Chasing kings, summer basics: Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report

@BowmanOutside Good morning @BowmanOutside wanted you to see this 26# king salmon my buddy Steven Yfantis cough last Sunday out of Waukegan aboard the Kristy Lynn : [Capt. Terry Nied] in 120 feet of water,five miles out from the power plant on a down rigger. we were told it was the biggest King this season out of Waukegan. i think is worthy of posting. thanks

#dataoftheday Water temps around 70 F from top to bottom at the #MichiganCityBuoy.

Hey Dale, Here’s a recap of this week’s fishing:Area Lakes- Bass have been very good during early morning hours. Focus on outside weedlines using the flick shake presentation. Blue bird skies, go with darker colored senko. On overcast and cloudy days, use more natural colors.Area rivers/creeks- Smallmouth have been excellent on Midwest rigs. Flows are at normal levels and water is clear. Focus on deeper pools and current seams. Long casts are necessary with the clearer water.TTYL—Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterworks fishing team

Chicago River and Lake Michigan Report. Water temps in the upper seventies some wind and some rain. Water is slowly clearing up, fish are moving a bit. On the river the Crappie and gills are showing up again in wood and along piling jig twister tail and waxie on a tight line is what is working for me. Bass have been slow but can be caught on smaller crank baits, skirted jigs, wacky worm or dead stick nose hooked on barrel weight on the bottom. We boated Bass most in the 12 to 15 in. range on the river out on the break walls and harbor mouths they were about the same size. This past weekend was my 61st Birthday so I was off and I spent some time rigging the boat I installed a Berts board with down riggers and rod holders also some rail mount rod holders for the Planner board mast and planner boards. I am learning how to use everything. I have flat lined for trout and Salmon but very little rigger fishing. I did some Walleye trolling with the last boat and plan to do that again with the New G3 it is setup with everything I need now including a full Bimini top with all the side curtains to enclose the entire boat. Fall should be a fun time. Till next week catch some fish fell free to post some picture on Pat Harrison Outdoors – Fishing Adventures on Facebook. — www.patharrisonoutdoors.com Thanks Pat

Lake Geneva Fishing Report 8/14/17 through 8/20 17 Fishing on Lake Geneva remains very consistent. Most of the action is coming in water deeper than 20 ft which is typical for the month of August. Lake Trout fishing has been fantastic in the early morning hours. The best bite is between 5:30 and 8:30 a.m. You want to fish the main lake basin 70-80 ft down in 108 -120 ft of water. I’ve been trolling spoons at 1.2 to 1.5 mph. Bluegill fishing has been fantastic. The bigger fish are in greater than 25 ft of water. The best location has been by Elgin Club and Gage Marine. Nightcrawler pieces or trout worms have been producing most of the action. I use my Minn-Kota trolling motor and put it on spot lock once I locate a school of fish. The fish are positioned about 6 inches to 1 foot of bottom and I fish for them vertically beneath the boat. Smallmouth bass have been in the 23 – 25 ft depth range. The best location has been by the South Shore Club or the beach in Fontana. The best way to try for them is with lindy rigged nightcrawlers. The fish I’ve been catching have been tight to the bottom. This pattern should remain steady for the next couple of weeks. Northern Pike fishing has been steady. I’m catching a few here and there in about 33 ft of water. I’ve been unable to find a large concentration of fish. I’ve been using lindy rigged suckers. The best location has been by the channel in Fontana, Belvidere Park and the east side of Williams Bay. Largemouth bass fishing has been good on the weed line by Trinkes and Linn Pier. Look for them in 18-20 ft of water. Try for them using a 4 inch finesse worm fished on a drop shot in green pumpkin with red flake. The dropper length should be 15-18 inches. You can also try for them in the early morning on calm days with top water lures. Chrome/Blue or Chrome/Black Chug Bugs are good choices. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 262-728-8063

