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Thursday, May 23, 2024
Outdoors Sports Sports Saturday

Chicago outdoors: Record yellow perch, cemetery green herons and morels & Morel home run

An Indiana record yellow perch, green herons at Rosehill cemetery and finding morel mushrooms set against a Christopher Morel home run, noted in the Sun-Times used as a time stamp, are among the notes from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

By  Dale Bowman
   
SHARE Chicago outdoors: Record yellow perch, cemetery green herons and morels & Morel home run
Blas Lara holds his Indiana record yellow perch, caught April 21 in Hammond.

Blas Lara holds his Indiana record yellow perch, caught April 21 in Hammond.

Provided by the Indiana DNR

Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

BIG NUMBER

3-2: Pounds-ounces of Indiana record yellow perch, caught by Blas Lara on April 21 in Hammond and announced by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources on Wednesday. It was a long-standing record. Roy W. Burkel Jr. caught previous Indiana record (2 pounds, 8 ounces) from a gravel pit in Vigo County byin 1981.

A green heron back at perched on a branch at the Rosehill Cemetery.

A green heron back at Rosehill Cemetery.

Paul Vriend

WILD OF THE WEEK

Paul Vriend welcomed the spring green herons back to Chicago, specifically from Rosehill Cemetery. “This one kindly posed for me,” he emailed.

WOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email BowmanOutside@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside), Instagram (@BowmanOutside). or Bluesky (@Bowmanoutside).

Morel mushrooms picked and placed in rows on top of a Chicago Sun-Times print edition.

Morel mushrooms picked on a day when the Sun-Times, wisely used as a time stamp, had Christopher Morel’s home run on the back page.

Ryan Leoanard

DALE’S MAILBAG

“I had to send this picture to you today. Thought it was pretty good with all of the morels and then having Christopher Morel being in the sports page. I think now we are at the point of the season where the morels are transitioning from the early grey color to the yellow or blonds as some call them. My twin daughters came home from school to help me count them. I think we have at least a week left, maybe two to find them.” Ryan Leonard

A: He got that right on multiple accounts.

WILD TIMES

FISH GATHERINGS

Wednesday, May 8: Tim Newman, Brew City Trolling Motor Service, ""Using Forward Facing Live Sonar & Best Practices Rigging,” Lake Geneva Fishing Club, Poplar Creek Bowl, Hoffman Estates, 6 p.m., lakegenevafishingclub.com

Thursday, May 9: Capt. Joe Baron, “Fishing the Fox Chain,” Riverside Fishing Club, Berwyn Moose Lodge 424, 6:45 p.m., RiversideFishingClub.com

ILLINOIS SEASONS

Through Wednesday, May 8: Fourth season, spring turkey hunting, north zone

Through Thursday, May 9: Fifth season, south zone

Thursday, May 9, to May 16: Fifth season, north zone

HUNTER SAFETY

Full state listing at dnr2.illinois.gov/SafetyEd/SafetyEdClassByCounty

U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY

Tuesday, May 7: Suddenly in Command, Elmhurst, Don Goff, dgoff6547@gmail.com

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