Meandering

Emiquon Anniversary Series

Fri, April 13, 2012

Note: The ten postings to follow this introduction appeared in their original version out in the blogosphere from August 13-29, 2010 as a tribute to a unique sort of fishing hole that I’ve grown rather fond of.  Hope they are worth a few minutes of your day between now and the end of the month.

While The Emiquon Preserve has only been open to the angling public since April 20, 2009 and I’ve paid a grand total of a dozen visits, the still relatively new spot didn’t take long to make quite an impression (in fact, just seeing it as you descend into the river bottom is rather awe inspiring in itself). 

As a result, I’ve decided to resort to the oft employed writing staple known as a “Top 10 List.”  Following this Friday the 13th introductory post I will run down a list of items I initially called “Emiquon’s Potential Pitfalls” (coincidentally the first edition of this intro also appeared on Friday the 13th, August 13, 2010).  Unlike many Top 10 lists, however, there is no particular order beyond what made sense in my head (thus there will be no need for an accompanying drum roll sound effect as we near number one).  Anyway, over the course of the next couple weeks or so these submissions will periodically appear intermixed with other postings hopefully to include a few fishing reports. 

But first things first if you happen to be unfamiliar with this unique Illinois fishing hole.  The area was once a fertile and ecologically diverse Illinois River backwater until drained and converted to agriculture in the 1920’s.  The Nature Conservancy began acquiring ground in the early 2000’s and eventually the now isolated lakebed (Lake Thompson) was once again allowed to fill.  The lake was stocked with a variety of fish species including largemouth bass, crappie, channel catfish, bluegill, walleye and even record class pumpkinseed sunfish (but that story belongs to someone else). 

Well, the area opened to rave reviews for largemouth bass and I was fortunate enough to get a piece of the action on several occasions during the 2009 frenzy.  But “just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song, every rose has its thorn.”  Okay, I apologize for the bad Poison lyrics but sometimes I can’t help myself.  It’s just that I found that they convey the gist of my list (some serious, some not) for describing the incredibly interesting and diverse puddle often simply called “Emiquon.”  Talk to you later.  Troy

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