If you give a kid a fish

T.J. Cowell, Alestle Sports Reporter

by T.J. Cowell, Alestle Sports Reporter

While killing some time the other day, I decided to pick up this month’s edition of “Heartland Outdoors” magazine and check it out. Although it has been ignored in the backseat of my car the past few weeks, I hung onto the publication after picking it up and glancing through it at an outdoor’s show I attended. I figured I’d hang onto it in case it had some articles that would spark interest into my outdoors blog. Well it paid off. I didn’t have to look very far to find something that I thought was attention-grabbing.

A new study, according to HunterSurvey.com, showed that more than 77 percent of active hunters and range shooters have taken their kids hunting. This study must have taken some time to do because this article listed off fact after fact relating to parents taking their sons and daughters out hunting. Notice I said sons and daughters; about 10 percent taught girls about the sport. More than 34 percent of adult outdoorsmen said they have taken both boys and girls out to hunt. Studies showed the most popular species of game sought after were deer. Smaller game (like squirrels and rabbits, I presume) were also popular.

These facts reminded me of the countless times my dad has taken me fishing over the years. My older brother was more of the hunting type in my family, so if I ever went, it was with him (Granted, I didn’t shoot anything because I did not have a FOID card.) Walking in the woods and finding mushrooms in the spring is about the only kind of hunting I do with my dad.

However, fishing started when I was just over a year old, and now the hobby has turned into somewhat of an obsession for my family and me. I’m sure most of us have seen the commercials and other sources of advertisements that encourage us to mentor the younger generation in experiencing the outdoor life. Let me be the first to tell you that by taking a kid fishing (or hunting in this matter), will sprout memories that will last a lifetime for both of you. The quality time spent together is something positive that will come out of it as well.

Now that I go to college three hours away from where I grew up, in a county that has two stoplights, I don’t get to see my family as much as I would like to. Whenever I am home I try to spend some time with them. Nowadays, when I fish or hunt with my dad, I cherish every bit of time we spend together because someday we won’t be able to go anymore. For now, I will enjoy the times we get to hang out. The relativity of this article to my own personal life was what really caught my eye. Enjoy spending time with those who you care about and like spending your days with, because someday you might not be able to. But the memories that you make with them will last a lifetime.

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“Soon after I embraced the sport of angling I became convinced that I should never be able to enjoy it if I had to rely on the cooperation of the fish.”  Sparse Grey Hackle

There’s no stopping them now

T.J. Cowell, Alestle Sports Reporter

By: T.J. Cowell, Alestle Sports Reporter

Over the past few years, Asian Carp have all but overrun Illinois waterways. For many boaters and fisherman alike, sportsmen have been directly affected by the presence of the invasive species.

I could sit here and type all day about what Asian Carp are, what they eat, and why we don’t want them in our waterways but I am sure we have all heard about them before.

A big conservative issue in today’s society is the threat of these invasive species reaching Lake Michigan and spreading throughout the entire Great Lakes region. Perhaps the last hope for keeping the Asian Carp is the electric barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which connects the Illinois River to the Chicago River and Lake Michigan.

Many think the money going into researching the Asian carp invasion should be used for other reasons. Currently there is a Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) virus that has been loitering in the Great Lakes since 2003. The VHS virus is a deadly fish disease that affects over 50 species of freshwater and marine fish in the northern hemisphere.

Since VHS has not yet been identified to affect humans, there is argument that current funding used for anti-Asian Carp efforts should be redirected in order for more research to be done on the VHS virus. If utilized properly, there is belief that VHS can be used as an ally in fighting the invasive species.

Overall, I believe the efforts are right in trying to stop the invasion of Asian Carp in the Great Lakes, but I do not there is any stopping them now. This situation has reached too far and eventually they will get through the barricades and nets of biologists trying to prevent them from where they are going.

Although the efforts of preventing Asian carp (bighead and silver carp to be more exact) out of the Great Lakes still appear effective, the species have now taken over most Illinois River systems. Since it is all but too late to stop Asian Carp in these places, population control can now be described as: “If you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em”.

One of the few positives of having Asian carp around is the profitable fish market that is becoming due to their arrival. Asian carp can reach weights up to 80 or 100 pounds and eat about 40 percent of their body weight in plankton every day. There is about 14 cents to be made for every pound of fish caught.

If Asian carp do get past the electric barriers located just south of Chicago, there is little that can be done to stop the invasive species from passing through the Chicago River and entering Lake Michigan. Although the preventative efforts are in good-heart and seeming effective for now, it is just a matter of time before the species reaches the Great Lakes. Although it would bring another profitable fishing market, it would kill another industry that is sport fishing. Here’s to hoping that I am wrong.

“The two best times to fish is when it’s rainin’ and when it ain’t,” ~Patrick F. McManus