Fishing with kids: Where to go in and around Chicago

On a recent Saturday at Montrose Harbor, 6-year-old Jojo is dividing her attention between a roly-poly on the ground near a park bench and her pink Barbie fishing rod. Her brother, Andrew, 10, focuses both on his fishing line and maintaining a certain distance from his little sister. Despite very large carp nosing around below the surface, the fish aren’t biting this evening.

“Patience,” said their Croc-clad dad, Ben Maggos.

That’s the key to a fishing outing with children, said Maggos, 46, who lives with his family just across DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Between baiting hooks, giving casting instruction, untangling line and, heaven forbid, pulling out wayward hooks, forget about fishing yourself.

Many adults have fond memories of catching their first fish with parents or grandparents, which can inspire a lifelong interest in the great outdoors. Perhaps surprisingly, Chicago and the surrounding area — suburban Cook County and the collar counties — have more places to fish than you can cast a line at. In the city alone, there are 13 stocked park lagoons, several ponds, Chicago River piers and 22 miles of shoreline supporting nine harbors along Lake Michigan.

Cleanup efforts, stricter regulations and public investment in outdoor spaces have made fishing easier and more enjoyable and, for some, a source for tomorrow’s dinner. Novices will want to catch and release.

Here’s our guide to eight great places to fish with kids in Chicago and beyond.

1. Chicago River

Fresh lakewater and the fish that move with it enter the Chicago River in two locations: at the head of the Northshore Channel in Wilmette and from the locks downtown. Fish species include largemouth, smallmouth and rock bass; crappie; catfish; perch; drum; and sizable carp, which can be caught on bread and corn.

Families need go no further than the downtown Riverwalk to cast a line and have a chance at catching a nice bass or catfish. A “fish hotel,” a floating island of plants, was introduced here in 2005 by Friends of the Chicago River. That experiment evolved into The Jetty, a fishing platform between Orleans and Wells streets, which features floating wetlands, an underwater fish habitat and a free park district program Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (until Sept. 28; equipment, bait and instruction provided).

Other easy access points along the Chicago River include a pier at Clark Park, and a pier and open shoreline at River Park, where a dam was removed in 2018 to allow fish to move freely up and down the north branch. On the south branch, Ping Tom Park in Chinatown hosts a pier.

2. Lake Michigan

There’s hardly a better place to start than a 67-year-old bait shop like Park Bait in Montrose Harbor, the city’s longest running concessionaire, owned and operated by Stacey Greene and her family for three generations. Most people on the North Side start there, as it is one of the few remaining bait shops in the city.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, the shop was bustling, with hardly a break for a lone employee, Stacey’s son, Cory Gecht. An Asian man bought two crawfish for one last shot at a lunker at Belmont Harbor and a group of Latino men milled about patiently as Gecht went online to get their fishing licenses for a boat charter they hired. A self-described senior citizen wondered whether the fishing license really cost $950 (no, it’s only $9.50; the decimals were missing).

Crucially, bait shops offer something more important than earthworms: advice. It’s an effective communal system, with word-of-mouth bringing information from all across the region to a single location: what fish are biting, where and on what. During the summer, species you’ll find at Montrose include perch and other panfish, large and smallmouth bass, silver bass, freshwater drum (aka sheepshead) and carp. At certain times of the year, including fall, big-game species such as salmon and trout are on offer.

Besides the bait shop, Montrose Point and Harbor offers free parking, a lot of lakefront exposure across the curving eastern face of the peninsula, and a long concrete pier that juts north and curls into a fishhook shape. It’s a 10-minute walk with gear from free parking to the pier.

Sometimes “it is fishing, not catching” on the lake, Greene said. Because fish are more spread out, it takes a little knowledge and skill, and younger children may not have the patience for the inherent down time. Kids might do better in the actual boat harbor in the south of the park, Gecht said. More fish are corralled there, and the gobies, though an exotic species, are often biting. Feeding the invasive gobies to the gulls is another layer of fun, Gecht suggested. There is a wooden fishing pier with an ADA ramp located at the foot of the harbor.

Fishing is not allowed from any sand beach in Chicago, but there are numerous other Lake Michigan fishing access points: Belmont Harbor, Diversey Harbor (which includes some lagoons around Lincoln Park), Navy Pier (north side), Northerly Island, Burnham Park, Promontory Point, and Steelworkers Park at 87th Street are some of the most popular. Locations can be accessed by some combination of CTA, bicycle and rideshare.

Many lakefront locations do not have guard rails, so outfit small children with life jackets for safety.

3. Palmisano Park

The park was named after the owner of a legendary bait shop, now closed. Today, Daniel Edwards at Bridgeport Bait and Tackle on South Halsted Street delights children and adults alike with his boundless enthusiasm for all things fishing. Born in the neighborhood, he grew up riding his bike to McKinley Park to fish the lagoon every summer day, coming home for 5 p.m. dinner (sometimes). On a recent Friday, the retired 64-year-old entertained a throng of customers by conducting crawfish races on the floor, and giving away free bait for kids joining the family fishing program run by the park district and the Shedd Aquarium.

