OUTDOORS: Now is the time to fish in the area | Sports

We are getting to the middle of September now and the fishing should start to pick up as the water temperatures drop and the leaves start to fall. For me, this is one of the best times of the year to fish!

There are area lakes like Lake Vermilion, Lake Paris, and Lake Mill Creek that produce crappies all summer long if you know how to catch them. On the other hand, there are other lakes where the crappies seem to shut down during the first part of June and don’t turn back on until mid-September. For those lakes, now is the time that crappie and bluegill begin to move from the deeper parts of the lake, back into the shallows.

It seems that this movement is always associated with the colder weather that occurs at this time of year and will continue until such time as ice begins to form in our bodies of water.

There are good fish to catch for the next eight weeks and I love fishing in the fall of the year. As the leaves begin to fall the water will take on a darker color and some large bass have been caught during the fall of the year. A good walleye or trout will also appear locally as the water cools.

This is also a great time of year to do some hunting, as squirrel season has begun, early teal season is in progress, early Canada goose season runs through the 15th of the month, and pigeons, which is a split season, runs until November 14 and then resumes on December 26 and runs until January 9, 2023.

Now is a good time to pick up a copy of the Illinois Digest of Hunting Trapping Regulations for 2022-2023. The booklet is available from some dealers and is full of dates and facts a hunter needs to know.

The booklet is packed with beautiful photography and features a stunning teal drake with blue wings on the cover. You can also find and download the brochure online.

All of the important dates, times, and pertinent information for hunting in Illinois are in this brochure. It would be nice to take a copy with you on every hunting trip.

Several weeks ago, I mentioned in a column the large white mushrooms that grow in the Danville area. Now these mushrooms are popping up all over the area and with rain forecast this weekend I expect a lot more to pop up.

This is also the time when the autumn mushrooms start to appear; you know, the groceries. There are quite a few different species that grow in the fall, but you better know the difference between those that are edible and those that are not.

Be sure to get a positive ID before trying a fall mushroom.

Sam Van’s Camp write about the outdoors on Saturdays. Fax: 446-6648. Email: [email protected]