2 Boys, 2 Days, 2 Record Fish

May 8, 2008

Just about every fisherman I know would love to catch a record-breaking fish. Unfortunately, most of us never get to experience that personal thrill in a lifetime of angling. Sometimes though you know someone or hear of someone who has and if the record-breaking fish was caught in nearby waters it gives you hope that you may yet get lucky some day. That’s kind of how I felt when my friend, Jerry Shoemaker came to me with the story of two brothers from Aurora who each had captured a record fish; and on two consecutive days.

On Thursday, April 24th John Chione (age 13) and his brother Andrew were fishing along the shore near the Montgomery, IL dam along with their friend, retired school teacher William Walsh. Mr. Walsh explained, “We each had two lines out, one baited with corn and the other with worms. We’d landed some small carp and were having a good time when suddenly John yelled, ‘This one is big! Someone get the net!’ I grabbed the landing net and helped him land a huge, silver redhorse sucker. The boys had been reading about record fish in the DNR’s 2008 Illinois Fishing Information guide and both seemed to think that the record for this fish was under six pounds; and that this one most assuredly was over that weight. John had his cell phone and with a few calls we learned what we needed to do to get the fish certified by the DNR. So we got it weighed on a certified scale and witnessed by two people, measured the length and girth, photographed it at various angles, had it certified by DNR biologist Victor Santucci, filled out the necessary forms and preserved it in a freezer.”

Quite an exciting day for a couple of young fisherman, eh? Something to talk about for a long time to come. But wait, that’s not the end of the story. Bill Walsh goes on, “The following day, April 25th the three of us met again at our ‘lucky’ spot. By this time we were quite familiar with suckers and were learning to identify the different types. We were engaged in conversation about the previous day’s exciting events when, without warning, Andrew shouted, ‘I got one! Get the net!’ This time John handled the net and when he set the fish on the ground, we recognized it as a shorthead redhorse sucker. We weighed it and ‘yep, another state record fish! Once again, we went through the process of documenting the catch and once again, DNR Biologist Victor Santucci inspected the catch and the fish was placed in the freezer, next to John’s Silver Redhorse Sucker. Obviously, the three of us and our families are all excited at everything that has happened in the short period of two days.”

John’s Silver Redhorse Sucker weighed 6 lbs, 11 oz, which is 1 lb, 1oz over the existing Illinois record (which by the way was also caught on the Fox River in Kendall County in 2003).
Andrew’s Shorthead Redhorse Sucker weighed 3 lbs, 12 oz, or more than 2 lbs, 9 oz over the standing Illinois record.

As for two state records being set by two brothers in two days, that’s got to be a record that won’t be broken any time soon. Congratulations John and Andrew Chione. Well done!

Fishing Clubs, Why Should I Join One

What Can a Fishing Club Do For You?
There are many possible answers to that question. Enhancing your skills, exploring new waters with experienced friends to guide you, sharing your talents with others, enjoying the company of like-minded persons and competing for prizes/recognition are just a few of the benefits on my list. Of course, a lot depends on what you’re willing to do to become part of the group.
If you expect someone to take you by the hand and fuss over you, checking every little while to see that you’re having fun, you probably won’t get much out of the experience. That doesn’t mean that you should expect to be ignored either but if you act like a wallflower and don’t make an effort to fit in, don’t expect people to go out of their way to get to know what a great person you are. Be a bit forward, a bit gregarious. Smile and shake people’s hands when you meet them. A good first impression goes a long way toward gaining respect and admiration.
Let people know what kind of fishing you’re interested in. Chances are good that there’s at least one other club member with similar interests. Members sometimes sharpen skills that they already have by sharing ideas with others who approach the same problem using a different technique. In fact, people who are more interested in learning than in “preaching” a subject usually have the most fun (and are usually the best liked).
When I joined the Oswegoland Fishin’ Fools in 2001, I wanted people to “want me” in their club. I knew that the club was new and didn’t have a web site so . . . in order to make myself a valued member, I learned how to build a web site, built a small one for the purpose of demonstrating it’s value to the members and ‘viola, I became the 1st “webmaster” of www.FishinFools.org.
Since then, I’ve made some wonderful friends, improved my fishing (and web-building) skills, experienced new places and types of fishing and shared my knowledge with others. I’ve learned to fish plastics in dense cover, how to tie flies and cast a fly rod. I’ve fished for King Salmon in tributaries of lake Michigan, Muskie in Northern Wisconsin and Stripers in Southern Illinois. I’ve shown new friends my method for smoke-cooking fish and game and helped kids learn to cast a spinning reel; there’s not much that’s more gratifying than seeing the wide-eyed smile of a kid with his/her first fish.
Of course, you must continue striving to “add value” to your membership by contributing and improving your skills and nurturing other members. Maybe you make your own lures, can analyze a body of water and determine the most likely approach to fishing it, or are great at planning group outings. Every club needs people with special skills.
It’s every member’s responsibility to promote the club in order for it to grow. There’s an old saying, “When you’re green you grow. When you’re ripe you rot!” It’s true. When people stop putting forth the effort required to maintain a relationship, it eventually withers and dies. To paraphrase President John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your fishing club can do for you. Ask what you can do for your fishing club.” When you find the answer to that question, you’ll find yourself having more fun and feeling more fulfilled as a valued member of your fishing club.

First Post

This is the first post of my new blog "Catching Fish"
I will be adding information of interest to anglers and hoping to hear from them with questions, tips and stories of their fishing experiences. The aim is to help others not just learn not just how to fish but how to catch what they're fishing for.