Shuffling, belated ice and true winter: Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report

On ice! — at Axehead Lake.

Got cold and a lot of guys stopped perching cause of cold most action has been Torrence ave bridge and farther up river

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing.Area lakes- we finally have weather to build ice. Lakes out south have 2 inches of ice along shorelines, less away from the shorelines. Should be good by the weekend.. . .TTYLYou going to be at the Schaumburg show this weekend?—Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Chicago River and Lake Michigan Report, Still no action at Navy Pier I think the Perch season is going to stay on the Chicago River. Folks are still getting some Nice Fish and limits with a little work. As temperatures drop remember that the farther you go down river away from the locks the warm will warm 3 to 4 degrees. I had a guy send me a message he got a decent Trout out of Montrose Harbor. I was at the Chicago Boat Show at McCormick Place in my Sponsors both Lake County Water Sports and G3 Boats. I had a lot of folks stop by to talk fishing and boating had a Good time. The biggest question was when do you start fishing the river again? I don’t stop fishing the river in the winter there is a period where there is a week or two where it freezes with skim ice if we have a real cold winter. What keeps me off the river in the winter is the sport shows and seminars. You can catch fish all winter on the river just have to put some time in I will say in the years I have been doing it we have only boated one Trout and that was in Ogden slip, not to say they aren’t there I just haven’t caught them. Looks like we are going to get some colder temps this coming week that may start to produce ice Please be safe out there. Don’t go out alone go with a buddy let someone know where you’re going when you’re going to get there and ho long you plan to be there. If you change locations or bodies of water again let someone know. You can’t be found if something goes wrong if someone doesn’t know where you are. Remember when you were young your parents would say Where are you going? How long are you going to be there? What time do you plan on being? Check in now and then. That’s Great advice even on open water if something happens which does from time to time it’s a Good Plan to make sure someone knows where you at. When we troll out of my G3 we normally go up and go out of North Point, Racine, Kenosha, Milwaukee etc. Sometimes in a day we run through all the areas and I’m guilty of not letting someone on land know that I’m sometimes out 10 miles and 20 miles from where I started so I’m not prefect about it either. I am going to be better about a float plan this year for sure water safety is important. Capt. Pat,

BANNER MARSH: * THIS AREA Will CLOSE TO BOAT FISHING on Oct. 17th. With the Last Day to Boat Fish being Oct. 16th AND BANK FISHING ONLY ALLOWED AFTER 1PM but NO FISHING ALLOWED in EAST POINT ACCESS AREA, (lakes to the East) which is CLOSED TO ALL FISHING to provide a GOOSE REFUGE AREA during seasonCLINTON LAKE: An easterly area of Clinton Lake (The Waterfowl Refuge Area) between the DeWitt Bridge East (CH14) and the Rt. 48 Bridge . . . remains Closed typically until April 1st.COFFEEN LAKE: During the Central Zone waterfowl season: No fishing north of the railroad tracks (upper pool) until after 1pm daily through Jan. 31stDOUBLE T STATE FISH and WILDLIFE AREA:* THIS LAKE IS CLOSED TO FISHING – . . . till Feb. 1stEMIQUON PRESERVE: No boating, fishing or ice skating access before 12:00 pm during waterfowl hunting season. Oct. 27 – Jan. 31 Lake users should be aware that hunting might occur on the Preserve other times as well.HENNEPIN-HOPPER LAKES: * Lakes are CLOSED for season.. And will be Open spring 2019.McMASTER LAKE at – SNAKEDEN HOLLOW: Lake will CLOSE TO FISHING on Oct 15th . . . Lake will Re-Open on February 1st.NEWTON LAKE: As written in the fishing regs booklet : * The cold arm of Newton Lake shall be CLOSED daily from one-half hour before sunrise until 1:00 pm to all fishing and boat traffic except for legal waterfowl hunters during waterfowl season commencing with regular duck season through the close of the Canada goose and regular duck season. * For here – Regular South Waterfowl Season for 2018: Nov. 10 – Jan. 31RICE LAKE: Will Re-Open at end of Duck & Goose season.SANGCHRIS LAKE: * THE WEST & EAST ARMS OF LAKE and Small AREA NEAR DAM WILL CLOSE DURING WATERFOWL SEASON to boat traffic . . . through Jan. 31, 2018SPRING LAKE (South & North): Last Day of Boat Fishing in Hunting Areas is Oct. 19th As – THIS AREA will CLOSE TO BOAT FISHING in Hunting Area on Oct. 20th — with BANK FISHING ALLOWED ONLY AFTER 1pm– – AREAS THAT REMAIN OPEN TO BOATS ALL DAY ARE NORTH OF MAPLE ISLAND with ramp at north end at the Sky Ranch Road launch and IN PIKE HOLE with carry in boats — and Shore Fishing is allowed in entire lake after 1pm in Hunting areas or at boat ramps all day.

