CHolderness

Scott, I can help out on Sunday from 9-5. Craig

Scott, I can work the ISA booth on Friday (1/29) from 12-8. Craig

Count me in as well, Ed. Thanks for setting this up. See you Saturday, Craig

Count me in, Ed. Be there or be square because pizzas are round.

Tom - Thank you to you and your staff at Thai Garden for hosting us. Great food as always. The Singha beers were chilled perfectly! Ed - Thanks for organizing another great ISA get together event.

Holy Crap! Today really IS Today! See you tonight!

OMG! Tomorrow IS Tomorrow!

Ed - Count me in! Tom - Be sure to have a least a couple of Singha beers in the cooler. See you on the 21st. Is that....is that only two days away?

Mike - I'm not aware of any photos taken. The NIH&FD committee had someone going around taking snaps. I'll check with them at the next meeting to see if they've got any on the Kids Casting Area.

It was a great weather weekend for the NIH&FD event. The young anglers had a good time casting bobbers into buckets in the Kids Casting Area. Yes, there were a few bobbers left hanging in the trees, some launched across the road never to be seen again and multiple tangled lines to deal with when the action got intense. All handled with ease and in a professional manner by the ISA volunteers present. The fishing for the voracious Velcro-tipped fish by the youngest anglers was equally intense. One little fellow would catch a fish and immediately drop the pole and begin his celebratory happy dance and seek out a High Five from those near him. His mother wondered aloud what he would do when he catches his first real fish. Many thanks goes out to the following volunteers who spent part of their weekend and in some cases all weekend working the ISA's Kids Casting Area: Ed Buric Mike Chronik Eugene Collins Dan Gull Craig Holderness Rich McElligott Mitch Schwarz Steve Spiz Coach Joe Large and the Marmion Academy Fishing Team

Anybody else up for helping the kids and getting a little fresh air this weekend?

Eugene - Excellent! See you then.

Eugene - Thanks! What time can I expect you on Saturday? Set up is 8 a.m. and the event runs 9-5.

Was out at Silver Springs State Park yesterday to help mark the locations for the tents and parking. Fishing pond looking good. Expect delivery of the bluegills in a couple of days. Heading up to Cabela's in about an hour to pick up the loaner poles and live bait for the kids fishing pond. Have checked out the ISA's poles for the kids casting area and they are in good working order. Weather forecast for the upcoming weekend looks great. Anybody ready to help the next generation learn a little something about fishing? Need volunteer help in the kids casting area both Saturday and Sunday at all hours.

The ISA will once again be sponsoring the Kids Casting Area at the upcoming Northern Illinois Hunting & Fishing Days event to be held at Silver Springs State Park in Yorkville on Saturday and Sunday, September 26 and 27. The event hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. NIH&FD is a FREE, family-oriented celebration of the great outdoors. There will be lots of activities such as canoeing, dog training demonstrations, a bluegill stocked kids fishing pond, a historical re-enactment camp, BB gun target shooting, fly fishing tying station and casting, archery range, shotgun clay target shooting, a Hawg Trough filled with Fox River fish species, silent auctions and much more. Food concessions are available during the event. There will be a Boy Scout breakfast kicking off each morning as well. The ISA needs volunteers for the Kids Casting Area on both days of the event. Please consider spending a hour or two helping the ISA to foster the love of fishing and the great outdoors with the next generation of fishermen and fisherwomen. Bring the family and enjoy the rest of the day there beforehand or afterwards. Set up for the ISA area will begin at 8 a.m. on each day. I would like to have at least four volunteers present in the casting area at all times during to the event to work with the kids and handle equipment malfunctions. Please reply to this posting with the day/time you are available to assist or with any questions you might have about the event. Thank you for supporting the ISA in its efforts to promote the sport of fishing!

Mike, I'll be there. I've got three more short kiddie poles and a couple of buckets. I also have some extra Velcro tabs for the felt fish that'll I'll bring. Does Rich have the bobbers and casting plugs? They should have been with the rods and reels, targets, etc. See you on Saturday. Looking forward to a great day helpin' the kids! Craig

Ed, Count me in for breakfast at Sunmist on Saturday a.m. Craig

Scott, I can help out at the Tinley Show all day on Sunday. Craig

Thanks for organizing this, Ed. Very informative. I didn't realize how much extra effort the DuPage County Forest Preserve staff did with the cleanup of the West Branch. The overview of the mussel propagation project was interesting too. There was a brief Illinois Natural History Survey report on mussels a few months back that touched on things Jessi DeMartini was explaining to us. http://wwx.inhs.illinois.edu/files/3214/1176/1380/INHS_Reports_October_2014_Mussels.pdf Craig

Scott, I can help out on Friday from 12 to 8. Craig

Heard John on the Mike Jackson radio show this morning (AM 1590 7-9 a.m.) talking about "The Early Show" and some of the ISA's conservation work to help improve the quality of local fisheries. Mike spoke highly of the ISA and its efforts. You sounded great, John. Thank you!

Ed, thanks for arranging the dinner meeting. Tom, you and your staff at Thai Garden are great hosts. Hope to see everyone again at "The Early Show" on November 9.

It was a great weather weekend for this year's Northern Illinois Hunting & Fishing Days event. I don't think it could get any nicer for being in the great outdoors. There was a good turnout as usual at the ISA's kids casting area both days. Our volunteers can attest from the tangled lines and bobbers in the trees that the competition was fierce at times. The action was intense at the Velcro fish pond as well. Rich had to perform duct tape surgery Sunday morning on one of the cane pole tips that got busted in the excitement on Saturday. It's always good to hear the kids and parents remark how much they like NIH&FD, casting bobbers to the buckets and catching those Velcro fish. More than a few have told me the kids casting area is their favorite activity at the event. I would like to thank the following people for coming out to assist the ISA in making NIH&FD a success and helping to inspire the next generation of fishermen and fisherwomen: Saturday - 9/27 ISA Cory Gale Dick Gronlund John Loebach Don Zahrobsky Marmion Academy Fishing Team Coach Large Coach Dvorak Joseph Vrumo Dennis Hayes Sunday - 9/28 ISA Ed Buric Mike Chronik Rich McElligott Mitch Swartz Thank you again and I hope to see you and others at next year's event. It's a great way for the ISA to promote the sport of fishing and the love of the great outdoors.

Mike, Thanks! We currently have sufficient rods available for the NIH&FD event. Our space for the Kids Casting Area is tight and limits the number of casting stations. We have enough rods for spares to cover for any mechanical breakdowns during the course of the event as well. Those extra rods you have will come in handy at next year's Sgt. Tommy's Kids event. Space is greater there for more casting stations and the number of kids we had this year proved a little overwhelming early on with our current rod supply. Probably could use a few more buckets as targets for that event too. See you and Mike Jr. on Saturday.

Thank you, Dick! Look forward to seeing you Saturday. We will begin setting up about 8 a.m. There's a Boy Scout breakfast available starting at 7 a.m. if you are interested. Who else can help the ISA and give a little time to support the next generation of fishermen and fisherwomen? The weather forecast is looking great for the weekend. Should be a good turnout of families seeking to have fun in the great outdoors. Sign up now!