Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report: Shoreline Chinook (and coho), Kankakee derby, some water

My cousin just got this on his 4th cast at Waukegan pier. 12.74# Paul Chiren out of Arizona. My turn Another guy caught two (one was over 20#) and another guy got one off the south docks

@BowmanOutside conditions seem just right with cool breeze and rain tonight. While city lakefront remains closed. Saw a couple folks walk away with some ho’s this morning. Hopefully season is here

With the rain and cooler temps a few salmon will show up if ur going to lakefront cast glow in the dark spoons if you are hitting the creeks throw spinners or float spawn sacks

~Salmon/Steelhead: beginning to come to shore with the cooler temperatures. Hammond Marina, Burns Ditch, & Salt Creek having moderate success. Spawn saks/skein, Nightcrawlers, cut salmon & squid working well.

Love these darn fish Putting in that work

A sport fishing license is required to harvest bullfrogs. Bullfrogs may be taken by hook and line, gig, pitchfork, spear, bow and arrow, hand, or landing net. No person shall harvest bullfrogs or any other reptile or amphibian by commercial fishing devices, including, hoop nets, traps or seines or by the use of firearms, air guns or gas guns or during bowfishing tournaments.

ROCK ISLAND, Illinois – Beginning July 1, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District is temporarily closing the Dresden Island, Marseilles, Starved Rock, Peoria and LaGrange locks on the Illinois Waterway to facilitate needed repairs and maintenance. The closures, which will be conducted simultaneously to limit impacts to navigation, are scheduled to last through late October. During the closures, no vessels will be able to pass through the closed locks. Navigation on the rest of the river, between the locks, will be able to continue without impact as water levels will be maintained at a normal level throughout the season.

Hey Dale Anthony Lederer is back at it I know he said the next one would be a 50 Muskie but this one is just as good top water frog first cast subdivision pond Lake in the Hills

HI Dale, Here’s a report for this week. Cooler weather and wind made things more comfrtable for me, but seemingly less so for the fish: the water in the bigger ponds and lakes hasn’t really cooled that much. Bass and bluegills were willing biters, but did not fight well when hooked. Not all, but some of the bass had big heads and emaciated bodies, as if they hadn’t eaten a thing during the heat wave. . . . Pete

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing. Area lakes-bass are decent on Texas rigged creature baits worked along outside weedlines. The frog bite still continues to provide good action even with the declining water temps. . . . TTYL — Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Delavan Lake 9/7/20 through 9/14/20 With the cooler nights and shorter days, Delavan Lake is starting to move towards the fall fishing patterns. Now after Labor Day, the pleasure boaters are limited however the lake is still seeing tremendous fishing pressure. Almost any day of the week there are trucks and trailers parking on the grass at the boat launch. Perch fishing has by far the best it’s been all year. Almost anyone fishing them has been sorting through limits. The best depth is between 15 and 17 ft. of water. Fish for them in the weed flats in front of Lake Lawn and Township park. By far the best bait is the long green hellgrammite fished either slip bobbered or straight lined beneath the boat. A few fish are also being caught down on the west end by the island. Crappie fishing is also improving. The fish are on the weed line in 12-15 ft. of water. Last week almost every fish I caught could have been a keeper. They were in the 91/2 to 10 inch range. The best bait has been small plastic cubby jigs fished on 4 lb. Test with a small slip shot about 16 inched above the jig. The split shot tends to make the bait sink a lot faster so you can have a lot steadier retrieve. Remember a slow retrieve with a lot of pauses produce most of the fish. Walleye fishing has been good right at dusk and at dawn. The fish are still in 16-18 ft of water. The only time I’ve had any really good success has been in the low light conditions. Almost all of the fish have been caught on night crawlers. Leeches have been pretty hard to come by in the size that is desirable. I’ve been lindy rigging or using a small 1/32 oz jig casted down the break line. The best locations have been on the points on the south shore. In approximately 2-3 weeks I’ll be switching from live baits to crank baits. Northern Pike fishing has slowed down with the cooling water. The fish are starting to pull back into the weeds where the water temp was too warm in mid summer. The best approach is either white spinner bait or a deep diving crank bait fished on the weed line in 12-15 ft. of water. I prefer either fire tiger or perch pattern. As the water cools, the northerns will pull even further into the weeds, so slowly move shallow as the weather continues to cool. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties call Dave Duwe at 262-728-8063

Powerton Lake SFWA to be Closed for Levee Repairs: Powerton Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area near Pekin will be closed Tues., Aug. 18 – Tues., Sept. 15 while maintenance repairs are made on the Powerton Lake levee. Powerton Lake is the cooling lake for the NRG Powerton Generating Station and NRG is coordinating the project.

