I’m glad the Lake Michigan Program is back to holding informational meetings for Chicago-area fishermen
I just wish the one for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25 included more than the scheduled discussion on the trout and salmon fisheries. I say that knowing how strapped that office is for staffing.
Walleye are what fires up lakefront fishermen.
Like the 7-5.5 walleye Mike Osuch off Northerly Island in September, 2008.
And especially the 6.75-pound walleye caught by Toni Pellegrino on the Chicago River side of DuSable harbor on Oct. 8, 2007, which earned her a spot on the front page of the Sun-Times.
The meeting will be held at the CMS Suburban North regional office, that’s the usual gathering place for such meetings at 9511 Harrison St., Des Plaines. Call (847) 294-4134 for more information.
Listen, I am all for stable and good salmon and trout fisheries.
But the reality is that our walleye, the few there are, are where the excitement is on the lakefront.
If you want to bring the buzz back on the lakefront (barring a spectacular rebound of the perch fishery), walleye stocking would be the way to go.
I know Perch America is talking about getting behind that. And there’s whispers another group will be formed to formally push for a lakefront walleye stocking.
Good sources told me even new Illinois Senate leader John Cullerton and other movers and shakers in Chicago outdoors might be ready to put a shoulder behind stocking walleye on the lakefront.
We shall see.
