Sarley: The best suburban fishing spots often are not the most obvious spots

I’ve been in plenty of arguments with people about whether fishing is a sport.

It’s an open subject to me. I can fish pretty well but am not able to do any traditional sports with any proficiency. I certainly can’t hit a baseball or shoot a 3-pointer. I am no athlete in the least.

Fishermen usually have good manual dexterity like golfers, so I guess that means something. One thing I do know is that fishing can be done without exerting much physical labor. Yes, but being successful at fishing means that you have to put in some physical effort.

In fishing, especially bank fishing, the fish really never come to you. It is necessary to go and find them. Pro fishermen move around constantly. I’ve often wondered if the anglers just stayed on a spot all day, if the fish would eventually show up and began to eat their baits. I don’t know and I’ve never see anybody try that.

What I do see, though, are shore fishermen who take the lazy way out when trying to find fish. The easiest thing to do is to pick a fishing hole that is close to parking and has a ready-made pier setup for a fisherman to stand on. Well, my friends, I have never seen the spots closest to easy parking be the best fishing. The best fishing spot in DuPage County for me was Bass Lake on Army Trail Road in Bartlett.

There are two lakes right next to each other on Army Trail, Bass Lake and Deep Quarry Lake. You used to be able to park off the side of the road on Army Trail and reach Bass Lake fairly easily. That said, Deep Quarry was always busier because it was closer to the main parking lot. Because parking now is restricted on Army Trail, nobody goes to Bass Lake any more. It is probably close to a mile to reach Bass Lake and people will not do that. I’d walk a mile to catch some of the best bass in the Chicago area. Wouldn’t you?

There is a great spot to fish in DuPage at the Danada Forest Preserve. It’s located on Butterfield Road east of Naperville Road. It is a very long walk from legal parking to reach the water. If you see anybody fishing there, unless they are at the shoreline closest to parking, it’s probably me. Nobody wants to make the trek to reach other more productive spots on the lake.

I don’t mean to pick on DuPage County fishermen. Everybody seems to take the lazy route. Go to Busse Lake in Elk Grove in the Cook County Forest Preserves and you’ll see anglers jam-packed on the fishing piers. Do the fish know that is where they are supposed to go? I doubt it. Start walking and find your own productive spot on the shoreline.

I love to fish the forest preserve lakes in all of the suburbs, Cook County, DuPage County and Lake County most often. The districts do a great job in stocking and maintaining their own bodies of water and provide great experiences for all fishermen. Don’t let people tell you that these lakes are all “fished out.” It is just not true.

Lastly, many preserves have more than one lake in them. People seem to pick the one that is closest and more often, they pick the largest lake because it must hold the most fish, if not the biggest fish.

There is an unnamed lake in DuPage that is in a preserve with a much larger lake. The big lake is always crowded with anglers. I was with a guy from who showed me a picture of a fish that weighed 10 pounds on a certified scale. I am not kidding, 10 pounds. It was caught on the tiny lake, not the big one. Think about that.

• Daily Herald Outdoors columnist Steve Sarley can be reached at sarfishing@yahoo.com.