Jackson: Illinois has outdoor treasures beyond Mag Mile
It was slightly more than 25 years ago when I had my first taste of southern Illinois bass and crappie fishing.
Add to that over the years were the striped bass adventures, along with a few muskie outing in more recent times.
The recent announcement of an angler bringing a 4.88 ounce crappie to the scale put me into my southern Illinois mindset and I began shuffling my schedule.
Regular readers already know I have a bone to pick with the state tourism agency, which puts a lot of emphasis on Michigan Avenue and the retail operators who experience great sales from tourists.
I actually see nothing wrong with discovering the treasures and glitz of Michigan Avenue. A healthy and thriving Magnificent Mile is a wondrous thing to behold.
But alas, we still have a gaggle of state lawmakers and a governor who have yet to finish their ego bloodletting to solve to the state's financial woes and bring financial reality and respect to our state.
And once again that brings me to the cash-flow issue connected to fishing and other outdoor-related activities.
Our state Department of Natural Resources is a mere shadow of what it was prior to the time when then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich took over. Those were very dark days because the IDNR saw many of its key players leave a ship that was rapidly sinking.
Anyway, southern Illinois tourism dollars come from its local communities and moneyed benefactors who know the score when it comes to getting financial help from the state.
Yes, the new television commercials touting the various family-oriented activities in the state seem to have suspiciously avoided any mention of fishing fun on places like Lake Kincaid or Lake Shelbyville.
No doubt that if the setting sun hits the Chicago "Bean" in the right place a visiting fireman from Iowa City is liable to suffer from some harsh eye problems if he or she isn't wearing a pair of sunglasses procured from a high-end shop in Water Tower Place.
If you play your cards right, you may never have to drive 300-400 miles to experience outstanding fall crappie fishing, when Lake Kincaid beckons anyone wishing to visit.
And even Shabonna Lake can come close to duplicating the southern route's super angling. Its crappie, bass, and muskies always seem to be hungry. And you can be home for dinner and a cold brew.
The late Mike Seeling, former photo chief for this newspaper, once exclaimed to me as we were catching big crappies on a lake outside of Marion: "I could move down here in a flash. I've got it all - wild turkey, great white tail deer hunting, fabulous Canada goose hunting, super bass and monster Flathead catfish-ing. It's all down here," he said with a huge smile on his face.
I agreed. Maybe we should start looking and go into a partnership on a couple houses and live happily ever after.
And then he passed away without ever seeing the state investing some tourism dollars south of Highway 13.
• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.