Delavan Lake Fishing Report 8/14/17 through 8/20/17 Even though we are having a cooler than normal August, fishing remains excellent. The fish remain in their typical summer patterns. Bluegill fishing has greatly improved. The fish are in two locations, one by Township Park in 12 ft of water and the other on main lake points in 15-17 ft of water. The bigger fish have come out of the main lake points with more consistency. Leaf worms and wax worms are producing most of the action. Largemouth bass fishing has been very good if you can find an active school of fish. They are positioned on the deep weedlines in 16-17 ft of water. The best way to catch them is fishing a small 4 inch plastic worm fished Wacky style on a drop shot rig. The best length for the dropper is 18 inches. A secondary approach is fishing nightcrawlers on a split shot rig. Some good locations are just west of Willow Point and west of the Yacht Club. Crappie fishing has been good. The best approach is trolling 1/32 oz jigs with twister tails on a three way rig. The best trolling speed is about .7 mph. The best location has been by Browns Channel or by the Yacht Club. Chartreuse and Purple are good choices for bait color. Northern Pike action has been a bit spotty. I’m catching a few fish here and there on medium suckers but I’ve been unable to get big numbers recently. I’m marking a bunch of fish in 22-25 ft of water by the gray condos but have had limited success getting them to bite. Walleye fishing has been very slow. The fish aren’t in any particular pattern. Some days you get a few but then the very next day they won’t be there. The best depth is 20 ft. Use leeches on lindy rigs for the best opportunity. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 262-728-8063

Evergreen Lake BAIT SHOP and BOAT RENTAL Hours: 6:00 am to 6:00 pm Daily NOTE – During the weekdays staff is not present, please press buzzer on the front of the building for assistance or call the Visitor Center at (309) 434-6770.

Good morning fellas Here is an update on the fishing in our area Perch fishing has been going very well in our area…the better areas continue to be Little Sturgeon, Riley’s bay, the Sawyer Harbor area, the Sturgeon Bay Flats, the Sturgeon Bay ship canal along with some deep mud areas from Chaudoir’s Dock north to Henderson’s Point. So lots of options for what is turning out to be an outstanding Perch season so far. Best live bait has been fathead minnows, crawlers and leaf worms Walleye fishing has been excellent especially from the Chaudoirs Dock area south to the lower bay of Green Bay and across the bay over on the west shore. Trolling with Flicker Shads and minnow, crawler harnesses and rip jigging with shiver minnows, Rapala jigs, ripin raps and some plastics like paddle tails and flukes. To the north, basically from Henderson’s point north all the way up to the tip of the peninsula, it’s been mainly a jig bite during the day fishing around the endless structure throughout the county. There has also been an OK night trolling bite going on. So, many options right now for the Walleyes. Salmon fishing reports have been a bit mixed pending on which port you talk to on any given day. Out of some ports, fisherman are finding their best success out in very deep water on a mix of Kings and Rainbows, but having to do some traveling and some ports are finding some really good action in semi-normal depths, like in that 150 to 200 feet of water. One thing that everyone has in common is that there are some really big fish around. The best baits have been a mix of flashers and Howie flies and an assortment of spoons The Pike fishing is just starting to kick in now as we are swiftly moving through August as it usually does. It’s not great, but the Pike are starting to get active. Look for steep weed edges, rock ledges and deep channels and troughs. Casting and trolling large crank baits and spoons, large plastic swim and drifting and jigging with suckers Thanks; Lance LaVine Howie’s Tackle 1309 Green Bay Rd Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Ph: 920-746-9916

Not really, boats slow unless they go 200 feet deep, and some even deeper. Sounds like most of it has been out on the reefs, South Reef, Julian’s Reef, but not many reports coming in because people don’t want to spend that kind of gas money to run all the way out there. Never had much on perch from boat or Shore, right now they’re saying some rock bass a few bluegills and a few perch off the pier, but we have construction going on in the harbor next to the pier it’s making a lot of noise, they are pounding big stakes in the ground and I feel it’s scaring the fish away

Hi Dale – Borrowing from another Captain to me this weekend – you need to stop thinking about getting 20+ fish per trip and start thinking about getting a 20+ pound fish per trip. The bite slowed dramatically this week off Waukegan. The fish seemed scattered with people having a chance at them anywhere from 120 feet of water out. Catch numbers are down from past weeks but there are big fish being caught. Every trip this week had kings over 14# with 23# the biggest. Everything seems to be 60 feet and below in the water. Higher rigs, like lead cores under 6 colors and divers on a #3 setting were useless. Flasher fly combos with White 8 ProTroll flashers and Froggy, Green Dolphin and Blue Dolphin flies were best on downriggers 60 to 140 down, wire dipsey divers 160 to 225 out and 300 to 450 foot copper lines saw almost all the action this week. Jimmy Fly brand Blue Dolphin Chinook fly was the best producer on the boat. A few spoons worked too with Warrior UV Hey Babe, Irish Glow and Green Dragon Slayer patters working best. The biggest key is that if you find a spot with some action, don’t leave it. The fish are scattered and holding in pockets. Work the pockets when you find them. Let’s all hope for some West wind to concentrate the fish in shallower water. We are still seeing nice kings staging and getting ready for the run.

