Source
r/ChicagoFishing•
ipamy

Fishing/Chicago Newb

Hey y'all! Okay, I just moved here and mostly my hobbies involve brewing beer, then drinking it. My dad bought me a pole when he heard I was moving here to (I assume) live vicariously through me. I have a vague idea of how to fish, I know the modified cinch knot and have bought some lures/gear but I don't know how to fish HERE. I went to the Chicago River on Thursday for 3 hours and caught one log, one tree branch and zero fish.

If you will invite me along and be somewhat patient with me I will trade you beer. I just bottled a grapefruit mosaic IPA to offer to the fishing gods (you) if you wouldn't mind inviting me along to a fishing adventure.

I'm the closest to Montrose Harbor but I will venture out anywhere. Think of it like fish charity with a beer bonus.

Posted Jul 8, 2015, 1:00 PM UTC

617
timeonmyhandz•

I am a suburban fisherman so sorry can't help too much with the city.. Perhaps the lagoons around Lincoln park would be a good start? Maybe trek out to busse woods too.

Come late fall, you'll be at montrose harbor going for salmon and trout (buy the extra license stamps). Will see you there at 5am casting into the dark!

Fellow homebrewer here too...

3
Timbo1986•

A great resource to check out is Chitown-angler.com. Read back through the post in the forum of whatever species you have the right gear for.

3
Buck_Furious•

Somewhat in the same boat as you here. Haven't been fishing in about 20 years. Just got my license and am picking up some new gear for my first run with my son. Just have to figure out a day now.

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ipamyOP•

Maybe someone in this sub will take pity on us both and we can brush up on our skills/knowledge with them. Strangers, help us!

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Buck_Furious•

Fellow homebrewer here as well. Should start a club for the early morning pint and cast.

1
ipamyOP•

Geezy petes, can you imagine how great a medium-bodied 4% coffee porter would be in the late summer/early fall, right around 8 am with the light "kersplunk" of a minnow hitting the lake?

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Mr-Powers•

I would help you guys but I'm out in the suburbs but if you ever need a spot in the wheaton/west Chicago area hit me up

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Buck_Furious•

You know anything about the fox river area around Geneva/ St Charles?

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Mr-Powers•

Fished Geneva a few days ago below the dam and all I got was a small largemouth bass and I snagged a quillback. I've fished near the Batavia dam quite a bit and I've hooked into a few smallmouth and on rare occasions get a walleye, but at the Batavia dam most trips consist of 5-7 hours of fishing and normally only 1 fish to show. Also that area is way over fished so I wouldn't suggest it. If you find a nice spot on the fox let me know cause I can't find a honey hole

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Spotinye•

If you're on the west side, there is a club based in Humboldt park.

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PParker46•

I see your other post about Chicago and wanting to know about why it is like it is. Here's a fishing story. ++++++++++++ When I was a kid in the late 40's and early 50's Chicago had a large commercial fishing fleet. Mostly square back boats that threw out drift nets to snag white fish. Part of the fleet moored at docks along the north branch of the River near Irving Park Road and further north. Some days, and especially in the Spring when the smelt were running some of them would tie up at a long wooden pier at the foot of Belmont. They'd sell fish right from the nets and price them by the pound wrapped in your newspaper or by the bucket (which your brought). Upstairs along the south west side of Belmont for a half block there'd be a row of what we'd now call pop up wooden shacks that would take your smelt and deep fry them. You'd eat them on the spot, most likely with a Schlitz or Pabst or one of the Chicago beers. All of it unlicensed, uninspected, slightly furtive.

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ipamyOP•

What! Awesome! In a similar vein, whats the deal with potential pollution and the Chicago River? I'm thinking specifically of all the tanneries, slaughterhouses, etc that may have existed along parts of the river and the ecological impact. Is and was the river clean enough to safely eat fish caught in it?

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PParker46•

An indirect answer to your question about pollution. In the late 1950's through the 60's I worked in small boats along the lake front. Mostly just inside the locks at the mouth of the river and in the various semi-abandoned commercial slips now vanished by land infill directly east of Randolph Street, including the destruction of the naval armory and such. Because it was small boat work I often had river water splashing on me or had to reach into it. At the start of each summer season I got a full battery of cholera, typhoid and a couple other shots that I now disrecall. The doctor called it his Africa backwater package. Sometimes before I reached in I had to use an oar to push rafts of human waste aside. They say things are much better now, but I personally wouldn't be wetting my lips with river water.

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ipamyOP•

Bahaha, okay, so this is very similar to Baltimore then. Every year some frenchman or some such visits and jumps into the harbor during one of the various festivals down there. Upon getting fished out, the person is given a battery of similar shots to what you're describing and the city bemoans its own disgusting existence, then inevitably blames the visitor for assuming it was safe. Rinse repeat. Glad to see its not too different here.

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PParker46•

That was more than 50 years ago. When you went down the branches towards the Loop every dozen or 40 feet you'd see some illegal pipe dumping water from God knows where into the river. Now almost all of those are probably capped off (although my construction company sons spotted one a few years ago). The City now says the river water often is fit to kayak in, but they still advise against getting into it.

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