Outdoor notebook

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To say the least, Saturday’s fishing in the Cabela’s Spring Valley Master Walleye Circuit on the Illinois River was an adventure.

The fishermen spent much of their time dodging floating objects from the flooded Illinois, ranging from trees and limbs to a dead cow and a refrigerator. Yes, a dead cow and a refrigerator.

One MWC volunteer joked he thought someone even saw Jimmy Hoffa floating by.

The flooded river forced tournament officials to cut back the tournament to a one day event for just the third time in 21 years.

Spring Valley Walleye Club Executive Director Bill Guerrini, who managed the tournament for 15 of the 21 years, said, “I always asked the field when they were skeptical of holding a tournament during a tough bite, ‘Why wouldn’t you want a chance to have one fish mean so much?’”

The four teams who caught fish felt most fortunate, especially brothers Mickey and Marty Stuefen of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who turned a 2.71-pound sauger into a winning cash prize of $61,630, including bonuses for the big fish and for riding a Ranger Boat. Their first place was a record payout.

Their 2.71 total of fish was by far the smallest winning catch in the history of the Spring Valley Tournament, dating back to 1987. The average winning catch over the last five years is 30.17 pounds.

The previous lightest winning catch on record was the 9.36 taken by David Kraft of Bismark, N.D. and Jim Randash of Rapid City, S.D. in 1988. The only other sub-21-pound take was the 12.10 taken by Iowa’s Mike Bentley and W.J. Pokeny in 1993.

The most pounds of fish taken by Spring Valley winners strangely is still the 43.24 taken by Minnesota anglers Gary Roach and Rudy Amenrud in ’87.

• Youth fishing: The National Professional Anglers Association sure put on a good clinic for younger anglers following Saturday’s MWC tournament in Spring Valley. The best thing about it, was 50-some boys and girls got equipped with a new rod and reel and tackle. One lucky 7-year-old girl got a $500 bike, especially modified to take fishing.

Moms and dads should mark these future dates for their young anglers. The Better Fishing Association of Northern Illinois will hold its annual Kids’ Fishing Rodeo from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 19, at Baker Lake, in Peru. There will be a how-to clinic with free fishing games with prizes. The BFA’s 22nd annual Kids’ Fishing Tourna-ment will be held June 9 for ages 4-15 at Lock 14 on the I & M Canal in LaSalle.

For more information, call (815) 223-2382 or visit www.better-fishing-assoc.org.

• Hunter’s safety: A hunter safety course is scheduled from 7-9 p.m. April 4-5; and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 7 at the Tiskilwa Fire Station. Advanced registration is required, and there is a limit of 30 students. Call (815) 659-3124 for registration. Sign-up must be on or before Monday

• Wingshooting clinic: The Briar Knoll Hunting and Fishing Club in Amboy will hold a hunter’s wingshooting clinic on June 9-10. Cost is $25. Pregistration is required by calling (815) 857-2320.

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