Dear Sun Spots: have some questions for you.

Where are the Chain O’Lakes located?

Could you possibly find the words to “t’s A Treat To Beat Your Feet n The Mississippi Mud?”

Any help you can give me would be much appreciated. – No Name, No Town.

Answer: The Chain O’Lakes is about 40 miles northwest of Chicago in Lake and McHenry counties. t is the largest inland, recreational waterway system in llinois. Consisting of nine major lakes, ranging from 86 to 1,700 acres, the “Chain” is a result of the McHenry Dam on the Fox River, historically the home of many ndian tribes in the mid-1600s.

Catherine Lake: Consists of 155 acres with an average depth of 45 feet, this lake, located two miles west of Antioch, is the “sister” to the larger Channel Lake directly connected to it.

Channel Lake: s a 352-acre lake that provides a half dozen launch ramps and about a dozen operations that allow access.

Lake Marie: Many anglers consider this 480-acre lake the top fishing spot on the “Chain.” t has a sand bottom and good clarity, averaging about 14 feet deep with drops going to 35. t is located three miles west of Antioch.

Bluff Lake: Located south of Lake Marie, this 86-acre lake is a good shoreline fishing area. The lake averages about 12 feet in depth.

Grass Lake: The shallowest lake on the “Chain,” averages three feet. This 1,360-acre lake is also a popular waterfowling spot.

Fox Lake: Most of the fishing is concentrated around three large bays (Mineola, Stanton and Columbia) of this 1,700-acre lake.

Nippersink Lake: Nippersink and Fox Lakes often are considered one and the same since they join. Nippersink contains 420 acres and is a connecting body of water among Fox, Grass and Pistakee Lakes.

Pistakee Lake: The southernmost lake on the “Chain;’ Pistakee contains 1,700 acres and lies on the McHenry/Lake County boundary. Though the lake averages about 6 feet deep, it drops off to more than 30 feet. Meyers Bay is another good fishing area, as is Redhead Lake, a small lake connected to Pistakee via a channel.

The nine major lakes and adjacent smaller bodies of water provide about 7,000 acres of recreational water that includes more than 29 miles of dredged and natural channels connecting the major bodies of water. The “Chain” has 488 shoreline miles.

Regarding your second question, the following are the words Sun Spots has located:

Mississippi Mud

When the sun goes down the tide goes out

The people gather round and they all begin to shout

Hey hey, Uncle Dud

t’s a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi mud

t’s a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi mud

What a dance do they do

Lordy how ‘m tellin’ you

They don’t need no band

They keep time by clappin’ their hand

Just as happy as a cow chewin’ on a cud

When the people beat their feet on the Mississippi mud

Lordy how they play it

Goodness how they sway it.

Uncle Joe, Uncle Jim

How they pound the mire with vigor and vim.

Joy! That music thrills me

Boy! t nearly kills me.

What a show when they go

Say they beat it up either fast or slow

When the sun goes down the tide goes out

The people gather round and they all begin to shout

Hey, hey, Uncle Dud

t’s a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi mud

t’s a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi mud

What a dance do they do

Lordy how ‘m tellin’ you

They don’t need no band

They keep time by clappin’ their hand

Just as happy as a cow chewin’ on a cud

When the people beat their feet on the Mississippi mud.

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