A simple walk in the woods puts things into perspective

I tried to reach four friends and a few acquaintances to get a handle as to how they did crappie fishing.

No one answered their phones, so I assumed they had to be out chasing the slabs. It's that time you know.

As much as I wanted to be with them, I was tied to the house doing the various projects, which in the end produced peace and tranquility.

When I appealed to the "boss" that I wanted to stretch my wings a bit, she consented to my wishes to do some meandering in the nearby woods for a brief bit of time.

It was that kind of a day this week that brought me to the forest and fueled my imagination once again.

The fly rod and reel sat in the back of the truck. Today was designed for the walking stick and some laid-back conversation with friend Roger, simply because I didn't have the necessary time to invest looking for fish.

Of course, there was some battling taking place inside my head. I had to fight the urge to forsake the two-mile walk for casting a fly on a nearby pond.

The walk won out this time.

I am no fan of Cook County government, and I am less fond of the Cook County Forest Preserve District police officers, especially when I have found a few sleeping in the vehicles.

I am enamoredm, however, with the magnificent system of forest preserves we have in Cook County. The planners earned their places in heaven when they began gathering the land and converting it for public use.

Roger had been away from the northwest suburbs for nearly 15 years taking care of his severely ill mother in south Florida. He had forgotten every iota of the joy of the FPD woods. And now he walked the two miles with me soaking up everything he could see.

How many people can write in their journals they heard and saw a pair of woodpeckers going to work on ancient tree, hoping to find enough bugs to curb their hunger? Have any readers taken the time to get off the trail and make note of the different trees around us?

As we walked the downward slope of the trail we came across the stream where the late Buck Squancho allowed his beautiful black Labrador Wrigley to splash around.

I lost track of the times Buck and I visited these woods. We would debate myriad pertinent topics of the day. Our loud discussions probably scared the deer back to their bedding spots. Our frequent arguments, good-natured as they were, helped tick off the minutes of our long walks.

But Buck is gone, as is Wrigley, and I hold on to those memories like treasured jewels.

As in those daysm I still mix up the routes for these walks by traversing the trails that have light foot traffic.

Soon I will carry the fly or spinning rod with me when I journey through Busse Woods or Independence Grove in Lake County.

You may recall that I am a big fan of pond fishing, especially in some of the industrial parks and apartment complexes. In all honesty I have become more enamored with the FPD and area village ponds because they have shown great promise of late.

Banana Lake near Wauconda and its nearby smaller water vessels can help sooth a savage beast in times of stress.

But, as I said, this day's venture into the woods was the perfect tonic to remind me of many things outdoorsy and wonderful.

Local fishing reportLet the games begin.Area angling is off to a great start with fishermen literally running to their favorite spots.Cooling lakes: Red hot bluegill fishing at LaSalle Lake. Add to that some good largemouth bass action. Heidecke Lake opened today and anglers can expect fair to good walleye action along with some aggressive strikes from striped bass.Fox Chain: Look for the current and you should find some decent walleye action, especially at the Grass Lake Rd. bridge. Even though water temperatures are still rather cool, there has been some smallmouth and largemouth activity on Lake Catherine and Channel Lake.Fox River: The backwater channels are still producing crappies and some northern pike. Walleye action at the McHenry Dam has slowed somewhat. Lake Michigan: Decent perch action could very well be a reality this weekend off of Waukegan. Brown and rainbow trout hitting right near Waukegan Harbor.Mike Jackson can be reached via e-mail at angler88@att.net. His radio program is heard 6-7 a.m. Sunday, WSBC AM-1240.Mission accomplished.angler88@att.net