Cooler than forecasted mornings and more rain greeted anglers on a less than spectacular week of fishing. Lake surface temps dipped to the 69-71 degree mark. The few warm afternoons were replaced by mornings down in the upper 40’s again. Yellow Perch: Good – Relating to weeds, mostly cabbage in 8-12’. ½ crawlers, medium fatheads and medium leeches under slip-bobbers. Nice 9-11 fish. Largemouth Bass: Good – Working heavy weeds best. Using plastics such as Creature baits (Sweet Beavers, CHOMPERS, Skirted Grubs) to work deep in cabbage beds. Wacky worming along 8-12’ edges. Some good lipless crank action on warmer afternoons. Bluegill: Good – Lots of suspending Gills off Coontail edges. Small leeches best, they stay on the hook so you catch multiple fish on one leech. Northern Pike: Good – Spinner baits, Chatter baits and 4-5 Swim baits over cabbage flats in 6-10’. Shallow running Stick baits such as Rattlin Rouges also producing. Smallmouth Bass: Good-Fair – Some very nice Smallies this past week in the 17-20 range over deep gravel/rock humps. Drop slotting 3 minnows, Wacky worms and craw imitations. Big leeches and crawlers for the live bait crowd. Check all isolated humps of hard substrate in 14-28’. Crappie: Good-Fair – Fewer reports. Best over deep wood on Flowages using medium fatheads. Musky: Fair – Few reports. Bucktails best choice as cooler temps have slowed top-water action Walleye: Fair – Changing water temps and levels seem to be having negative affect on Eyes. Night anglers having best results using slip-bobbers and large leeches or Red-tailed chubs The mid-August cool down is here. As the waters cool, watch for certain weeds to start to pull back. Crappies, Smallies and Pike should start to pick up. Keep watch for a three day span of warming weather to lift Largemouth action. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop www.kurtsislandsports.com Like us on FaceBook

Fishing Report Panfish: There are still perch in the weeds and you can find some moving into the rock piles using a slip bobber tipped with minnows or tossing a 1/8th oz. jig with a small minnow seems to be doing the job. Crappies are in the deeper weeds and around structure. Slip bobber rigs with a hook and minnow or a jig and plastic should do the trick. Bluegills are up in the shallows on the warmer lakes; slip bobber rigs baited with red worms or waxies will catch these. Remember we do have panfish regulations on a few of our lakes in the area. Bass: Largemouth can be found in the shallow weeds and around docks; and they will be caught using top water and spinnerbaits. Smallies are in and around the rocks and can be caught by using small crankbaits and jerkbaits. Northern: These fish will be found in and around weeds, so pitching jig and minnows or small spinnerbaits and spoons will get their attention. Walleye: We are casting 1/8th oz. jigs tipped with live bait. Depending on the depth that you are fishing is when you might need to go heavier with your jig. Muskies: Bucktails and jerkbaits are working, along with top water. These are your go to baits for a while now.

Crappie under bridges in lake George on minnows in the evening decent latly Mix bag salmon trout action good for some in 100 to 120 ft or wAter just a little east of burns ditch spoons and spindoctors and flys fished deep have been the ticketPerch slow at best around ditch and dune state park area not many going either

Shabbona Lakeside is now OPEN for the SEASON Lakeside will be open everyday, 7 days a week, April 11th to September 5th 6 AM to 7 PM September 6th to September 30th 6 AM to 6:30 PM October 1st to October 10th 6:30 AM to 6 PM October 11th to October 31st 7 AM to 5PM

Hi Dale Hope all is well and the garden is bountiful. I have had a busy Summer starting up my guide trips on the Wisconsin River in Merrill. Finally had a chance to fish alone with the dog last Friday. The Smallmouth were active on wacky rigged Senkos close to rocks, wood and shoreline cover. Still waiting on resumption of Braidwood tournaments with Anglers Choice.Tight Lines.Rob