HI Dale, Here’s a report for this week. . . . I did some casting on the Fox. Conditions are prime for wading and locating structure. The water is a little on the low side, but you wouldn’t know about the lack of rain from the Fox-it’s holding it’s level well. Pete

Lake Geneva 9/07/20 through 9/14/20 What a difference a week makes! It’s like a light switch, once Labor day hits, the Lake Geneva area goes quiet. The boat launch in Williams Bay has an average of 4 or 5 boats in the water. Just a note, the Williams Bay boat launch will close for the season September 19th, they are going to be raising the road and repaving. Largemouth bass fishing has been up and down. There are some days that you can get them really good and then the next day in the same spot, they vanish. It appears that the key to the bite is some wind. When the lake is dead calm, they have a tendency not to bite. The best location has been by Trinkes or by Linn Pier. A lot of success has been coming on split shot rigged nightcrawlers or casting medium diving crankbaits in chrome/blue color. Perch fishing has been improving by the day. There is some sorting that needs to be done, however the average size has increased quite a bit in recent years. This bite will be improving as the water cools even more. Look for the fish by Rainbow Point or by Belvidere Park. The best depth is 10-12 ft of water. Slip bobbers with small fathead minnows are producing most of the action. Position the minnow about 1 ft off bottom. Rock bass fishing has been excellent. The bigger fish seem to be in 15-20 ft of water. However, for better action, the 12 ft range seems to always produce. No need to get fancy, the old split shot rig and a single hook works fine. Smallmouth bass are just off the weedline in 18-22 ft of water. They can be caught on a lindy rigged nightcrawler or a lindy rigged yellow perch. The best location is by the Military Academy or off of Black Point. With cooling water temperatures, the smallmouth bass are starting to school up and within the next couple of weeks with start moving to the main lake points. Walleye fishing remains consistent. Like always, they are only being caught at night. Trolling crank baits or crawler harnesses have been producing nearly all the fish. The best depth has been on the weedlines in 15-17 ft of water. Look for the fish near Trinkes, Maytag, or in Geneva Bay. Bluegills are being caught in 12-15 ft of water by Chapin Road. They can be caught on slip bobber rigged leaf worms positioned 6 inches to 1 ft off bottom. Some of the bluegills last week were in excess of 9 inches. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050

Fishing Report 9/6/2020 Mike Norris . . . Lake Puckaway – Bluegills have moved into numerous shoreline coves in Lake Puckaway following mid-week rains which increased Lake Puckaway’s current flow and raised the lake level. It turns out the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources opened the gates and drained the Grand River Marsh to perform repairs to its dam and most bluegills and some really big northern pike from this isolated 5,000 acre marsh have emptied into Lake Puckaway. So, bluegills are plentiful on right now on Lake Puckaway and they are big. Puckaway is my home lake and on my off day last week I fished from my dock and in just under two hours I caught a limit of bluegills between 8 and 9.5 inches just off the shoreline in 30 inches of water. Fox Lake – Largemouth bass are picking up with water temperatures starting to cool down. I am catching them on swim jigs in the Government Area and also in an area on the lake known as The Jug. Also try jig and pig combos on the outside edge of weed lines. Walleye trollers are pulling crawler harnesses in deep water. Troll the basin from 12 to 14 feet out in front of Maple Point and in front of the Boat House. Phone me at 630-842-8199 to book a guided fishing trip or contact me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

