Lollygagging, but stable: Chicago fishing

Cohos are running in the St. Joe and Trail (probably in LC/SC too) ,with a bunch of nice sized ones too. Still not seeing many steelhead though. A handful of kings and browns in Trail as well

Hey Dale, Bass have been good on area lakes before Friday’s rains slowed things down. Top waters worked along weedlines and mats in the evening have produced. Pop R produced best. Follow up misses immediately with a senko TTYL Ken Husker O’Malley Huskeroutdoors Waterworks fishing team

(Head): Musky, walleye and panfish hitting, with black bear season in high gear; all in and amidst the lakes and the Wisconsin River in Wisconsin’s Marathon and Lincoln Counties (near Mosinee and Wausau). It has been an extremely busy past couple of weeks here in central Wisconsin. With fall fishing in full swing, and the bear season opener, the action and excitement is beyond belief. Fishing has been phenomenal this past week with great action from all species. The musky bite has been good with some nice fish being caught on jerkbaits and bucktails. The walleyes have been very aggressive with decent catches in area lakes and the mighty Wisconsin River. Most of the action has been by jigging 1/16th and 1/8th ounce jigs along current edges and break lines. The real key to success has been having a very sensitive rod. if you want to feel all those subtle bites this is definitely what you need. If you want panfish now is the time to do it. With good numbers in the area lakes this is a great opportunity to introduce kids into fishing. HUNTING REPORT: Archery hunters are taking to the woods now that the 2015 bow season has started. Hunters looking to be successful at this time of the year should concentrate their efforts on travel corridors between bedding areas and feeding grounds. Bear season opened with a bang and a good friend tagged out in the first couple of hours on a very nice boar. A nice clean kill with his bow and arrow over bait was all it took for him to be successful. Another successful hunter shot a trophy boar that tried sneaking in from behind him. The bear was not so lucky! Along with those success stories we also had a few close encounters with hunters having bears come up close and personal. One hunter had a bear climb up the stairs of his box blind stand and look at him through the door. Another hunter in a ground blind had a sow and three cubs come over to his blind to investigate. The bears literally stuck their heads right in the open window. The hunter told us that he could have easily reached out and tapped the sow on the nose she was so close. All those hunts ended well and the excitement is still in full swing as we still have hunters out in the woods looking to fill their tags.

Hello all, The busy summer has now spread into busy early Fall with On the Water sessions as well as fishing. Lake Geneva continues to produce, but we are still not having what I would call a typical year. But as I have stated earlier, the key is to adjust and continue to catch fish. We never really had a summer pattern and water temps are dropping with the cooler weather and nights we are having. See my 09-19-2015 report for more information at: http://www.structure-fishing.com/Lake_Geneva_Fishing_.html

Lake Geneva Fishing Report 9/21/15 through 9/27/15 As the water has been cooling the fishing action has been improving almost daily. The fish that weren’t biting last week are starting to feed. The best bite on the lake remains smallmouth bass and rock bass. Smallmouth bass are being caught in 22-25 ft of water. They are on deep water structure. The best bait has been extra large fat head minnows fished on a lindy rig or lindy rigged nightcrawlers. As the water cools, the nightcrawlers will become less of a factor and the smallmouth will almost exclusively feed on the minnows. Look for the fish by Yerkes Observatory, the South Shore club and between Elgin Club and Knollwood. Largemouth bass fishing has been slow. The best action has been in the shallow weeds in 12-14 ft of water. The best location has been just west of Coleman’s Point and in Trinkes Bay. They can be caught on white spinner baits or drop shotting 4 inch finesse worms. Rock Bass fishing has been very good. The average size of the rock bass is large, most of them are about 1 pound. They are mixed in with the smallmouth bass in 22-25 ft of water. The best success is coming on extra large fat head minnows fished on a lindy rig. Although Rock bass aren’t considered game fish, when they get to be over a pound, they are fun to catch for any angler. The walleye bite remains constant. The best approach is trolling at night with large Rapallas or Wally Divers. Concentrate in the 14-17 ft depth range for the best action. Abbey Springs or the flat by Coleman’s point have been producing quite a few fish. Bluegill and Sunfish action remains very good in the 18-20 ft depth range. The greatest concentration of fish have been by Knollwood or by Gage Marine. I’ve been catching most of mine on split shot rigged nightcrawlers straight beneath the boat slowly back trolled. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050

Delavan Lake Fishing Report 9/21/15 through 9/27/15 With the cooler water, the fishing is slowly starting to improve. As we head toward fall, the fishing should improve weekly. This past week was a challenge, but expected better catches are on the way. The fall patterns are starting to form. Northern Pike are starting to aggressively hit large suckers. I’m catching them on two different methods. The first is Thill Big Fish slip bobbers and the other is lindy rigs about 1 foot off bottom. For the slip bobbers, I’ve been catching the fish in the weed flats in 10-12 ft of water. The only problem with the shallow weed bite is that the fish have a tendency to be on the smaller side. The lindy rig bite is occurring in 15-17 ft of water around the main lake points. These fish are averaging 30+ inches in size. Largemouth bass are starting their fall migration from the weedline into the shallower weeds. The best location has been by Lake Lawn Lodge and the west end in Viewcrest and Highland Bay. They can be caught on chrome and blue Rattle Traps and medium suckers fished on a split shot rig. Bluegill fishing has been slow. The best bite has been 12-14 ft of water. Look for the fish by Assembly Park hump or just west of Willow Point. The best approach is giant red worms or wax worms fished on an ice jig. You want to fish them with a straight line and small sinker. The fish are suspended about 2-3 ft off bottom. Walleyes are starting to show up again. They are feeding on extra large fat head minnows or small suckers. The best depth has been 22-25 ft of water. The best spot has been the hump by Assembly Park or just off the Village point. As the water starts to cool, this bite should improve greatly. Crappie fishing is getting better. They are starting to aggressively bite on the weedline in 12-15 ft of water. Small purple and chartreuse plastics fished on a 1/32 oz jig head have been producing most of the action. Look for them by Belvidere Park or west of the Yacht Club by the gray boat house. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050

