Alison Clegg, who turns sweet 16 next week, says she's a "city girl."

"I'm not exactly a tomboy. I live in Bloomington. I go to the mall," said the University High School junior.

But part of Alison's personality doesn't fit the city mold. All she wants for her birthday from her grandmother, Margaret Williams, is another fishing trip to a remote part of Canada. For the past two summers, the pair has headed north to Kenora, Ontario, for a girls-only fishing getaway at Halley's Camps on One Man Lake.

Williams gave her the first trip for her birthday two years ago after Alison told her she wanted to catch a big fish. Just getting there was exciting enough. Clegg, who was flying in the chair reserved for the co-pilot, became more than a little worried as the bush plane dropped closer and closer to the surface of the lake.

"I wasn't aware it landed on the water. We're going down! I was expecting a big land strip. No, that didn't happen," she said laughing at the memory.

They caught more than 200 walleyes in three days, and Clegg landed a 28-inch, 9-pound trophy walleye that earned her a listing in the annual Northwest Ontario Master Angler publication. They were fishing with guide Richard Woloschuk using the tried and true Northwoods tactic, a jig and a minnow. Clegg's color? Pink, of course. The fish was photographed and released.

Shortly after the first trip, Clegg, daughter of Scott and Kristin Clegg, unwrapped a fishing rod for her birthday. For Christmas, she received another fishing trip to Canada from her grandmother and a bag of pink jigs. Clegg put them to good use on their more recent adventure. They caught at least as many walleyes as they did on the first trip, and mom's biggest was 26.5 inches. They also caught several other species, including sauger and northern pike, which are not her favorite fish.

"They smell and they're slimy," she said.

Williams scored the big one this time, an 18-inch smallmouth bass, big enough for the Master Angler designation.

But it's not all about the fishing. Clegg likes the rustic adventure - no air conditioning, no TV. She loves shore lunch, and she gets to see eagles swoop down and snatch fish from the lake. She saw bears, too.

"It's a nice way to get away from everything out in the middle of nowhere. I don't have a cell phone connection so I don't have to pay attention to what goes on in town," she said.

Clegg admits she gets a little miffed when people assume girls don't like to fish.

"When we arrived at the airport last year in Winnipeg, the airline had lost our rods. When we went to file a claim for them, the lady asked us if our fishing rods were a gift to my dad. I wish I could just get the word out that girls can fish, too," she said.

Clegg hasn't gone fishing in Central Illinois even though her grandparents own land with a pond. A competitive swimmer, Clegg takes a dip there once in a while. She'd rather not know what's swimming with her, she said.

But she does have a reason to want to fish near home after reading about the new Illinois High School Association competitive fishing program that starts this school year. She's excited about lobbying U High officials to start a team.

"I'm going to talk to them, I'm going to do it," she said.

Tournament notes

Domenic Theison and Tom Cassel won the Ever-Bloom Tournament Trail event on Lake Evergreen Saturday with a limit of five bass weighing 11.2 ounces. Loren Peterson and Mike Blake were second with 10.31 pounds. Third place was Richard Whitacre and Bryan Estes with 9.35 pounds, including big bass of the event which weighed 5.34 pounds.

Scott Richardson is Pantagraph outdoor editor. Contact him at (309) 820-3227 or e-mail srichardson@pantagraph.com. Share stories and read past outdoor and fishing columns at www.pantagraph.com/blogs