Bucking the Thanksgiving trend for a buck steelhead on the Chicago lakefront

Philip Jordan sought a different path than perch fishing Thanksgiving on the Chicago lakefront. It paid off a steelhead.

SHARE Bucking the Thanksgiving trend for a buck steelhead on the Chicago lakefront
Philip Jordan holds a buck steelhead while wearing a grey jacket.

Philip Jordan with beautiful buck steelhead caught and released Thanksgiving at Diversey Harbor.

Provided

Philip Jordan chose the less-traveled path Thanksgiving on the Chicago lakefront.

It paid off with a steelhead.

“I love fishing on Thanksgiving,” he messaged on Instagram. “It usually means that most anglers are downtown jockeying for the best perch spot, which leaves the harbors mostly empty, except for my most prized pursuit: steelhead. I hooked up with this buck at Diversey Harbor floating spawn bags (king salmon eggs) about 6 or 7 feet down.

“He gave me a decent fight, and I was able to land and release him without incident. He’s out there now for someone else to chase!”

It’s worth a full-length view.

Philp Jordan holds steelhead caught and released on the Chicago lakefront Thanksgiving. Provided photo

Philp Jordan holds steelhead caught and released on the Chicago lakefront Thanksgiving.

Provided

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.

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

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