I popped a typical largemouth within a few casts Saturday on my first fishing trip to Emiquon Preserve.

I was fishing with my buddy and budding guide Pete Riedesel (p.riedesel@att.net).

He knew it would be tough, but all the same he brought along a bag with 50 pennies. The object being you put one penny in your pocket for each bass caught.

Well, Pete knew it would be tough because the bite has been off recently and because a major storm blew through in the early hours. In a place as shallow as the lakes at Emiquon, the water is dirtied easily.

I may wait and do a full story on this at another time, though there is an interesting angle I may explore this week.

The idea of the restoration on the backwaters of the Illinois River by The Nature Conservancy is really cool.

There will be more to come on this.