burbot, fishing, Chicago Lakefront Beer, Bourbon and Burbot Festival, outdoors
Burbot make an easy pick for Fish of the Year.
Two Illinois records (and near-records) came this fall. More important, burbot put excitement into late-season lakefront fishing.
Last week, Dale Rehus held the first Chicago Lakefront Beer, Bourbon and Burbot Festival with a handful of anglers. A young angler to remember, Jeremy Preucel, took honors with a burbot ounces off the Illinois record.
‘‘If things go according [to plan], I should be on track for the next one,’’ Preucel messaged.
Saro Kevorkian holds his burbot after weighing on Dec. 7, 2020 at Park Bait to be the next Illinois record.
Provided
Big bucks visit the backyard of Warren Jones on the Northwest Side near LaBagh Woods.
“They’ve also broken several bedroom windows over the years, taking exception to their own reflection,” emailed Jones, Ph.D., professor emeritus of biology at Loyola.
“Exception to their own reflection” seems like a perfect lead-in to looking back on 2020 in the outdoors around Chicago.
Obviously, the pandemic was/is the most significant impact, but I will focus on the tangential impacts of the pandemic.
Two things most struck me: People are paying serious attention to what wanders their backyards and neighborhoods; and numbers back up a big return to the traditional outdoor pursuits of hunting and fishing.