Fish of the Week: Walleye catch a good sign for the Chicago River system

Joshua Chupich caught a quality walleye from the North Shore Channel, a sign of the water quality in the Chicago River system.

Joshua Chupich with a quality walleye from the North Shore Channel, a sign of the water quality in the Chicago River system. Provided photo — Joshua Chupich with a quality walleye from the North Shore Channel, a sign of the water quality in the Chicago River system.

Joshua Chupich caught a quality walleye on Wednesday and emailed, “I thought you’d be interested in this walleye I caught from the North Shore Channel of the Chicago River today. Caught on an ultralight rod and live minnow while I was going for crappie.”

He correctly assumed that I am interested in walleye in the Chicago River system. But most of the very sporadic walleye catches tend to be downtown. Interesting to see one from the North Shore Channel.

“I found it very unusual and I see it as a good sign for the improving fishery,” Chupich summed up.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories (the stories matter, as this one shows) around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the paper Sun-Times. The online posting here at chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors goes up at varied days of the week, depending on what is going on in the wide world of the outdoors.

To make submissions, email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).

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