Lake County Forest Preserve District volunteer Gus Nizzi of Lindenhurst didn’t need the jar of bait he brought to snag four big ones and a little one last weekend.
Nizzi landed his catch, five eager fishing wannabes, with just plain talk during a two-hour how-to session at the district headquarters in Libertyville.
Much of the session was spent demonstrating threading a line, attaching a hook, casting and, hopefully, reeling in the “keepers.”
Among his tips: Bring extra line when fishing. “Nothing is more frustrating than when you’re out at the pond and everyone is catching fish and your line breaks,” he explained.
Except dashing to a nearby store for more line, Nizzi said, only “to find (dramatic pause) that they don’t have any.”
Such hints were very helpful to Libertyville dad Bob Peacock, who expects to put the knowledge to good use when vacationing in Boulder, Colo., with his wife and children. “We go there every year, and I want to be able to teach them how to fish,” Peacock said.
Five-year-old Joey Rothenberger of Des Plaines tagged along with his grandma, Joan Johnson of Prospect Heights. As she watched Nizzi disconnect a bobber, Johnson said, “He wanted to learn how to fish, and I don’t remember enough to teach him. So I thought it would be a good class for both of us.”
At $2 for county residents and $3 for non-residents, the two-hour session is one of Lake County’s great bargains, according to Jean Weeg, who coordinates outdoor activities. “There are not many places that offer inexperienced people a way to learn the basics of fishing in a couple of hours,” Weeg said.
And the session was everything that Highland Park resident Joan Fischer hoped it would be. After years of wanting to take a class, Fischer sat, lapping up the information. “It’s super,” she said.
All the session did was whet participants’ appetites for more. Before going outside to practice casting, class members hurriedly jotted down the items Nizzi told them they would need if they joined him for an early-morning sand pond trout-fishing excursion at the Illinois Beach State Park in Zion on April 13.
People interested in registering for the trout experience should call 847-948-7750. It’s for ages 12 and older and costs $3 for Lake County residents, $4 for non-residents.