Hello Dale.Middle of last week fishing continues to be good on both reefs.Nothing between. No sign of big 4 year’s old kings and coho yet.Difficult fishing on south reef due to very strong under water current. After Saturday Gail storm keeping everyone in the harbor.Sunday was beautiful day for fishing, but fish was scared all over Julian reef, mostly lake’s way deep on the bottom. Thanks Capt Ted ( diehard angler ) BOSKA

While still a bit warm for mid-September, temps are cooling a bit on area lakes. Once again, wind was the biggest hindrance to anglers this past week, with bouts of high pressure also making things a bit difficult. Overall though, fishing has been good. Walleyes: Very good. Casting 1/16 oz. weedless jigs tipped with redtails or large fatheads best along wind-blown shorelines of smaller, shallower lakes and flowages. Larger, deeper lakes seeing best action in 28-34’ using larger chubs on Lindy rigs or ¼ oz jigs. Night time walleyes on glow jigs or lighted slip-floats with large fatheads. Pike: Very good. Cast spinnerbaits, swimbaits or #3 or #4 Mepps Aglia spinners over weedy flats of 5-9’. Live suckers or chubs jigged in same areas have also been effective. Lots of numbers, but also some nice pike of 27-32’ caught this week. Musky: Good. Haven’t gotten reports of big fish like last week, mostly fish of 34-42 on bucktails, Rizzo Tails and Spinnerbaits. Some fast moving twitch baits and gliders also moving fish. Crappies: Good. Reports are improving. High winds are the biggest draw-back to fishing deep wood. On natural lakes, key in on green weeds that remain in 8-12’. Thumper jigs tipped with minnows, crawlers as well as just jig/shaking minnows along deep weed edges producing slabs to 14. Largemouth Bass: Good. As water slowly cools, top water action has slowed, but sub surface twitch baits and shallow running lipless cranks are producing. Plastics still a good choice as wacky worming still working. Smallmouth Bass: Good. Big smallies being caught on flowages. Shallow in 2-6’. X-raps, spinnerbaits and 3 ½-4 swimbaits working. Natural lakes rig for deeper water (22-34’) using 4-6 suckers on Lindy rigs. Perch: Fair-Good. Pieces of frozen soft shell craws or ½ night crawlers dragged around drowned wood or cribs working best. Bluegills: Fair. Few reports. Not a lot of anglers targeting this species. Water temps that crested 70 degrees early last week due to a couple of 80 degree days have seen temps drop back into the mid 60’s. Cold, clear nights in the 40’s being checked by daytime highs in the 70’s. Sucker bite for musky just getting started, but, with above average temps, we are still a ways away from the hot meat bite. Trees showing little color, maybe 5-8%. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop

(Head): Very good action for smallies, with walleye, northern and panfish good, and musky and largemouth fair to good ; all in the Eagle River, Wisconsin area. Water temps in the Eagle River, Wisconsin area running from 70-72 degrees. Anglers can expect those temps to plummet as cold fronts begin moving through the Eagle River area. SMALLMOUTH BASS: Good to very good action for smallies. Fish rocks and secondary rock points (underwater points that are below the surface and jut out from the shore. You need a locator find them) in 10-15 feet of water. Use a jig and a minnow. WALLEYE: Good bite for walleye on deeper rock humps in 15-25 feet of water. Use a jig and a minnow or crawler. The walleye are tight to bottom. All day action. NORTHERN: Fish weeds in 5-12 feet of water. Sunny days are best. Use a #4 or #5 Mepps, or a safety pin style spinner bait. Anglers going to walleye or panfish are also getting ancillary hits from the aggressive northerns. All day action and the bite is good. PANFISH: Crappies are suspending 8-20 feet over soft and hardbottom areas. Use a gold Aberdeen hook under a slip bobber with a crappie minnow or you can use a slip bobber or small jig tipped with a small plastic. Good all day action. Bluegills are in the weeds in 5-10 feet of water. Red worms are working best. The bite is good. Perch are either off of deep weed edges in 8-12 feet of water, or on rocks in 10-20 feet. Perch location is lake dependent. The perch are tight to bottom or a foot off the bottom. The bite is fair to good. MUSKY: Mornings and evening use topwaters over the weeds in 6-12 feet of water. During the day fish bucktails (use the Buchertail 700 series as a size reference) in 8-12 feet of water over the weeds. Feeding windows vary widely and are lake dependent. The bite is fair to good. And you will increase your chances for a strike by always doing a figure 8 as your lure nears the boat. FLY FISHING: With untold numbers of rushing streams, brooks and rivers, Eagle River provides wonderful opportunities for fly anglers of every ilk. And for the adventure of a lifetime go for gamefish with a fly rod on one of the Eagle River area’s hundreds of lakes. Eagle River guide guru, and 35 year avid fly angler for musky, George Langley, tells us that it’s a memorable experience for fly anglers, but realistically you must be able to double-haul cast and attain distances of 70-90 feet on your cast.