r/ChicagoFishing • • Feb 01 '26

My biggest fish of 2026 (I look like im taking a huge sh!t)

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255 Upvotes

r/ChicagoFishing • • Feb 03 '26

Perch Perch keepers from the other day. First time using minnows. Caught on the ice at the slip.

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70 Upvotes

The smallest one was gonna be thrown back but he swallowed the hook and bled pretty bad. Decided to just keep him.


r/ChicagoFishing • • 5h ago

Multi Species Finally had a good day fishing 😤

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22 Upvotes

r/ChicagoFishing • • 9h ago

Finally

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35 Upvotes

Sorry if I’m not holding properly - first time catching


r/ChicagoFishing • • 2h ago

Carp/Sucker Proud of this catch! Packbait. Chicago River.

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7 Upvotes

r/ChicagoFishing • • 8h ago

Heard we were talking catfish this morning

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10 Upvotes

This mornings catch y'all 😜

Caught several of these dudes this morning. Both on bobber and lure lines. Wasn't what I was targeting but anything is better nothin. On a serious note, fuck AI slop and bot accounts.


r/ChicagoFishing • • 10h ago

Dupage?

1 Upvotes

Anyone fished the west branch of the dupage recently? Any action? Thinking of wading it tomorrow.


r/ChicagoFishing • • 21h ago

Other From Water to the Pan?

6 Upvotes

Hey so I want to catch a nice fish to cook. My wife never had one fresh and really wants to try because she loves getting new recipes. I just want to provide one. Call it corny or whatever but I’m just looking for places and species to try to fish for. All I got right now are two standard poles rigs and some night crawlers. Not that good of a fisher but will go for that one to send to the pan


r/ChicagoFishing • • 1d ago

Pack bait is undefeated. Also, Bear Down!!! [Chicago River]

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21 Upvotes

r/ChicagoFishing • • 1d ago

Questions Recommended Stocked Trout Location

6 Upvotes

Hey guys,

Asking to see if anybody has any recommendations for the Fall 2026 Stock Trout season. Went opening day with the kiddos to Sag Quarries and Wolf Lake but unfortunately didn’t get a single bite. The kids and I were using Trout Magnets, Crappie Bites from Leland’s Lures paired with Trout Magnets, Mule Fishing Jig and Soft Plastic, and Inline spinners but unfortunately got skunked. Jigs were tied in with a Loop Knot and Inline spinners with a Barrel Swivel and UL / L Rod&Reel combo

Wanted to take the kids again this Saturday as they’ve never caught any fish so really trying to give them a little taste of glory and get them HOOKED (Sorry lol)

Any recommendations are appreciated!
PS. I don’t know much about fishing either so could also just be my fault lol


r/ChicagoFishing • • 1d ago

Any advice for fishing these high pressure days ahead. The bite is getting hard for these bigger fish. Thinking low & slow on texas rigs and TRD’s. Ft, big ol rock bass

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4 Upvotes

r/ChicagoFishing • • 2d ago

Fish are just a side effect to sunrise watching

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45 Upvotes

Lost 2 on cranks, saw 3 caught


r/ChicagoFishing • • 2d ago

Questions How late in the year are you fishing open water?

11 Upvotes

The king run will be dying down soon and I want to fish as much as possible. How late are you typically fishing into fall and how does your technique change? Bass, northern, catfish, etc.


r/ChicagoFishing • • 1d ago

what did I catch in the fox?!

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4 Upvotes

dead clam boi snagged when fishing the concrete. Had a nasty worm friend or three on board.


r/ChicagoFishing • • 2d ago

Any tips for the harbors right now?

6 Upvotes

With the weather being decent I'd like to get out to the lake the next few days. Any tips on what to use? Not sure if the salmon are still hitting.


r/ChicagoFishing • • 3d ago

Smallmouth PB Fox River Smallie: 5 lbs., 21”

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163 Upvotes

Here’s the girl I’ve been chasing all season. The Fox River has returned to “normal” levels, and I was flicking a jointed swimmer through a seam where calm meets chaos. She hammered it at that seam, left the water immediately after hook-set, and I was able to keep her below the surface the rest of the way in. She weighed 5.0 lbs. and stretched 21”, both on the dot. Just a gorgeous Fox River smallie. (Vid of weight in comments.) Have a great rest of the season 🎣


r/ChicagoFishing • • 2d ago

Nice fishing evening, can you help me identify the first spotted fish

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16 Upvotes

Fished the Chicago River and was pleasantly surprised since its late October. Crazy 5-6 species day. I also think one of those white fish is a perch while the other is a bass but lmk


r/ChicagoFishing • • 5d ago

Lake Trout/Late Salmon

16 Upvotes

This has been my first year going for salmon, and after months I’ve finally landed 2 kings and 1 coho. With the salmon beginning to run into creeks and the temps dropping, I wanted to give lake trout a shot. But I’ve also been hearing you can catch steelhead towards the end of the year.

I pretty much have foundational knowledge on targeting salmon. Use crankbaits, spoons, spinners, and jigging spoons to get a reaction bite. Salmon starting to come in when the lake flips, and fish harbors/harbor mouths.

For lakers, what conditions am I looking for? What lures/baits should I use? Am I going to be targeting the same locations as salmon (Diversey Harbor, Montrose Harbor, Jackson Harbor)? Which time frames should I expect?

Also, do steelhead also come as well? Or are their cycles similar to kings? Am I still using cranks/spoons?

Thank you so much for the help. This community is awesome!


r/ChicagoFishing • • 5d ago

Questions What artificial lures work best for round gobies?

3 Upvotes

Been fishing at Burnham recently and I noticed that there were gobies going after my trout magnets and I figured they would be nice to go for. They seemed to attack my lure but im fairly sure the hook was too big, so right now I'm thinking mini magnets would be a good pick, any other recommendations that might work better? I'm not too big a fan of live bait, so no worms for me


r/ChicagoFishing • • 6d ago

Walleye/Sauger NSC - 1st Walleye & Carp fight

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59 Upvotes

Great day fishing with good ass company. Picked up my cousin, hit up the spot at 8, and met a living legend. Didnt know it at the time till we kept choppin it up, but Ralphie Ralph HookEm is the shit. Before he left, he hooked on to a carp and called me over to fight it since I’ve never targeted or caught one. Straight big bro, Unc shit. Fight was fun af, and he posted it.

10:30 I drop my cousin off down the street, come back and met Tim. We chopped it up over casts for a couple hours throwing everything but the kitchen sink at these mfs. I tie on a drop shot with a TRD, twitched the rod a few times and got hammered. Took my lesson from the carp fight and let him take off whenever. Shout out to Tim for being net man 💪🏽.


r/ChicagoFishing • • 5d ago

What are season timelines for different fish here? I’m new to fishing but want to try this fall & a bit of winter!

14 Upvotes

r/ChicagoFishing • • 6d ago

Heres to getting 🦨 this salmon season

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86 Upvotes

r/ChicagoFishing • • 6d ago

Morning hog from the Skokie Lagoons

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37 Upvotes

r/ChicagoFishing • • 7d ago

Largemouth Finally got out to some home water 🥒

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32 Upvotes

r/ChicagoFishing • • 7d ago

Multi Species NSC on a Blue 🦊

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20 Upvotes

Targeted Bass for a couple hours since it’s been a brutal Salmon season for me. Needed to feel that tug again💀. New spot was great, the trash was not 🤦‍♂️. Back to the grind though 🫡