June 06, 2025
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Sarley: Remembering the Chicagoland Outdoors Show

By STEVE SARLEY

Outdoors writer Steve Sarley says that this White Sand Lake smallmouth bass is still one of the best he ever caught. He was on a family vacation as a boy when he caught it on a nightcrawler. Guess there was no catch-and-release back in those days. (Photo provided)

The past couple of weeks, I’ve talked about the lineup of fishing and outdoor shows that take place in northern Illinois the first couple of months of the new year. There are plenty of them, to be sure.

We’ve got the Chicago Boat, RV & Sail Show at McCormick Place, the All-Canada Show at Pheasant Run in St. Charles, the Northern Illinois Sports Show at the Lake County Fair Grounds, the Muskie Expo Chicago at Pheasant Run, the Chicagoland Fishing, Travel & Outdoor Expo at the Schaumburg Convention Center and the Tinley Park Fishing and Outdoor Show at Tinley Park High School. That is quite an impressive list, is it not?

Well, by sheer volume, that is a veritable plethora of shows, but I still miss the days when there was only one show in northern Illinois, the big Chicago Outdoors Show at the South Side's International Amphitheatre, near the Union Stock Yards.

I was addicted to fishing at an early age. Living on Chicago’s Near West Side, I remember going with my father to fish at the Chicago Park District’s Humboldt Park Lagoon. Day trips to the Fox Chain of Lakes were infrequent but special. My uncle Phil used to occasionally take me to one of his supplier’s trout-stocked stone quarry lakes. I loved fishing and wished that it could happen for me more frequently.

Every year, our family would head up to Wisconsin’s Vilas County for a two-week vacation at Dillman’s Sand Lake Lodge in Lac du Flambeau. Most kids my age went on vacations to enjoy water sports such as swimming and water skiing, but I was there to fish every available moment.

Believe it or not, my folks actually allowed me to go out on the lake alone in a boat to fish whenever I wanted to. This started at age 10. In fact, my dad bought me an old Evinrude 3 1/2-horsepower motor when I turned 10. He’d rent a boat for me to hang my motor from so I could cruise White Sand Lake alone. “Cruise” might not be the appropriate word to use here. The old wooden tub and ancient motor probably didn’t travel as fast as a guy could row, but I didn’t care. I felt like Jack Dawson in "Titanic" – “I’m the king of the world.” I can’t imagine myself or any parent at all in this day and age letting a kid so young to operate his own motorboat. I guess it was a different era.

I fondly remember going to the big Chicagoland Outdoors Show with my father when I was a boy, about a zillion years ago or so. It was a truly big deal to me, as I am sure it was to my dad. I know that as soon as Christmas was over, the big show was all I could think about.

The thought of being among the thousands of fishermen cruising the aisles of the Amphitheater looking at the rows and rows of tackle displays was almost too much for me to take. My anticipation level for the show in the weeks preceding it was as high as was my excitement for my birthday or Christmas, maybe even higher.

The Amphitheatre was in a “bad neighborhood” and was an old and decrepit building. By today’s standards, the building was nothing more than a massive, run-down barn. Through my young eyes, with it filled with all the tackle, boats and resorts, I thought it was the Taj Mahal.

Today, the longest of the outdoor shows run from Wednesday through Sunday. Back in the day, the Chicago Outdoors Show started on a Friday and ran every day for a total of 10 days. One day at the show wasn’t nearly enough, and my dad and I would head to the Amphitheatre at least twice during the show’s nearly two-week run.

Permanently etched into my memory are visions of Victor the Wrestling Bear taking on all comers and TV and movie cowboy John Bromfield emceeing the show from the big stage. It was quite the annual event.

My old buddy and Chain guide, the late Darrell Baker, told me how much he enjoyed the show and recalled going mano a mano with Victor the Bear a time or two. He told me that try as he might, Victor whupped his butt every time the pair hooked up. That is no surprise because I believe that Victor had an undefeated record at the time he retired.

I’ll finish up delving into my childhood memory collection when we meet again next week. Thank you all for indulging me.

FISHING REPORT

Northern Illinois: Dave Kranz from Dave's Bait, Tackle and Taxidermy in Crystal Lake reports: "Happy New Year! As I write this report, most small ponds and backwaters are ice-covered and getting thicker by the day. The 10-day forecast looks great for making ice. Those of you who have not gotten out on our off-and-on ice conditions soon will be able to. Always be safe on any ice and be careful on the open water also. For more info on northern Illinois fishing, call 815-455-2040 for an updated report."

• Steve Sarley writes about the outdoors for Shaw Media. Write to him at sarfishing@yahoo.com. Steve does a weekly podcast about fishing called “We Fish ASA.” You can find it at www.wefishasa.com.