Hi guys, Here is a quick update Fishing out on the lake is still going quite well overall on a nice mix of 2 and 3 year old Kings along with a bunch of really nice sized rainbows. 200 to 300 feet of water has been the best depth fishing the top 60 feet of the water column. The big 4 year old Kings are starting to take their final swim so there is a good opportunity for small boat fishermen along with shore fishermen to get in on the action. Casting spoons, and deep diving plugs have been good baits as of late Perch fishing has been very good and will just stay good right through fall as it has the past few years. The shallow bays from Sturgeon Bay south to Little Sturgeon have been good along with some of the deeper water mud from Little Sturgeon south past Chaudoir’s Dock has also been good. Fat head minnows, crawlers and red worms have been the best baits. Walleye fishing has been good both during the day and at night trolling with crank baits at night and a mix of cranks and crawler harnesses during the day. Also the rip jig bite has been good throughout the county. Pike fishing is picking up as it usually does this time of year. Fishing the weed beds from Sturgeon Bay south to Little Sturgeon with big jerk baits, spinner baits and live bait Thanks; Lance LaVine Howie’s Tackle 1309 Green Bay Rd Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Ph: 920-746-9916

Dale, The low water has worked out for me this week. I scouted/fished a new spot on an Illinois tributary near Peru, IL and found a mess of active fish in the deep holes. Over two trips there this past week, 60 fish of 9 species including a 22 hybrid striper (pictured above), 24 drum, 24 channel cat, 18 smallmouth, and more walleye than I have ever caught in one day. They were tearing up a small jig/plastic even in the heat of the day. I love finding a new fishing spot. ReGARds, Bill

Wish you were here

Hi Dale Fishing in Waukegan Harbor was directly related to the water temperatures. When the water was in the 70’s fishing was very slow. When the water was in the 60’s it was much better. Night fishing, casting with glow spoons and glow flicker shads was best. The salmon taken were still pretty silver so we should have at least 2 more weeks of them striking casted lures before having to switch to skein and egg presentations. As I’m writing this its raining heavily. A good presentation after rain is skein under a bobber off the south rocks casted into the current coming out of the Waukegan River. The fish are attracted by the current, and the water is dirty so the oils off the skein can attract the fish. Offshore, lake trout fishing was excellent from 125 to at least 175 feet of water. Limit catches of lakers 8 to 20 pounds was the norm. Many of these fish were suspended so trolling right on the bottom was not necessary. Warrior spoons in blues, greens, aqua and purple. Spoon patterns included UV Hey Babe, UV Blue/Green Dolphin, Forrest Gump and Purple Alewife all worked. Jimmy Fly Mo rigs suspended and on the bottom worked on downriggers with green patterns working best. Silver fish were tough to find in any decent size. Little 2 year old coho and kings are in shallow water but they are so small they have no fight and I would strongly encourage people to leave them alone and let them grow up to catch next year. Capt. Scott Wolfe School Of Fish Charters schooloffishcharters.com 630-341-0550

Fishing Report 9/6/2020 Mike Norris Lake Monona – With the dog days of August slowing down bass fishing in my area of south-central Wisconsin I am concentrating my guide efforts on bluegills on this popular 3,274-acre lake on the Madison Chain of Lakes. Lake Monona annually produces some of the best bluegill fishing in all of Wisconsin and this year is no different. My clients and I are locating bluegills along the edge of or in the deeper water adjacent to the rock reefs in Squaw Bay. We are limiting out on bluegills ranging from 8 to 9 inches in under three hours. Red worms threaded onto a 1/32-ounce Cubby Jig and floated under a slip bobber is working well. . . . Phone me at 630-842-8199 to book a guided fishing trip or contact me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

I have September & October dates The water temp on the Menominee River is 63 degrees and we have been catching most of the smallmouth with Case Lil Magic Swimbaits. Smallmouth will start stacking up in a few weeks. The fall bite is on!!!

