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Outdoors Articles by Dale Bowman of the Chicago Sun-Times
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Metering is ON

outdoors

Dale Bowman biography

Outdoors columnist Dale Bowman began his reporting career as a correspondent covering state government for WTAJ-TV in 1982. While in graduate school in 1984, he …

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Cormorant colonies growing out of control

EAST CHICAGO — Memories came back for a veteran steelworker as we walked to the fishing spot by the steel-plant discharge. He remembered when he could walk all the way to the point end of the Inland Steel wall and would catch so many perch …

A look at what’s going on at Lake Calumet

Jim ‘‘Da Old Fart’’ Wiercioch came off the water steaming Wednesday. It was more than the heat and humidity. ‘‘I fish Lake Calumet a lot,’’ he emailed. ‘‘This carp [stuff] is pissing me off. I thought the netting stopped a couple of weeks ago. Was …

Squirrel hunting opens Wednesday in Illinois

The opening of squirrel hunting Wednesday in Illinois amuses me. It’s hot, and the canopy and ground cover are thick. ‘‘Hunting when they are cutting hickories is a tradition in southern Illinois, a habit and tradition,’’ forest wildlife program manager Paul Shelton said. Squirrels dropping …

North Lawndale students

enjoy summer project

Steve Paglia picked up a broken crayfish claw from the dried, old road bed as we walked out Wednesday. Change comes to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, the nearly 20,000-acre site at Wilmington. Some change is seasonal — the last time I was in that section …

08/12: Field notes

BUCK OF WEEK: UNPLUGGED Tom Michel photographed this ‘‘beautiful buck on Cuba Road in Deer Park’’ at the end of July. Send nominations for BOTW: Unplugged, the celebration of live big bucks around Chicago outdoors, to straycasts@sbcglobal.net. WILD TIMES HUNTER SAFETY Saturday-next Sunday: Wilmington. Call …

The joys of fly-fishing

BOURBONNAIS —  So many smallmouth bass chased bait to the surface that at one  point I stuck my fly rod out and dabbled a streamer at one rising a few feet  downstream of my waders. The fish flashed. With smallmouth busting bait between us, Matt …

08/08: Midwest Fishing Report

AREA LAKES: Largemouth remain the best bite, as Fish of the Week nominations show, though plenty of catfish are being taken on lakes stocked with them. CHAIN O’LAKES AREA: Water level remains slightly low, so be careful navigating. Triangle reported catfish (try Premo prepared baits) …

08/08: Fish of the Week

While vacationing at her grandparents’ house in  Wisconsin, Aimee Heinrich thought she would break in the rod her dad, Gary, had bought for her birthday. ‘‘This fish broke it in, all right!’’ the 17-year-old from Mokena emailed. ‘‘It took me at least five minutes to …

Record sale of duck call signals interest might be on rise

A J.T. Beckhart duck call sold for a world record last week, as expected. But the $103,500 sale made it the first call to fetch six figures. And it might signal more than a rare spike. ‘‘There is a lot of interest in calls today, …

08/01: Midwest Fishing Report

LAKEFRONT PERCH: ILLINOIS:  Season reopens Wednesday after the July closure for those 16 and older in the Illinois waters of Lake Michigan. With hot water piled up on shore, not much is expected. Maybe boaters will find them. Capt. Augie Ralph of the Salmon Stop …

08/01: Fish of the Week

Summer vacation was good to former high school bass fishermen from Chicago. In late July, Mike Jarvis (left) caught and released a 15-pound bowfin on a reservoir in northern Wisconsin. ‘‘It was big enough to become the state record, but I decided to release it,’’ …

Outdoors ideas for Bears fans in Bourbonnais

For fans visiting Bears camp, here are a couple of outdoors suggestions: † Two Rivers Century Bike Ride (tworiverscentury.com), a scenic cruise, is Sunday. Distances vary from 22 to  124 miles. † The Kankakee River is very wadeable. For experienced fishermen, start around Warner Bridge in Kankakee …

  • 07/25: Fish of the Week

    Fish of the week Despite all the hot water and even some fish kills this summer at LaSalle Lake, the cooling lake south of Seneca continues to produce big catches of blue catfish. Jim Hartley, a LaSalle regular, sent this photo of Tom McElhaney of …Read More

  • 07/25: Midwest Fishing Report

    AREA LAKES: From the submissions for Fish of the Week, largemouth bass continue to do well on most lakes and ponds, especially early in the morning, late in the evening and even nights. Catfish are being caught at Jackson Park, according to Henry’s. CHAIN O’LAKES …Read More

    • Race to Mackinac wraps up with fast succession of finishes

    George Pawlus called the 104th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac ‘‘a compressed Mac’’ on Facebook. That’s about as concise an assessment as possible for the 333-mile race from Chicago to Mackinac Island, Mich. Only Infinite Diversion crossed the finish — a line between the …

    Infinite Diversion cruises to the finish line first

    Any chance of a course record in the 104th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac died with the winds Sunday afternoon on the north end of Lake Michigan. Infinite Diversion was first to cross the finish — a line between the lighthouse on Round Island …

    Race to Mackinac back one year after tragedy

    The history of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac is littered with the wreckage and tales of big blows and storms severe enough to trash fleets. The 104th Mac set sail with the cruising division on Friday and the bulk of the fleet on …

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