Spring Swap Meet

This is the 26th annual Quad City In-Fisherman “Swap Meet” event. It will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2024, at the QCCA Expo Center, 2621 4th Ave, Rock Island, IL. Hours are from 8 a.m. to Noon. It is free admission. You may buy, sell, or trade new or used hunting, fishing and/or camping equipment only. No firearms or ammo allowed. Biscuits & gravy will be available if you haven’t had breakfast.

Fishing Tips

These nice warm temps we’ve been having for February gets me, and maybe you, itching to do some soft water fishing. Before you go to tackle “Jaws” now is the time you might want to start checking your fishing equipment. 1) If you haven’t changed line in a while, do so. It loses its strength over time. You don’t need expensive line, middle-of-the-road is fine. 2) Clean your reels and rod eyes. Crud can build up in those areas. 3) Hooks can get rusty so replace with new ones. They are not expensive. 4) Here is one that bugs me to no end. Unless you have bad eyesight, when fishing with a bobber (float) do not use a large bobber. Panfish especially do not want resistants which can happen with too big of bobber. Leave those big, red & white bobbers alone. In fact, try slip bobbers. That’s all I use if bobber fishing. 5) Your 2023-24 Illinois fishing license expires on March 31, 2024. If you don’t want a citation from our friendly game warden (CPO Jamie Posateri) then make sure to have your new license and on your person!

Thanks for Nothing

Gov. Pritzker and his Democrat representatives railroaded a gun bill a few months ago that banned 170 type firearms, high-capacity magazines and accessories.

If you have any of these items listed you were to contact and register with the Illinois State Police by January 1, 2024. Failure to do so is a crime. However, it’s not enforced because it may go to the full U.S. Supreme Court. A person can keep the firearm after signing an affidavit per gun with the ISP, “but” cannot sell it to another person. Illinois Rep. Dan Swanson sent me some stats on how many individuals sent in affidavits. That figure was very low as I expected. Of course, the Illinois Supreme Court refused twice a request to repeal the ban. So, everyone that sent in an affidavit can still keep their gun(s),etc. The bill is suppose to make it easier for the ISP to track down the person who committed a crime with that gun. Seriously??? Want to put $$$ on what’s next, “Confiscation?”

Right or wrong, just my opinion!

Geneseo Kiwanis “Pancake Day.”

This annual event will be held on Sunday, March 3, 2024, at the Geneseo Moose Lodge from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is only $7.00 for adults and $3.00 for children age 10 and under.

Car Humor

What did the German car say when you asked it for help? Ans: “Of Porsche!”
What did the bystanders say when a minivan zoomed by? Ans: “Wow, look at that van Gogh!”
How did a Mexico car say goodbye to a German car? Ans: “Audi-os.”
What’s worse than raining cats and dogs? Ans: Hailing a taxis.
What kind of luxury sports car does a mink drive? Ans: A Fur-rari.

Good Reads

If you’re a history buff, with especial interest in WW2, you may want to read the non-fiction, 2018 book entitled, “The Far Shore” by Edward Ellsberg.

It’s one of those books you just can’t put down. It has 38 chapters dealing with the pre-invasion plans of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Of course, it covers much detail on the brutal and hard-fought landing on the beaches. Many soldiers and sailors paid the ultimate price. I just started reading an older WW2 book that I’ve had since 1975, but for some reason did not start reading it until now. The name of the book is, “The Partisans of Europe in World War II” by Kenneth Macksey.

Those men and women were very brave fighting the Nazis. If caught by the Germans, in most all cases, they were tortured and then shot. Reprisals were also carried out by the Nazis on ordinary civilians who just happened to live where the partisans did their clandestine destruction.

Galva Kiwanis Valentine Dinner

This was a really nice event held at the Galva American Legion on the day before Valentine’s Day. The food was really good. Lorna got to see a lot of folks she knew from teaching at the high school. We sat with Dale & Sharon Collis. It was nice seeing Sharon!!!!!!! Did I miss someone??

Quote of the Week

“No one can be perfectly free until all are free.” Herbert Spencer