email from Mike Conlin 8/18/2003

[shabb1]

-----Original Message-----
From: MIKE CONLIN [mailto:MCONLIN@dnrmail.state.il.us]
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 8:42 AM
To: MUSKYMAN64@aol.com
Cc: STEVE PALLO
Subject: Re: about the no wake at shaboona

Paul

I appreciate sharing your views on the hp limit at Shabbona.
Presently, we have no plans to change it based on the overwhelming public support for retaining it two years ago.

Mike Conlin

>>> <MUSKYMAN64@aol.com> 08/17/03 06:42PM >>>
i feel that the no wake SHOULD stay in place..
i have been on other lakes and some people think that getting to the other side in 10 senconds flat is going to get them more fish in ther boat WRONG.....shabbona is a fishing lake where we go to relax to see our fellow fisherman and put our lines in the water to fish and let our self drift away somtimes.bigger engingines means big wakes and fathers and sons and dauthers and moms
being throw around the boat and trust me on this
it has happened on the fox chain , rock cut and oters to name a few..there is nothing like a small kid falling in a boat from a wake on a musky lure and having to rush him the the hospital to get a 5/0 hook out of his hand or arm it is not pretty. these are the things you don't here about at the other lakes, but remember this is primarally a musky lake with a lot of big lures in the
boat so of coarse a big wake can turn a nice day into a frenzzy fast so please..don't change the 10 hph if not for us .,please for the kids sake
thank you very much for reading this and have a good day

paul

[SKI]

well for the sake of the kids then we should not let people out when it is raining at all... you know it does get kinda slippery in those rentals and those 5/0 hooks are still present?? dont make it into some save the kids speach just say hey... i dont want the lake to become anymore crowded so keep those big motors off... more room for you huh not letting those criminals in the lake?

[Bazooka]

Funny how this argument always circles back to same thing. Here,
I'll save you some typing:

-this is all discrimination

-everyone thinks people with big motors are criminals who keep
little fish and run over people's lines

-we love the 9.9hp's zipping around

-we let our kids rent boats and do donuts in front of the launch ramp

-we are jealous of big motors, and since you can't use jet ski's in
Shabbona, we are jealous of those too! I want one for x-mas!

-us with little motors are related to the rental folks, we get money under the table for their renting boats with 6hp engines

[Hobo]

Geez, Bazooka, you crack me up! :D

But how true! :o

[SKI]

bazooka sorry my post was pretty sarcastic about them being criminals, im all for the change to no wake instead of 9.9 because frankly i think whoever wishes to use a public lake should be able to. I just dont understand that email saying how we should keep the "no wake" even though it is not in place, and keep the big motors off.. geeze this guy wants everything huh no wake no big motors just 9.9 putting around. but i just dont understand the arguements from all the people who are so agaisnt changing it to no wake. If everyone just followed the rules and turned in the #'s of people who did not follow them the lake would be a lot nicer instead of people flying all over the place. I mean seriously everyone who is against it is only against it because it would bring more people to the lake. and also hey denny because you know you would lose some business because big motor people wouldnt have to rent your boats for 60 dollars a day. And lets face it another reason this lake is so much more popular now a days is because of this website, huh? i mean dont you think? if you really want the lake to become less crowded you 9.9 guys just put a rule in place that you can only use paddle boats? or float tubes? but then again dohnuts arnt that fun in a float tube eh? well there are my two cents stop being selfish and just make the arguement hey! keep the big motors out or else there wont be any room for me in this lake!

[Hobo]

SKI,

No harm done. I could go for raised hp, no wake, but to satisfy me there would have to be enforcement. Even if it was on random days. I have a had time believing that people would follow the 'no wake' rule. I don't care if they had a 60hp motor or a 9.9hp. And I would like them to be there to do some spot checks for undersize fish.

Just my 2 cents.

[Reggie]

Hey guys, just looked in my pocket and guess what I found, thats right 2 cents. So set back and listen while I spend it.
NO WAKE you are dead wrong. It is unbelieveable that you say if you love to muskie fish you have to have a big boat. Heck I love to drink but that doesn't mean I have to buy a keg every time I go to 7/11.
Ski, do you really think Denny is against the no-wake because he would not rent as many boats? If the no wake rule was changed, he could just sell all the 6hp motors and put on 25hp and charge 75 dollars a day. Then everyone could fly around.
Shabby, o'l I haven"t forgot about you. Do you really have a problem with the no/wake or are you interested in NO/WAVES?
I dont think 10 more boats a day on this lake will kill anyone. It will only kill the fishing or someone. Everyone has his own idea what no wake is, and to some its go as fast as you can go and get away with it.
I say lift the 10hp rule, make the lake idle speed to 3 miles an hour tops. and get some people at this park that will enforse the rules, instead of getting paid to eat donuts.

[Kenny]

That was the truely heart wrenching!
:( GIVE ME A BREAK. Mike Conlin had to be laughing at that one.

Reggie, Hobo, SKI-

You guys make great points. I agree with everything said. There definitely needs to be enforcement in place for it to work.

[No_Wake]

Have to agree with the above, Mike Conlin must have been laughing his arse off at that silly email. SKI was on the money, the message was quite transparent as to the real motive. I hope you would expect the person in charge of the entire state's fishery to be a little smarter then that?


I still can't believe there appears to be continuning debate about what no wake is. No wake is NO WAKE. This means if you look back and see a curl in the water behind your boat, you are making a wake. If you are worried about getting swamped with your child in a canoe, you should be in favor of a no wake rule change as everybody would be forced to idle essentially. 9.9's buzzing around right now are not exactly "putting" which can cause a considerable wake with the right boat and knock your little kid out of the boat.

[SKI]

yeah sorry that was my main point i didnt really get it across that guy was argueing agaisnt chaning it to a no wake! and he was saying its terrible having a kid fall becuase of a wake>? it would be much better to have everyone going slow w/out a wake no matter what motor. But by putting i meant slowly going w/out a wake which i think would be much better than having those 9.9 zooming around creating rather large wakes?

[Bazooka]

I agree to all the above!:)

[larkin]

I have been staunchly against a rule change from the beginning because I've seen many who violate the current regs already. Most of them don't bother me, but it's the one or two reckless fools I see everytime I'm out that make me want to dig my heels in. Give me assurance of real enforcement and I will jump ship and support a rule change. In other words, don't expect me to support a rule change anytime soon.

When I realized five years ago that shabbona was going to be the main lake (among many) that I'd be fishing for a long time, I did not try to have the rule changed so that I could buy a boat suitable for all lakes. I sucked it up and bought a boat that was most suitable for THIS lake because there ARE regulations. You can't always get what you want, so stop your belly aching. We all have to make choices. Big motor owners, you made your beds... blah blah blah.

Besides, as some of you have made it so clear, big, bad, Denny Sands has rental boats available. I'd be willing to bet that most of the folks renting are not the poor, downtrodden, unentitled, big-motor owners. They're just regular folks who want to fish. So rent a boat like everyone else and fish.

Lastly, I'm tired of all of you who bash on Denny Sands. He is a legitimate businessman with a legitimate bussiness. Anyway, who knows how many hundreds (maybe thousands) of people has he helped learn to fish this lake. I haven't rented a boat from him in over 5 years and he still gives me great free advice whenever I ask. He also happens to be a pretty nice guy. So how about going after the real real bad guys like those who violate a clearly-posted-hp-limit regulation every time I see them on this lake! Because as far as I'm concerned, the ones who are hurting your cause the most aren't the people who are against a rule change, but the ones who can't even abide by existing rules.

Respectfully,
larkin