I spent most of my childhood south of Joliet in places with lots of little creeks, ponds, and low populations. Fishing was enjoyable, using live bait or lures, I still caught fish and had a nice day.
Then I joined the military and spent time fishing in South Carolina, Idaho, and Washington. Wonderful fishing in these places...I swear you could at times catch bass on a bare hook.
Well after coming back to the area I see a ton of fishing pressure on everything from mud puddles on up. I see horrible practices of keeping anything and everything being caught from shoreline fishermen. Many public areas are trashed...litter and lots of disrespect for the landscape. I'm currently shorebound, I can't justify having a large gas guzzler just to tow a boat.
So onto the point, I had horrible shoreline luck for anything other than a few cats and carp. I went out every weekend from June to Sept. of 2007 to various spots around Turtle Lake, Des Plaines Conservation Area, Dupage River, Kankakee River, and Fox River all without much luck...and every spot was just packed.
Does anyone have a good location for conservation minded fishermen? Part of my enjoyment of the sport is being out in nature, looking at a shoreline of empty beer cans and bait containers is not something I like. I don't mind needing skill and patience to catch fish, but it seems like a waste of time to keep throwing my line in fished out holes while being forced to stand around in trash.
Is there any hope for those of us who remain shorebound?
Then I joined the military and spent time fishing in South Carolina, Idaho, and Washington. Wonderful fishing in these places...I swear you could at times catch bass on a bare hook.
Well after coming back to the area I see a ton of fishing pressure on everything from mud puddles on up. I see horrible practices of keeping anything and everything being caught from shoreline fishermen. Many public areas are trashed...litter and lots of disrespect for the landscape. I'm currently shorebound, I can't justify having a large gas guzzler just to tow a boat.
So onto the point, I had horrible shoreline luck for anything other than a few cats and carp. I went out every weekend from June to Sept. of 2007 to various spots around Turtle Lake, Des Plaines Conservation Area, Dupage River, Kankakee River, and Fox River all without much luck...and every spot was just packed.
Does anyone have a good location for conservation minded fishermen? Part of my enjoyment of the sport is being out in nature, looking at a shoreline of empty beer cans and bait containers is not something I like. I don't mind needing skill and patience to catch fish, but it seems like a waste of time to keep throwing my line in fished out holes while being forced to stand around in trash.
Is there any hope for those of us who remain shorebound?