Be honest: when you think about fishing, your mind automatically goes to a beautiful, quiet spot, right? Part of the allure of the sport is that it helps us get away from the daily grind of traffic, noise and crowds—even if traffic to you means waiting for cows to cross the road from one pasture to another. But there are plenty of decent fishing spots where you can drop a line in the water, feel the thrill of a tug on the other line and never lose sight of the city skyline. Here are just a few of the thousands of urban fishing spots you can use FarWide to help visit this weekend; and discover more using the FarWide app and in-browser experience. They’re not all the kind of places where you’ll have concrete under your feet, but they’re all within the city limits of some serious metropolises.
The Menomenee River flows southwest through Wisconsin before joining up with the Milwaukee River and spilling into Lake Michigan in downtown Milwaukee. More than 30 miles of its banks and flow are open to fishermen and offer good urban fishing. And though you may want to cast from the shadows of the Harley Davidson Museum or the Potawatomi Casino, we think you’d probably have more fun setting up in Three Bridges Park off South Layton Boulevard.
Just a one-mile walk from the nearest subway stop, the ingloriously named but handily situated Atlanta City Water Works Reservoir Number Two offers a surprisingly good urban fishing experience. Easy to get to (heck, there’s an IKEA within eyesight of the north shore off Trabert Ave NW), the res is open to anglers all year and has a daily limit of 10 fish per angler. The only size restrictions are on largemouth bass, which must be 12 inches. Not biting today? Head on over to Stoddard’s Gun Range, a five-minute walk east.
The problem with trying to recommend one place to fish within the city of Omaha is that the choices are overwhelming. The Missouri River, at 2,320 miles the nation’s longest, is one giant fishing hole, providing the state’s eastern border and as a result, Omaha’s. So we like to move a bit away from the river and head to Omaha’s Miller Park Pond, a tiny gem in tiny Miller Park in the northern part of the city. Let the crowds head to Omaha’s bigger and better-known Carter Lake and enjoy year-round fishing, for species including a large number of species (but expect to have more success with bass). And after you’ve filled your tag for the day, head to Miller Park’s adjacent Steve Hogan golf course. It’s not exactly an urban fishing experience, but we won’t tell anyone.
Strictly speaking, we suppose that Arlington, Massachusetts is a suburb of Boston. But when you stand on the shores of Arlington Reservoir, you can see the Boston skyline’s two tallest features: the iconic Prudential Tower and the John Hancock Tower. So the feeling can be pretty urban, especially when you look up from your line. Not that you won’t want to concentrate on what you’re doing. Arlington Reservoir is open year-round, with a daily catch limit of three fish but no size restrictions. This is a good spot to hit brown trout. And because this is Massachusetts, leave your lead sinkers behind: they’re banned here.
You don’t get much more specific than this: The St. Louis Urban Fishing Program. More than a dozen small lakes, many of them within the city limits of St. Louis and all of them within St. Louis County, offer a great fishing experience, all within sight—or at least an easy drive—of the Gateway Arch. We like the small lake at Lafayette Park, an easy walk to the banks of the Mississippi and according to the Missouri Department of Conservation, a best bet for finding bluegill. Another tip: natural baits work best to lure the more than 39,000 pounds of channel catfish stocked in the program’s lakes from April to September.
We’re not going to get involved in Philadelphia’s most rancorous issue. We’re just going to tell you to go to Geno’s for a cheesesteak lunch, then go fishing at Walnut Street Landing, then go to Pat’s for a cheesesteak dinner. You’ll be glad you did all three, although the fishing trip won’t leave you loosening your belt. Of all the fishing spots noted on this list, Walnut Street Landing is probably the most intensely urban. The spot is just a few blocks from Rittenhouse Square, one of Philly’s fanciest addresses, and looks across the Schuylkill (say “skoo-kill”) River to the University of Pennsylvania. We’re not going to promise that you’ll catch a 45-inch muskie like one lucky angler did in mid-July (he released it without weighing it), but you’ll certainly be able to cast a line from some of the same streets trod by America’s founding fathers.
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