Joe Capilupo’s smallmouth bass makes an easy pick for Fish of the Year

Grace.

It’s an odd word to use with a record fish, but it fits how Joe Capilupo handled the fame and attention that came after he caught the Illinois-record smallmouth bass (7 pounds, 3 ounces) Oct. 14 from Monroe Harbor.

It’s the easiest Fish of the Year.

In-Fisherman, Bassmaster Magazine and USA Today did stories on his catch.

‘‘It is really cool,’’ Capilupo said Dec. 9, when FishingCPR honored him at Henry’s Sports & Bait in Bridgeport. ‘‘I’m trying to communicate and explain the story. It is quite the experience. I am just having fun.’’

Illinois Fishing Addicts, the Facebook group where his friend Jonny Pitelka gained late-night information about how to get a fish certified, gave Capilupo a special shirt. Illinois Smallmouth Alliance is honoring him.

‘‘It is cool for fishing in a way,’’ Capilupo said.

Dale Bowman

Capilupo, a Cook County corrections officer from La Grange, was night-fishing with regular fishing partners Pitelka and Myles Cooke. It was late enough that a police officer reminded them they had 20 minutes until the 11 p.m. park closure.

They spread out from the Shedd Aquarium to south of Buckingham Fountain. At 10:50 p.m., Capilupo had a hit and brought the fish in after a brief, hard fight.

‘‘It even jumped out of the water,’’ Cooke said. ‘‘I heard a splash and was going to help net it, but he did it himself.’’

Capilupo caught it on a Z-man Ned rig (California craw).

‘‘It is the go-to, swear-by, never-fails bait,’’ Pitelka said.

Capilupo was using a St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting rod with a Daiwa Legalis reel with 14-pound Sufix monofilament.

They weighed it on handheld scales between 7-5 and 7-1. Capilupo contacted Eddie Louis, the brother of a work friend. Louis and Cooke ran to Walgreens for large garbage bags. They filled the bags with water to transport the fish, and Pitelka, who has an aquarium, led a late-night trip to Walmart for equipment.

In the morning they drove to Henry’s, where co-proprietor Steve Palmisano weighed it at 7-3 on a certified scale and in a tub of water. He and employee Ernest Blackman witnessed the weighing. The fish was 22¼ inches long with a girth of 16½ inches.

Biologist Vic Santucci, Illinois’ Lake Michigan program manager, certified the smallmouth and said: ‘‘That’s a beauty. You don’t even have to hold that one out.’’

Capilupo wanted to release the fish, so it went back into a tank at Henry’s. Co-proprietor Tom Palmisano vigorously checked the fish and kept stressors away through the evening and night.

Capilupo and friends picked up the fish in the morning.

‘‘He’s one of the classiest fishermen in the world,’’ Tom Palmisano said. ‘‘His buddy was sitting in the back, tending the fish like a newborn being taken care of on the way home from the hospital. I can’t think of a happier moment in my years in the business.’’

The fish was taken to the Chicago lakefront and released.

On the video, Capilupo intoned: ‘‘Back into Lake Michigan she goes. Thanks, buddy. Great fight. Great fish. Seven pounds, 3 ounces. Smallmouth bass.’’

Peter Nazarowski at Arctic Circle Taxidermy & Prop Design in Chicago finished the replica. They are waiting on the engraved nameplate.

What Capilupo said after certification still echoes in my head: ‘‘It is just unbelievable. Last night, after it happened, it was surreal.’’

Bigger smallmouth swim in southern Lake Michigan. The next record won’t take 34 years.

Illinois hunting

Some over-the-counter tags are available for the CWD and late antlerless deer seasons. The first of two seasons is Thursday through Sunday.

Wild things

Migrators are definitely here when it comes to geese. I’m even hearing cacklers.

Stray cast

The Bears’ season reminds me too much of too many opening days for yellow perch on Lake Michigan.