Chicago outdoors: Big blue catfish, a walkingstick and a question on a walking leaf
Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.
FISH OF THE WEEK
Darryl Turner continued his reign as king of the blues at LaSalle Lake. On Sept. 13, Turner emailed on his blue catfish efforts at the cooling lake southwest of Seneca, "I have been going out for the last month and a half, catching mostly 10- to 17-pound blues. Average fish has been about 10 pounds. The bite has been very slow in the morning, but picks up late morning/early afternoon. Today started slow again and a little rain as well. I had two fish by 10:30, a 12-pounder and a 10. Around noon, it started picking up, ended up with 10 fish: a 32-pounder, a 16, two 12’s, three 10’s, one 9, one 8 and one 6."
FOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, now runs most weeks in the two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Sunday. To make submissions, email BowmanOutside@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside), Instagram (@BowmanOutside). or Bluesky (@Bowmanoutside).
WILD OF THE WEEK
Jeff Banks found a walkingstick on his garage on Labor Day near Union Mills, Indiana. It was ""about 3x6 inches!" I find them one of our odder insects. The northern or common walkingstick is one of just a few stick insects in the broader Chicago area, but Britannica.com (https://www.britannica.com/animal/walkingstick) notes that these camouflage wizards are bountiful elsewhere, "about 3,000 species of slow-moving insects that are green or brown in color and bear a resemblance to twigs as a protective device. Walking sticks found in the tropics are the largest and most abundant."
WOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Sunday. To make submissions, email BowmanOutside@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside), Instagram (@BowmanOutside). or Bluesky (@Bowmanoutside).
DALE'S MAILBAG
"You may know something about this thing but I’ve never seen it before! A walking leaf!" Brian
A: Would've loved to see a walking leaf, but thought it was a greater anglewing, a katydid. State Entomologist Christopher Dietrich agreed, noting, "They are very common but rarely seen because they live in the tops of trees. They are one of the main katydid species responsible for the familiar katydid calls we hear on late summer nights in our area."
WILD TIMES
SHOWTIME
Today, Sept. 20: Pawpaw Festival, Paw Paw, 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m., free, https://pawpawfest.org/
Friday-next Sunday, Sept. 26-28: Geneva Lake Boat Show, Blackhawk chapter of Antique and Classic Boat Society, The Abbey in Fontana, Wisconsin, https://www.genevalakesboatshow.com/
PHEASANTS FOREVER
Oct. 2: DuPage County Sportsman's Banquet, Abbington Distinctive Banquets, Glen Ellyn, https://events.pheasantsforever.org/events/dupage-county-12th-annual-sportsmans-banquet/4ebe6fec-d2a2-40f4-9561-ab4cba9d4fba
HUNTER SAFETY
Oct. 9 & 11: Palatine, https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/230306
Oct. 11-12: Mokena, https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/234486
The full state listing is at https://www.register-ed.com/programs/illinois
BIRDING
Next Saturday, Sept. 27: Final day of "Winging It: A Brief History of Humanity’s Relationship with Birds," free, Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St, Chicago, https://www.newberry.org/calendar/winging-it-a-brief-history-of-humanitys-relationship-with-birds