Edwards will send young ones to several Chicago River spots in Bridgeport, and to the deep quarry pond in the northwest corner of Palmisano Park, where a child recently fished out a huge lunker largemouth bass. There is a metal pier and a small shoreline to fish from. Parking is available around the park, and the Halsted Orange Line CTA station is a short walk.

Several families were buying rods and bait on a recent Friday for outings at Park 571 on Eleanor Street in Bridgeport, where there is a small parking lot and a pier. Across the river from the park are two separate fishing locations in the same neighborhood where the river blends with Bubbly Creek and the Sanitary and Ship Canal: Canal Origins Park and the Canalport Riverwalk. There is no designated parking, so bikes are the best option. Restoration and improvement projects are underway in these areas, including installation of floating islands by Urban Rivers that help filter water and create fish habitat.

4. West Ridge Nature Park

For the youngest and newest anglers, this beguiling nature park on the North Side might be the best place to start fishing in the city. The park, which opened in 2015, contains a small pond that should provide plenty of nibbles and bites for young anglers to keep them interested. The main fish here are sunfish and bullheads. There is a small path around the pond with a few bump-outs. Parking is available along Western Avenue.

Other park district fishing spots are listed on the park district fishing webpage. Anglers recommend the Lincoln Park rowing lagoon on the North Side (kids can first practice casting at a special pier in the north pond at the nearby Notebaert Museum), Jackson Park on the South Side (south of the Museum of Science and Industry) and Douglass Park on the West Side.

5. Skokie Lagoons

The 242 forested acres of linked lagoons, fed by the Skokie River, are a highly productive fishing resource that stretch from Northbrook to Winnetka. They produce good populations of a wide variety of fish. An easy place to start is a barrier-free, ADA-accessible fishing wall located off Tower Road just east of the Edens Expressway. Parking is free.

6. Busse Reservoir

At 457 acres, the Busse Reservoir is even bigger than the Skokie Lagoons and considered one of the top fishing locations in Cook County. Fed by Salt Creek, there are 20 miles of shoreline across three connected pools. Anglers can use six fishing walls, some ADA accessible (Beisner Rd, Main Dam and West), to target an abundant population of sunfish and a wide variety of other species including walleye and muskie. It is stocked with trout in the fall. The boating center sells and rents fishing supplies and boats, and all parking is free.

7. Beaubien Woods

Near East 130th Street in Riverdale, two sites in Beaubien Woods offer free parking and accessible fishing piers on different bodies of water. The boat launch has been spruced up recently, and indoor bathrooms are being added. The Calumet River system is deep here, connects to Lake Michigan, and contains both river and lake species. Flatfoot Lake is a small, 19-acre former strip mine with the typical inland species such as sunfish and bullheads, up to 15 feet deep in spots. The lake is one of three in Cook County that are stocked with catchable hybrid sunfish every year through the state’s “urban fishing” program.

8. Collar Counties

All of the region’s rivers have benefited from water quality improvement and dam removal, including the Little Calumet, the Des Plaines, the DuPage and the Fox River. The DuPage has become a smallmouth bass hotspot, and access points can be found here. Anglers report pulling a variety of fish from the Des Plaines at various spots throughout the forest preserves, including the northern pike, a fierce predator.

In the DuPage County forest preserves, both Herrick Lake (Wheaton) and Silver Lake (Warrenville), a short 3 miles apart, are suitable for young children. The 22-acre Herrick Lake offers free parking, small boat rentals on the weekend and a bait vending machine. At a recent summer outing, first-time anglers as young as 6 were catching sunfish hand over fist. Silver Lake, at 62 acres, along with two smaller bodies called White and Sand Ponds, also has free parking, a pier, shoreline trails and a wide variety of stocked fish that prosper among the man-made cribs.

At the Hidden Lakes Trout Farm, adjacent to Whalon Lake and the east branch of the DuPage River in Bolingbrook, there are no trout but children can fish for sunfish in several lagoons. Just over a footbridge and up a hill is Whalon Lake, the former 80-acre gravel pit now stocked with walleye and other species. Part of Will County forest preserves, the entire 1.5-mile shoreline is an attractive spot for kids and accessible to bank fishing. A barrier-free fishing pier facilitates access for anglers with special needs.

At Independence Grove in Libertyville, another former quarry, now 129-acre lake, is deep and well maintained. The marina offers boat rentals, and sells bait, tackle, fishing licenses, snacks and beverages. Fishing is catch and release only. Post-fishing activities include a playground and a beer garden for mom and dad. This site is part of the Lake County forest preserve. Non-resident parking costs $6 on Monday-Thursday and $12 on Friday-Sunday.