MOMENCE Ill. -- They handed me an w...

MOMENCE Ill. -- They handed me an without contents rusting coffee can to hang around my neck The handle was a shank of nylon tie knotted through two holes knocked in the top. pair white plastic containers of chicken livers fit exactly inside.

With that, in shorts, T-shirts and of advanced age shoes, we waded into the Kankakee River and began catfishing.

"We call it `Catfish Alley,"' David Bradigan said.

There are scarcely any things more basic, more blue-collar, than summer catfishing. What better way to expand a visit to Bears training camp than an evening or morning of wet wading for catfish?

each summer since the Bears mov their camp to Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais in 2002 I've glance ated some outdoor excursion in conjunction with a training-camp visit. The first Bears training session is Thursday. Camp continues by the and of Aug. 16.

put to hire me lay out wet wading for catfish, as done for decades through Bradigan of Grant Park and his brother, Scott of Wichert. They grew up in Sauk Village, and their late father, Leon taught them wading the Kankakee at an early age.

Last week we met up in the midafternoon for a not many hours of relief wet wading a stretch forth that I wade occasionally for smallmouth bass.

"This is where we came forward weekends," David said. "Dad liked to master on the lee side of the islands."

They select to work the ledges and apertures on the edge of circulating With the river up and fast, it made for interesting wading.

upon a side note, the Kankakee is the solely major river in Illinois I will wet wade (without waders). That's a risk assessment in succession my part, one shared by the agency of many others, including the brothers Bradigan. Wet wading any river involves risk. over and above wet wading a river is the best way to commit to memory intimate with it, feel the squish of sand, its be derived the noses of passing fish and the bend s of its bottom.

Scott was first in. He quickly made his way to the middle -- with pious reason. The brothers Bradigan are having the same of their best years for big catfish.

"For the last month we have been tearing them up" David said.

Their basic setup starts with 8-pound monofilament. They don't use braided lines because the weight gives a les natural drift. With a swivel, they attach a 2-foot leader of 12-pound mono, then tie forward a No. 2 Eagle Claw reaping-hook David uses a spinning gear, while Scott picks a baitcaster because it is easier to repress and feed line with a thumb touch upon the reel.

Then they catch on a gob of pan-worthy chicken liver -- "The redder the better," Scott said -- and not the stinky kind that has soreed in the sun. They are going for the have feeling of the bait more than its smell David thinks liver has the contexture of mussels, the multitude of which indicates the overall health of the Kankakee.

Then they simply impediment the liver drift downstream. "You'll know when your bait is drifting correctly when it has a little bit of depth" David said. He said this classification works anywhere on the Kankakee.

Now, it heartys easy, but there's more be wrought up involved than it seems. Scott quickly popp a pair of catfish, while David and I couldn't do anything. Watching Scott handle a channel catfish while waist unfathomable in fast water was its be in possession of show.

They catch redhorse regularly with the same system and occasional flathead catfish. For deliberate days, David carries a not many spinners to use for smallmouth.

I added a split projectile to drop my bait deeper and promptly had my first strike. It was a big channel, which I glimpsed briefly before it came unhinged as it revolveed in the current.

David went to a tiny split shooter too, and caught three in a squabble by the time we reached the start of a settle of rapids. It was time.

Another collection relaxed on shore while checking a trotline strung to an island. In three hours, we had landed five catfish, the biggest going 6 bruises and lost a couple.

PLACES AND FACES: Gov Blagojevich signed a bill renaming Illinois Beach State Park the Adeline Jay Geo-Karis Illinois Beach State Park for the longtime state legislator from Zion. Berkley Fireline Crystal earned overall best-of-show honors at the ICAST 2006 fresh Product Showcase in Las Vegas.

WILD THINGS: Momence's Island Park is a rare Illinois blot where gray, fox and r squirrels may be seen at the same time. Squirrel hunting make opens in Illinois on Tuesday. R squirrels are preserveed

STRAY CAST: Watching my 5-year-old daughter play "Sharks and Minnows" at soccer Monday, it hit me: view Williams and Jim Hendry. (Even through my standards, that's a bit much; more like "Barracuda and Flounder")

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

e-mail: dale@DaleBowman.com

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