and snowy owls.
cormorant to plunge into the winter waters of Lake Michigan; it’s quite another for humans to do it.
Steve Robillard said. ‘‘When we do fall electroshocking, we usually find some,’’ he said. ‘‘Last year and the year before, we hardly found any. Other years, we have seen lots of them, and nobody says anything in the winter. Maybe they are just coming in later.’’ Then there is the whitefish. In most years, they make a November return for a couple of weeks around Michigan City, Ind., then go back out. This year, they stayed close into late December and were caught as far west as Gary Light and the Hole-in-the-Wall, according to the guys at Mik-Lurch Fishing Tackle Outlet in Hammond. ‘‘Temperature, temperature, temperature,’’ e-mailed ‘‘Over the last decade, however, we have seen an increase in sportfishing opportunities for whitefish as the population increases. This continues to be one of the species that is doing pretty well in overall numbers, but their size is down from decades ago. This is all tied to the productivity of the lake and the lower nutrient levels that continue to plague many of the young fish during early development.’’ Breidert said 36 degrees appears to be the temperature when they leave the shoreline. The lake cools rapidly toward that. Many snowy owls showed up along the Illinois and Indiana shorelines this fall and winter. For weeks, two have been hanging around Montrose Harbor. I was checking perch fishermen Saturday and noticed two groups of people with binoculars and cameras. I figured they were eyeing snowy owls. One sat on top of the beachhouse, its eyes flitting to watch birds. A handful of kids played on a nearby sandhill, while adults snapped photos. Human polar bears? I appreciate people pushing their limits, but . . .
‘‘She loves doing it,’’ said her husband, Capt. Augie Ralph . ‘‘I swam in that lake before [in winter]. It is a cold swim. I don’t care to do it.’’ I’m with the captain. Some wonders are best observed only.
Our weird winter and lack of snow cover led to a weird upland-game season. (Pheasant, rabbit and quail hunting ends Sunday in Illinois’ north zone.) I suspect the lack of snow and cold dramatically will affect goose numbers, too. (Goose season in Illinois’ north zone ends Saturday.) . . . When numbers come for the first portion of Illinois’ late-winter antlerless and CWD deer seasons, I will post them on my blog.
Showtime begins
Hank Parker headlines the Gotcha Outdoors Adventure Sport Show at 1 p.m. Saturday. The show will be held Saturday and Sunday at First Church of the Nazarene, 1000 N. Entrance Ave., Kankakee.
Stray cast
While steelhead swam high in the water column, Jerry Angelo caught whitefish on the bottom.
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