Wisconsin’s immensely popular “Becoming an Outdoors Woman” program–now in 47 states–makes its first foray into winter activities in a Feb. 27-March 1 workshop at Treehaven Field Station near Tomahawk. Included are sled-dog mushing, snowmobile skills, a night snowshoe hike, cross-country skiing and winter ecology. Call 715-346-4151.
– Canada-bound anglers will do a lot of running back and forth Jan. 15-18 when two major trade shows collide in the western suburbs. The popular All-Canada Show returns to Pheasant Run near St. Charles, featuring 200 top Canadian resorts and lodges as well as appearances by In-Fisherman’s Larry Dahlberg and TV’s Bob Mehsikomer. Meanwhile, muskie hunters will have three days to sate their appetites at the annual Chicago Muskie Show Jan. 16-18 at Inland Expo Center on Ogden Avenue in Westmont–by far the best little “insider” show around. Featured will be Spence Petros, Joe Bucher, Jim Saric, Larry Ramsell, Marv Kiley, Al Nutty, Gord Pyser, Dick Pearson and Mehsikomer. Co-sponsors are the South Side Muskie Hawks and Chicagoland Muskie Hunters. Call 847-329-7136. . . . These precede the Chicagoland Fishing, Hunting, Travel and Outdoors Show at Rosemont Convention Center Jan. 23-Feb. 1 and the newest blockbuster, Bill Cullerton’s Sportsmen’s Show of Chicago from Feb. 25-March 1 at McCormick Place.
– “Chip Porter’s Great Lakes Fishing Made Easy” is a long-awaited addition to video libraries, dealing with the basics of big-water salmon and trout more completely and coherently than any other video I have seen. Porter manages the rare feat of including far more information than the average audience can absorb in a single showing. You’ll have to watch a second–maybe even a third–time in order to master all the messages. Porter deals amply with variances of spring coho salmon fishing, including keys to proper trolling speeds and patterns–but his best instruction comes in byplays with Mike Norris on open-water steelhead and lake trout. Planer boards, trolling sinkers, lure actions and color choices all receive solid explanations. This video, now available in tackle shops, is the precursor to advanced instruction tapes on specific species of target fish. Together, they will make a fine collection for serious anglers.
– Continued siltation in Illinois River backwaters is posing acute problems for anglers and waterfowlers. The boat ramp at Marshall State Wildlife Area near Lacon had to be closed for lack of water–the first closure not related to ice. According to Scott Heiberger of the Peoria Journal Star, only 10 of 24 duck blinds at Marshall were available on the worst days due to low water–or, really, “high mud.”
