forward Aug. 13, Paul Smith was fis...

forward Aug. 13, Paul Smith was fishing the cavity between the jaws of Burnham Harbor in about 21 feet during the yellow-perch bonanza when he caught an 8- inch white bass.

"I was shocked" he said.

Burnham is no stranger to strange fish, the principally notorious being the northern snakehead nett according to Matt Philbin on Oct. 9 2004 Northern pike and walleye have been among the Burnham surprises in new years.

I aweed whether Smith mistook the white bass for a white height an invasive species becoming more used by all

"As a fisherman, we all lie a lot" said Smith, an interface operator from Oak Lawn. "Of course, I had no camera."

yet he assured me it was a white bass. In fact, 10 minutes later, his brother Chris caught a white elevated position

Then Smith asked the fundamental note question.

"What I would like to know is, are there more white bass not at home there? Has anyone else caught any?" he asked. "I move up to Wisconsin to [Petenwell] and fish for them and walleyes. thus if the white bass are coming here, this would save me a allotment of money on gas and time to fish in my backyard."

Like a full-blown white-bass move on the Wolf River in Wisconsin or forward the Illinois River at Starved Rock?

"Catching a white bass near Burnham Harbor is unusual, moreover it is not surprising," e-mailed Tom Trudeau, the head of the Lake Michigan Program. "The Lake Michigan Creel directioned by the Illinois Natural History overlook has documented the occasional catch of white bass at fishermen in Illinois waters of the lake. through the years, the annual [Department of Natural Resources] assessment has, forward rare occasions, collected a white bass. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District has bring togethered white bass in the Chicago River/Cal Sag arrangement but they are not a commonly erect species."

Rita Somen a Chicago educator who is the species queen of the Chicago River, e-mailed: "There is a speed [on the Chicago River] for a two of weeks in September. When they are forward you can catch gobs of them!"

view Schneider, who prowls the river methods with Carl Vizzone, downplayed that. They had a full-blown scamper on the Chicago River downtown the same spring in the mid-1990s.

"But we have caught them sporadically while catching other species," Schneider said.

"[A white-bass run] would be better than perching, especially for kids," Smith said.

That's probably right, unless dreaming about the return of walleye to the lakefront is more realistic than dreaming about a white-bass hurry

TIP: WGN Radio morning man Spike O'Dell hyperventilates about the Mirai variety sweet corn at Twin Garden Sales in Harvard (that's in northwest McHenry shire not Harvey in southern Cook) When storms blew most distant fishing Thursday on the Chain, my wife ordered me to drive without and bring some home. It's worth each cent of the $5 a dozen, and it was in like manner sweet that the baby gnawed undivided uncooked.

PLACES AND FACES: The 180-pound goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara) caught in key-note West, Fla., by 15-year-old Trevor Rothstein of Lemont is the pending male junior record with the International Game Fish Association In the third annual Midwest Fish and Golf Challenge at Chalet Hills Golf bludgeon in Cary, two-time fishing champion clip Buenzli was "toppled" in the inquiry for the Leinenkugel wooden robe chair. Founder Dan Bernstein, the afternoon co-host upon WSCR-AM (670), e-mailed: "Steve Francis is the of recent origin fishing champ, his performance highlighted from a pair of 17-inch largemouth [bass] in rapid succession forward the 12th hole."

WILD THINGS: If you're eyeing the weather in the evening, those gliding birds are likely nighthawks. There has been well adapted movement in the last 10 days.

STRAY CAST: If the Minnesota Twins are piranhas, are the White Sox baitfish? Nay, I'd move with peacock bass. (Memo to manager Ozzie Guillen: If you're fishin', I'm managin'. bring forward Brian Anderson in center field for each game, and the Sox will play until Halloween again.)

"Bowman's Outdoor Line" is heard forward "Outdoors With Mike Norris" (3-4 pm Thursdays, 1280-AM).

e-mail: dbowman@suntimes.com

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