Fall kings keep surprising: Royal joys of Chicago fishing

Dale, my son is fishing the Pere Marquette this weekend enjoying some great weather and some even better fishing. He tells me that these fish he is catching are most likely wild fish as this river has not been stocked with Kings in over 10 years. I will have to check on that though. John

New catch and release opportunities for this year include:

Hey Dale, Bass on area lakes have been good as water temps continue to cool down with the cooler nights. Focus on outside weedlines during evening hours. Finesse presentations are key to numbers. 4 1/4 inch senkos and drop shot worms have been best.Smallmouth have been very good on area creeks. Work 3 inch craw imitation baits on a 1/0 keeper hook. Work the bait slowly over the bottom during mowing hours.Fishing will only get better as we approach the fall season.TTYL

Chicago River report 8/27 – 9/4 Surface temps in the mid to lower 70’s and the fish are moving a bit. We caught Bass on jigs and plastics in water from 4 to 18 feet fishing the River and out on the lake. The river is starting to turn on a little some nice Crappie and big gills on small plastic baits. Had a couple out from Sweden that really enjoyed the River and Lake Michigan and they caught fish. Saturday had a friend Vic (Buster) and Mike out for Busters Birthday Cruise, and it started more like a cruise than a fishing trip we fished quite a few spots before we finally got fish to go. We ended up with some pretty nice fish Bass 12’ to 17 Crappie up to about 12 and some Gills. Buster caught his best gill to date just over 10. At weeks end I was thinking it was Great having air and water temps in the 70’s and I am listening to the weather for today and the next few days Heat Index 100 degrees. May take a little work to find them but we will. Enjoy your week and fish on. Capt.Pat Harrison

Dale,River levels are back at normal lows. Sqeeters have subsided and evening fishing is becoming more pleasant. Pike fishing is at full bore now that September is here and fall is around the corner. Now and into winter is the best time for bigger fish. Topwater is still producing as well are large bucktails and spinnerbaits. Weedlines and laydowns are go to targets. If you can find a creek with water there’s probably a pike or two holding that spot as well.Marcus BeneschRiver Grove, Illinois

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Good morning fellas Here is what I have as far as the fishing goes Perch fishing has been going excellent in recent weeks…the better areas have been right in downtown Sturgeon Bay on the edges of the channel, Sawyer Harbor and Little Sturgeon. 8 to 15 feet of water has been the better depths as of late and anywhere you can find weed is a good place to start. Medium and large fatheads along with crawler pieces have been the best baits. The Pike fishing is also heating up as it usually does this time of year. Again, the Sturgeon Bay ship canal, the Sturgeon Bay Flats, Potawatomi Park shoreline and Little Sturgeon all good spots to chase those Pike. Trolling and or casting large plugs, spoons, spinner baits, large swim baits and or dragging suckers all good options to boat a Pike Walleye fishing has been going OK as of late. It really started to get pretty good and then we got a bunch of Door Counties wonderful winds and it screwed up the water again which slowed things down. But, that water should normalize hear again and we will see some good fishing through fall as we usually do. Henderson’s Point south past Chaudoir’s Dock, Larson’s Reef along with the vast structure to the north of Sturgeon Bay are all good options for the Walleyes. Flicker Shads and minnows, Deep Husky Jerks, Reef Runners , Smithwick Rogues and crawler harnesses are all good options for the trollers. Rippin Raps, Rapala jigs, Moonshine Shiver minnow and an assortment of paddle tails are all good options when you want to jig Bass fishing has been going super as of late and will continue to stay good right through fall. Concentrate your efforts around steeper shoreline drop-offs, deeper channels and off shore structure, but with all of the alewives around, you cannot bypass the shallow stuff especially if there is a school bait fish that the bass are following. The best baits have been a wide variety of drop shot plastics, shorty tubes, spinner baits, some top water baits along with Senko’s. The fall run of King Salmon and Brown Trout is about to begin here in our area. Casting or trolling spoons and crank baits or soaking spawn sacs all good options when the spawn is on Thanks; Lance LaVine Howie’s Tackle 1309 Green Bay Rd Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Ph: 920-746-9916

