MARSEILLES — The dark patch in the distance moved Saturday on the gravel road out to Veteran’s Point as I rode an e-bike at LaSalle Lake. The patch was hundreds of double-crested cormorants mixed with gulls and American white pelicans.
LaSalle, the cooling lake southwest of Seneca, is a fish factory. Birds know it as well as anglers.
Before the fishing year ended (Saturday, Oct. 15, is the last day), I wanted to try the e-bike rental started by Josh Mauk of Adventur-E-Bike Rental LLC. So I rented one on a frosty morning with thick fog swirling.
There’s roughly five miles of shoreline open to bank anglers. Years ago, I backpacked the whole way. E-bikes are a helluva lot faster. That’s why anglers using e-bikes and e-scooters to efficiently move around have ticked up significantly the last two years at LaSalle.
Great blue herons flapped off and killdeer trilled as I rode out, 17 minutes to the southeast corner, where I started fishing for bluegill. That’s a lot faster than it takes me to walk there. Serious bicyclists will do it much faster.
Normally, I catch lots of bluegill just around the corner on the east bank. I couldn’t get a bite.
So I pedaled (15 minutes) to the no-fishing-beyond-this-point sign is on the hot side. With a building southwest wind, it was unfishable.
I packed my gear and stuff in a backpack. I held my three rods (6- to 7-footers) on the handlebars, my one quibble with the rental. Next year, Mauk hopes to have an attachment for trailers. He does have tagalong bikes to attach for kids.
It took 22 minutes, some of it into the wind, to reach Veteran’s Point. Because of its placement, the point was perfect for fishing on a windy day and I caught my best fish, a good channel catfish.
Most of the ride back to the parking lot was into the wind, but I made it in 30 minutes, partly because I was comfortable enough to hit 5 on the assist and reached 15 mph.
Mauk’s e-bikes are governed, 21-speed mountain bikes with five assist speeds, regulated to how you are pedaling. He has some extras: a phone charger, a cooler on with a first aid kit and a hookup for a GoPro on the handlebars.
It’s $10 rental per hour.
Beside LaSalle, Mauk offers his e-bikes at Buffalo Rock, Illini and Gebhard Woods sate parks.
For Adventur-E-Bike Rental, call or text (815) 313-9416 or go to adventur-e-bike-rental.com.
Wild things
Indiana started its count of sandhill cranes (2,069) on Oct. 4 at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area. Click here to check the weekly counts in season. . . . Considering the dearth of monarch butterflies early, I’m surprised by multiple notes on late monarchs.
Stray cast
Apparently referees think Tom Brady is as desiccated as an old puffball.
