By Jon Kartman

Over $20,000 worth in prizes were were raffled off at the annual seminar and fundraiser of the South Side Muskie Hawks.

If your father, or whoever it was who taught you how to fish, has left this realm yet could return for one day of fishing, there's a good chance he would be amazed at how the fishing world has changed. And it isn't just the graphite rods, expensive electronics, and the dizzying array of line choices, but it's the fact that we now have fish swimming in locations that were unheard of decades ago.

    Just how the world of fish and fishing has changed was the reoccurring theme as the South Side Muskie Hawks chapter of Muskies, Inc., the national muskie fishing organization, held its annual seminar and fundraiser on Nov. 26 at Marie's Ashton Place in Willowbrook, Illinois.

    The event, now in its 18th year, is the primary means of financial support for the organization. Funds raised at the event not only help run the club, but provide money for fishing events for children, muskie stocking and conservation programs in Illinois, and other charitable projects.

    During the 2000 event, over $20,000 in goods, services, and merchandise were raffled away with the grand prize of a boat, motor and trailer, generously donated by Ron Basa, owner of Basa's Marine of Willowbrook, Illinois, being the grand prize.

Anthony Van Darakis of Elmhurst, Illinois, was the grand prize winner.

    As it turned out the grand prize winner was almost if not THE last person in the hall at the start of the event. And at the end of the day, the number on a ticket in the possession of Anthony Van Darakis of Elmhurst, Illinois, was called out.

    While most of the attention did go to the winner of the boat, about 100 other prize packages were raffled off as many of those attending the event went home with more fishing knowledge and memories of a good time, if not an actual prize.

    The South Side Muskie Hawks thank each and every one of the nearly 100 donators who made the event possible. A "thank you" ad listing all of the donators appears elsewhere in this issue of the Outdoor Notebook. The chapter encourages everyone to patronize these businesses.

    While many came for the prizes, the speakers at the event were the center of attention for most of the afternoon.

    The two main speakers were Tony Grant and Gregg Thomas, two muskie guides down at Kentucky's Cave Run Lake-a location where muskies were unheard of but a few years ago.

    Grant began his presentation, called "Muskies: The Fish of the Millennium," by stating that in the 100 or so years that anglers have actively pursued this species that it has gone from strictly table fare to a sport fish that sportsmen and women routinely catch and release.

    Though the widely recognized world record muskie, caught by Louie Spray in October of 1949 and weighing 69 pounds and 11 ounces still stands, the record was broken by not only Spray himself three times but also by Cal Johnson.

    In fact, Grant pointed out, a repeat of a 1995 event called the "Leech Lake Rampage" where literally hundreds of muskies were caught in one weekend, could lead to the next world record.

Tony Grant makes his presentation.

    Another factor in determining whether there might be a new world record muskie is the extensive stocking of muskies in states like Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Kentucky. Not only do these states have a longer growing season, he said, which is necessary for muskies to get really big, but some of these states also stock baitfish into the waters to provide the young muskies with a healthy meal.

    "But those of us who fish the most-those who catch from perhaps 25 to as many as 100 muskies per year-have the biggest impact on the fishery," he said. "It is up to us, not necessarily those who catch and accidentally or on purpose kill one or two muskies a year have the biggest impact on the fishery."

    Indeed, he said that muskie records have fallen in several states in the past few years as new record-sized fish have been recorded in Colorado (a tiger muskie), Illinois, West Virginia, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Iowa.

    Even one of the "traditional" muskie states, Wisconsin, may have produced in 2000 the biggest muskie caught in the past 50 years as an angler caught a fish estimated at about 60 pounds. Unfortunately the fish not only was accidentally caught out of season, but it also died.

    "And in the states that have no closed season on muskies, you can fish for them all year long," he said. "In fact, South Carolina stocked its first muskies in 2000. You don't find muskies in just Canada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and so on anymore."

Gregg Thomas.

    While muskies have long been known as "The Fish of 10,000 Casts," some of the mystery and the mystique surrounding this fish has begun to be revealed. And while Gregg Thomas said in his presentation, entitled "Battle the Beast," that one has to be a little bit crazy to go after these fish, using the proper equipment will increase you chances at landing one of these fish-and letting them go for someone else.

    "Yes, there is luck involved in catching a muskies. And yes these fish have to be in the right attitude in order for you to catch them," he said. "But one of the greatest muskie anglers I know, Dick Pearson said it simply, 'Think.'

    "You can learn everything there is to know about muskie fishing, but unless you use your learned knowledge as applied knowledge, it will be worthless."

    The equipment used for muskie fishing these days is much different that what those before us used. Gone are the old, pool cue rods, replaced by light, flexible, 7-foot (and bigger) graphite rods that help one control a fish much better.

    Most if not all top-notch muskie anglers have a good hydrographic map of the body of water they are fishing, plus good electronics-items virtually unheard of or only a dream 50 years ago, he said. And gone is the old monofilament line, replaced by the new space age, no-stretch, high-abrasion resistance lines like Spectron.

    And if you thought the world of muskies has changed, how about having the world championship of bass fishing held in downtown Chicago?

Frank Hyla (right), field editor of the Outdoor Notebook, received a plaque from the South Side Muskie Hawks following his presentation at the club's annual seminar and fundraiser. In the center is Ladie Lapin, who created the plaque, and a left is Bob Jeffries, who acted as emcee of the event.

    Frank Hyla, a field editor for the Outdoor Notebook and an observer at the Bassmasters Classic, held in 2000, gave those at the event an overview as to where the professional anglers from the B.A.S.S. circuit went and used to catch many largemouth and smallmouth bass.

    Your father may have looked at Lake Calumet and at the Calumet River some 50 years ago and knew it would have been both unhealthy and unwise to dip one's toes into the waters. These waters, however, have now become a world-class bass fishery.

    And if you think that these are the only areas, Hyla said bass can be caught also inside of Monroe Harbor, by Navy Pier, and even by Marina City in downtown Chicago on the Chicago River.

    "The Bassmasters Classic limited anglers to just Illinois waters, but maybe the best smallmouth and largemouth waters in Lake Michigan are around Hammond, Indiana," he said.

    What helped the Lake Calumet and Calumet River areas, he said, was the construction of artificial waterfalls, which allowed oxygen into the water and giving fish the chance to flourish.

    And today, amidst the broken down concrete rocks and abandoned grain elevators one will find lots of bass living among the sometimes dense weeds that live there.

    "These areas sure aren't pretty, but the fish like to live there," Hyla said.

    And while the Lake Calumet and Calumet River areas caught most of the attention during the Bassmaster Classic (as that's where the winning catches were made), Hyla said the average angler should not ignore the other harbors north of the Loop, like Waukegan Harbor and Northpoint Marina (though both have restrictions as to where one can fish-and failure to follow these restrictions can lead to one having a lighter wallet, as Hyla found out this year).

    So now we have excellent largemouth and smallmouth bass within the Chicago city limits. We have muskie now in South Carolina and other southern states. A near world record may have been caught (though illegally) in Wisconsin.

    You know what, Toto? I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.


Reports from previous fundraisers:    1999