In fishing circles, the Chicago River is finally getting some clout

The politicians and star-sapphire pinkie-ring wearers used to call him Boss. And the bigger the ring, the higher the rank on the political food chain.

What does this have to do with Chicago fishing? Read on and you'll see the special role of urban angling in the citys' history.

The late newspaper man Mike Royko was often referred to as a pain in the side (or other bodily part) when he went after the Boss.

The boss man, of course was the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, who ruled Chicago and the rest of the state like no other politician in this country.

Mayor Daley, the elder, was a kind of king and president-maker, while ruling a city with what had been described as a place with broad shoulders and worked under all kinds of circumstances.

The Boss was also quite a fisherman. He hoped and predicted the Chicago River would someday be clear and clean enough to attract hordes of local anglers wanting to sample the products of Daley's dreams and efforts.

Daley himself was reported to have fished Lake Michigan from his Michiana Shores encampment when not riding herd on the city's 50-some aldermen.

But it was the Chicago River itself that the mayor targeted as a potential hot spot for his serfs and vassals, and anyone who dared dream of a metropolitan angling Valhalla.

And lo and behold, the river evolved into a dream of sorts while still qualifying as a dumping ground and repository for waste products generated by some industrial scalawags.

But not everything is tarnished with City Hall effluent.

It seems Pat Harrison may have found his niche in this highly competitive fishing market.

Harrison is fishing guide who steadily plies his trade on the Chicago River.

Year after year, Harrison has been after me to ride with him looking for angling action, starting on the city's near south side.

Now, I used to fish the North Branch of the river when I was a kid. Bullheads, a few channel catfish, maybe a sheepshead or two, and some obstinate common carp sitting in quiet eddies waiting for easy meals.

Certainly the Fox River entertained me for quite a while, with both smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye, crappie, jumbo bluegills, flathead catfish and a variety of other surprises.

But it's the Chicago River that has really piqued my interest, due to the endless possibilities coming from the many, not-too-secret pools of untouched water.

I chuckle every time I meet someone who wants to talk about fishing in the metro area.

When I mention the Fox and Chicago Rivers, far too many of these skeptics laugh in my face, declaring they would never dream of dropping a line in either body of water.

So when I drag out some pictures of me and my fly and spinning rods while holding jumbo bass I caught and released from both waterways, all I hear are gasps. It works every time.

And because Pat Harrison has chosen to make the Chicago River a special destination angling spot, I tip my hat to a fisherman and guide who has the guts to make the late Mayor Daley's dreams slowly inch their way toward real-life adventure.

By the way, you'll have a chance to meet guide Pat Harrison at the Chicago Outdoor Sportsmen's Show, now going on through Sunday in Rosemont, in the Donald Stephens Convention Center.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.