Fuel for the fire: Uncle Sam wants your help
Notes
Let's see … gas at more than $4 a gallon, traffic jams at an all-time high, Cook County sales taxes chasing gasoline prices, and our state administration is questioning the existence of the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources.
Hold on to your throttle, because there's more.
With some international intelligence assessments suggesting that al-Qaida's weapon of choice in coastal areas is a small boat loaded with explosives, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has told leaders of the U.S. recreational industry that it wants America's 80 million boaters to help out.
Specifically, he wants them to watch for suspicious behavior. Chertoff said states should develop programs for boaters that are similar to neighborhood-watch programs and coordinate them with the U.S. Coast Guard.
Deadline notice: The U.S. Department of Interior has opened a 60-day period for public comment to its proposed change in the rules to allow persons with permits to carry concealed weapons inside national parks and wildlife refuges.
For more information, visit www.doi.gov/news/08_News_Releases/080430.
Grand experience: During my most recent outing to the Grand Canyon, I asked a national parks ranger how old he thought this amazing hole in the ground was.
He wasn't sure.
But now there reportedly is new information. While the Grand Canyon was believed to be about 6 million years old, new research says the Canyon's Upper Granite Gorge actually was formed 55 million years ago, according to a report in National Geographic.
Fishing update: Here's the latest information.
Fox Chain: Excellent bluegill fishing on Pistakee Lake, while the walleye bite continues on Lake Marie and sections of the Fox River north of the state park. Channel Lake crappies are shallow in and just outside the channels.
Fox River (lower): Despite the up and down water levels, angling just starting to improve at Elgin, Batavia and St. Charles for smallmouth bass.
Lake Michigan: Several small private boats "stumbled" upon some large schools of jumbo perch due east of the Waukegan Harbor. The schools suspend between 40-60 feet. Coho action slowly picking up out of Waukegan, with Northpoint coho anglers finding fish down at more than 100 feet.
Write it down: Please note my new e-mail address in case you want to contact me. It's angler88@comcast.net.