Mulling things on my morning ramble
with Storm, the family’s mixed Lab.
My favorite fishermen in Chicago outdoors are carp guys.
Not sure why that is, maybe it is because modern carp fishermen have to be cosmopolitan enough to embrace European techniques.
In other words, they have a broad view of the world.
I thought of that again the other day when the post about the likely Illinois-record bighead brought some unexpected responses.
One of my favorite carp guys ignited it when he thanked me for calling it a bighead and not a bighead carp.
His point being that people have a tendency to lump all carp into the same basket.
His secondary implied point being that common carp have been around so long that they have become part of our fishing world.
It’s kind of disingenuous to try to think of them not being part of our modern fishery, especially around Chicago.
Now that brings me to the oddest thing for me.
Growing up for me, common carp were a trash fish we caught in the muddy farm creeks and rivers in the farmland of Pennsylvania.
And “real fishing” only came when we went up into the mountains to fish pristine brooks and streams for brook trout.
So I have a mental block with common carp.
I most enjoy the people who fish them, but have trouble embracing the carp themselves.
Not sure if I will ever solve that one.
Over the past few days, honeysuckle has grown thick along the trail on the abandoned rail tracks above the town pond.
Japanese honeysuckle, that one often favored by folks, is officially an exotic weed in Illinois.
Funny how those things work.
The wisdom of carp and honeysuckle are entwined there somewhere.
