Howling start to this fishing season

And just like that, accompanied by blasts of high winds, we are off and running for another softwater fishing season.

Granted, not all lakes are free of their rock-hard bonds of indentured winter. But the hordes of anglers are marshaling their energies in celebration of another spring run of joy.

Fox River: Look for schools of walleyes hanging out at the bridges and the infamous McHenry Dam.

Fox Chain: If one can find patches of open water on the back-channels of Bluff Lake, that could very well be a hot spot for white bass and crappie.

Lake Michigan: It’s not quite a full-blown run of spring coho yet, but small fish are hitting at Montrose, Belmont and Diversey.

Bird caper:

Residents of a Washington Township, NJ neighborhood are concerned about the disappearance of the town’s unofficial mascot, a one-legged wild turkey known as Eileen, and are offering a $200 reward for its safe return. Authorities say two white males were last seen carrying the bird down a local road.

Seeing red:

It’s doubtful something like this will ever happen in Illinois, solely because fish and game issues hardly ever get a second look by state lawmakers.

But the California Supreme Court has denied case review of a San Diego fisherman cited for an out-of-season lobsterman who claimed an unconstitutional search by a game warden, letting stand an opinion that hunters and anglers have fewer privacy rights under the Fourth Amendment. In June the court granted game wardens the authority to stop, question and search citizens without a warrant or probable cause to believe a law has been broken.

Ÿ Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, and catch his radio show 6-7 a.m. Sundays on WSBC 1240-AM and live-streamed at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.