Cool weather and lots of wind made for a quieter than normal Labor Day weekend on the water. The wind was probably the biggest factor, making boat control and any type of finesse fishing difficult. Water temps, thanks to an unusually cool early September, have dropped this past week from low 70’s to low-mid 60’s. Musky: Good – Shallow water action tops as anglers surprised to find some fish in 2-3’ depths. Spoons, spinner baits and top-water baits working well. Fast moving gliders with tails, as well as 7 twitch baits. From here until turn-over, top-water a very good choice. Largemouth Bass: Good – With Musky moving into inside weeds, look out a bit deeper into beds to find fish. Jig and craw, Wacky worming and Texas Rigging 4-7 worms. On quieter nights/evenings, top-water action good. Northern Pike: Good – Reports best from anglers casting (due to wind making live bait presentations difficult). Spinner baits, swim baits and spoons getting best attention, cabbage beds of 7-12’. Smallmouth Bass: Good-Fair – Wind was biggest hindrance. Anglers finding some fish over rocks or along deep coontail edges. Reports of big fish (4#+) up in shallows hitting top-water (Whopper Ploppers) Walleye: Fair-Good – The deeper bite best on larger lakes where anglers working Shiver Minnows and Jigging Raps scoring along gravel humps of 18-25’. Also drifting crawler harness over mud flats effective outside weed edges in 13-20’. Crappie: Fair – Spotty reports, but large fish (12-14) from weed beds of 8-12’. Wind a problem, 1/16 oz jigs to hold 2 twister tails down. Some deep wood fish (18-25’) but not any large numbers. This cool weather will probably start to concentrate. Yellow Perch: Fair – Not many reports, few targeting due to wind. Bluegill: Fair – Same as Perch. This early cool down should help spur Musky and Pike activity, as well as get the early fall patterns going for Walley and Crappies. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop Like us on FaceBook

The wind kept most off the lake over the weekend to much wind With the rain and cooler temps a few salmon will show up if ur going to lakefront cast glow in the dark spoons if you are hitting the creeks throw spinners or float spawn sacks Crappie will start bitting good with the cooler weather fishing around the bridges in lake George in Hobart with minnows is a good bet Slezs bait shop is now open 5am to 6pm daily.

He, Dale! Hope you’re doing well; here’s this weeks report: ~Crappie: starting out the season excellently, especially at coldest temperatures from dusk-right after dawn. Biting best on worms, minnows, & small spinners. Wolf & Cedar Lakes, Lake George. ~Catfish: doing very well early morning at Lasalle & Chicago River. ~Perch: fair, but has definitely become more challenging with decreased temperature; lakefront & Burns Ditch bite somewhat good. ~Bowfin: moderate; the fight is there for the taking at the Calumet River & Oxbow Park. ~Walleye: excellent; still going strong on Nightcrawlers & leeches. Wolf lake & Burns Ditch doing especially awesome. ~Bass: moderately well, mostly on plastic worms, Nightcrawlers, & minnows. ~Musky: very good on suckers & nightcrawlers ~Bluegills/Sunfish: moderate-good on red worms, & beemoths & small leeches; try Willow Slough or Wolf Lake for fairly easy work. ~Salmon/Steelhead: beginning to come to shore with the cooler temperatures. Hammond Marina, Burns Ditch, & Salt Creek having moderate success. Spawn saks/skein, Nightcrawlers, cut salmon & squid working well.

Hi Dale, I spent a much needed couple of days up in Wisconsin for the Labor Day Holiday; and the action was great on the Wisconsin River/Alexander Flowage. Joe The Grasseater Schatz joined me for our traditional early September birthday outing. Great multi-species action was the order of the day. Being versatile with a variety of baits can yield great results as the water temps start to dip. Water temps were from 65-67 degrees. The fish were noticeably cooler to the touch for this angler since my last visit in early August. Some beautiful smallmouth were caught with a bitsy bug jig and a cowboy craw trailer or a jr. Pit Boss trailer. Also a wacky rigged Senko was getting different sizes of bass. Green pumpkin, white, and junebug were good colors. Also the action is starting to pick up for toothy critters. Pike were hitting swimbaits in white and shad colors as well as bladed jigs in green pumpkin. A small Hybrid Muskie came to the net on a Strike King spinnerbait and set the table for a possible grand slam day. Later in the evening as the sun set Joe hooked into something he said was really giving him a fight. It turned out to be a personal best walleye capping the birthday with style and fashion...Happy Birthday Joe. The walleye hit a stand up jig with a 3 inch swimbait. Tight Lines and Good Health, Rob