The flow rates are dropping now that it quit raining but it’s still out of the banks a bit and about 5 times it’s normal flow . At least the damn grass isn’t shooting up 4 inches every other day in my back yard . Visibility still limited but then again algae isn’t a problem either . Water willows generally sticking up about 1/2 way out of the water . Definitely not real wadeable , very limited entry . There are some spots where the fisherman’s paths are still flooded, where there is a foot of water or so and shade there are minnows hanging about and smallmouth chewing on them .Even with the murky water if there is no shade the smallmouth weren’t chewing for me . Best lure for me has been a rattlebait , it’s beat a spinnerbait hands down . The outside edges of the waterwillow beds especially points and pockets are still producing . Once again the rattlebait is working so much better than a spinnerbait that I finally just started using rattlebaits exclusively . Crankbaits worked against the current on the seams are also producing fairly well . Rattlebaits are doing a bit better than crankbaits in riffle areas but it’s definitely worth using both . The upstream side has been better than the downstream side . There are a few waterwillow islands out in the main flow that I can reach by wading into slower water . I toss a 1/2 oz rattlebait into the slack area behind the islands and have done very well on that pattern. Rock bass on 1/0 weighted keeper hooks/ 3 inch Berkley power walleye leeches in eddies . Gar at mouths of inflows on reapers rigged on an unweighted ewg hook .peacenorm

Hello and good evening Dale.Middle of the week fishing continues to be good for big rainbows, mixed up with coho and Lakers from 180 to 300 feet. Occasionally king, but not many this week. For holiday weekend mother nature makes fishing brutal again. Very limited catches, because we never made it to our destination point and cut fishing trip short. Nobody leaves harbor on Monday, big waves makes fishing impossible. I hope weather conditions improve in next week we can go and fish again. Thanks Ted ( diehard angler ) BOSKA

Following a sunny, but a bit windy Labor Day Weekend, storms on Tuesday and Wednesday may change the coming weekend’s outlook as we get into the September fishing.Water temps remain unseasonably warm, most lakes from small to large reading about 71-72 degrees surface temperature. The shallow weed die off of a couple weeks ago seems to have ended, with more reports of fish using the shallows once again.Largemouth Bass: Very good. Back up in the weeds of 5-10’. Anglers casting spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and shallow cranks reporting good action. Along deeper weed lines, ripping twitch baits (deep X-raps, Husky Jerks, Scatter Rap DHJ) catching aggressive bass. Follow up with Sweet Beavers, Mighty Craws or Wacky worms to pick off the less enthusiastic fish.Smallmouth Bass: Good-Very good. Scattered about deep structure (gravel humps, sandgrass, wood) in depths of 15-30’. Skirted grubs on football jigs as well as Carolina rigged scoring nice fish of 18-20. Counting down lipless cranks over sandgrass flats of 16-20’ also working. Jig or Lindy rigging crawlers, leeches (getting tough to find) also good.Musky: Good. Action starting to move back up a bit shallower. Big spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and top-water baits good. Sun over the weekend didn’t help very much, but, windward sides of lake producing.Bluegill: Good. Another species that has moved to some degree back in the shallows (probably luring in the predators). While still finding schools suspended deep on large lakes, mid-sized (1,000 acres and less) lakes are seeing good action on small leeches and worms in 5-8’.Pike: Good-Fair. Most catches on live bait over the weekend. Some incidental catches on spinnerbaits by bass anglers.Walleye: Fair. Scattered reports for the most part. A few lakes producing over gravel in 18-26’ on large fats on 1/8 – ¼ oz jigs. Also after dark on lighted slip-bobbers with large leeches.Perch: Fair. Few reports. ½ crawlers on 1/16oz jig or medium leech under slip-bobber in weeds of 8-12’.Crappies: Fair. Few reports, likely due to high winds where most crappie fishing done at this time.A light cool down (highs in 60’s) expected after stormy mid-week. Weekend weather looks good. Flowages unusually high for September due to so much rain. If water temps start to drop a little should improve walleye and crappie fishing. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop http://www.kurtsislandsports.com

Fishing Report Muskie: Action on these guys has varied widely with action seemingly just as good for suspended fish as weed fishing. In the weeds, use surface baits and bucktails. Suspended fish are going after Bulldawgs. Walleye: Look for the deep weed edges that are by sharp breaks for the best results. Crawlers are still getting good action, but bring a few minnows along. Night fishing is still good with a great fall daytime bite nearing. Bass: Largemouth bass are still lurking in the weeds, so don’t hesitate to go shallow with plastics, surface baits and spinner baits. Smallies are deeper and tending to congregate around deep brush piles. Wacky worms are doing the trick for the smallmouth bass. Panfish: For Bluegills, slip bobber rigs are the way to go baited up with a good selection of live bait such as waxies, small leeches and red worms. Plastics are working under bobbers, too, with the aid of twitching the rod for movement. Crappies are beginning to move a bit deeper, about 5 to 7 feet from the weeds. Work them the same way as with Bluegills.