Click here for today's column about the draw of the Northwoods vs staying in-state and going to southern Illinois.
Photos are Rhinelander Flowage vs Rend Lake tailwaters.
I am trying to get in the habit of posting links to the Wednesday and Sunday columns here on Stray Casts so everything is in one place.
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This page contains a single entry by Dale Bowman published on June 17, 2012 6:50 AM.
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Dale-
You only scratched the surface... After being lucky enough to be able to escape to the northwoods for at least a couple of weeks every summer for 43 years, here are things I believe that need to be added-
-A long swim or wading the shallows in the glacierly formed sand bottom lakes in Northwest Wisconsin reveals almost medicinal qualities
-The lack of humidity in the summer makes the air more pure, and when coupled with a waft of the white and norway pines, eases the entire body
-The panfish and bass don't seem to taste like pond water even in the heat of the summer
-Longer days of summer
-Longer, more vivid sunsets that allow a longer "decompression" of the day
-Falling asleep on a Northwoods dock while watching the stars (and maybe the northern lights if lucky) while being seranaded by loons
-The chance to see different kinds of wildlife... There was a time where you had to go North to hope to see a deer (no longer with IL being overrun in some places!) In the Northwoods, you get to see loons with their babies, and you might get a chance to see a bear or even a wolf. Even the little red pine squirrels are a welcome sight after seeing the raccoon sized, sloth-like squirrels of Illinois.
These are a few of my favorite things...
You are so right. I had many other points to make, and you made some of them. also for space reasons I did not touch on Michigan, both LP and UP. I find it a fascinating question
Not to mention the simple fact that there are Northern Pike and lots more Walleye up north. I've fished in southern IL, Arkansas and Missouri and found myself missing the prospect of hooking into a toothy critter too much.