In the late ’50s and early ’60s, my Pa would tell us to wake up early on Saturday mornings so we could go fishing at Wolf Lake. I would wake up my brother and then Pa. All of us just ran around trying to get ready, pack up the rods, make sandwiches, get a thermos of coffee for Pa, and off we went to the bait shop, and it was time to get started.
We would go to the north end of the lake, because Pa had a special little place where we would always catch something. We didn't care if the fish were too small, we just set them free.
Actually, my Pa got to the point where he set them all free no matter the size. He said we can just buy them at the store and didn't have to scale them in the yard.
When the sun would warm you through and through, in the quiet of the day with the singing of the birds nearby our only distraction, we would feel a tug on our lines. Hoping we had the biggest fish ever caught at the lake and enjoying the thrill of the catch, there with your family, getting accolades for our accomplishments, how could you feel any happier?
That is my recollection of fishing with Pa & Billy.

Patty Fisher, Chicago, IL

Since I grew up practically next door to Wolf Lake, it became the source of exploration, swimming, fishing, playing and wonderment for a little girl. Some of my favorite pets were turtles, frogs and salamanders. Once I even brought some clams home and kept them in a bucket with sand on the bottom and fed them – what else ? – bread. They died. But what a wonder to find a Monarch chrysalis on a milkweed, take it home and wait for it to hatch. We would let the newly hatched butterfly walk on our hands and feel his tickly tongue eating the sugar we had placed there. The best part was watching him fly away.
Wolf Lake hadn't been dredged yet, and I would hear some of the older children talk about how shallow Wolf Lake was, and that one could walk across it. At about 12 years old, my friend and I decided to try it. To our amazement, it really was shallow way out there! We were in junior high and fearless. I never would try anything like that now.
When I was 10, we moved a block away because we needed more bedrooms. My parents rented the house out. After we got married, my husband and I bought the house from my parents. Our children grew up with Wolf Lake adventures. Now our grandchildren come and enjoy the lake as I did so many years before. This has always been a little Shangri La right here in the midst of industry. Frank and I are blessed with so many gorgeous sunsets and summer breezes. Thanks, Wolf Lake.

Betty Delinck, Hammond, IN