Some good steelhead action over weekend even with it cold a lot of fisherman in river salt creek lil cal and trail all gave up steelhead voodoo jigs or spawn saks taking almost all the fish

If we had forgotten what winter Really feels like, it’s back! Sub zero temps, sometimes at 20 degrees below and more, has put a slow down to the activity of ice anglers. Fishing has taken a bit of a hit, but fish still being caught. Mobility, due to cold, not travel conditions, biggest draw back. The cold, coupled with the lack of snow, is actually making ice travel better as ice depths are increasing. Northern Pike: Fair-Good – Tip-up anglers have faired best using large shiners and suckers along outside weed edges of 10-16’. Not as many numbers, but some nice Pike in the low 30 range. Check holes often for freeze up and moving bait seems to help trigger hits. Bluegill: Fair-Good – Not the easiest, since cold keeping anglers from being outside shacks, but nice Gills (7-9) with several anglers catching (and releasing) Gills of over 10! #4 tungsten jigs (Fiskas, Skandia, 13 Fishing) tipped with spikes or plastics (J:S Ice Mites, Little Atom wedgees, 13 Sneaks) in red, purple, motor oil and blue have worked this weekend. Crappies: Fair-Good – Cold has made tip-down fishing near impossible (holes freeze too quick). Anglers finding Crappies suspended outside deep weeds or over mud flats taking minnows, small spoons (Demon Tongue, Slender spoons, Forage minnows) tipped with waxies. Small flutter spoon jigs, FJN, FJG and Lethal Cecils also effective. Yellow Perch: Fair-Good – Seek mud flats of 16-28’. Anglers using tungsten Venom Glo jigs tipped with spikes (red) doing well when bouncing jig to stir up mud. Pimples, Halis, Rattle Spoons, Kastmasters-all with weight to get back down quickly. #5 tungsten jigs in glow colors also effective tipped with wigglers or a single red spike. Walleye: Poor-Fair – Mostly after dark. Anglers reporting using suckers on tip-ups or minnow heads on glow (Flash Bang, Glo Shot spoons) or something with a rattle (Kastmaster, Buckshot spoons) to entice bites. Walleyes seem to be less aggressive, so slow down and scale down if necessary. Largemouth Bass: Poor – Respond best on warmer days, don’t see much in forecast. Use small-medium shiners on tip-ups, forage minnow spoons w/ waxies. Ice thickness has increased to 20+ on many lakes. With little snow, travel excellent for trucks, SUVs and ATVs. While anglers may not want to fish outside a shack for long periods, on windless days conditions not bad. Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop Like us on FaceBook —

Ice still iffy at a lot of places but some are out on ice just needs to firm up better Some guys out at [Willow Slough]Some good steelhead action over weekend even with it cold a lot of fisherman in river salt creek lil cal and trail all gave up steelhead voodoo jigs or spawn saks taking almost all the fish

Ice update!Most of the lake is covered in ice. There are open pockets of water that are freezing up in the deep trees and out by the road bed. The geese are fighting a losing battle trying to keep the pockets open.There was some anglers fishing the campground cribs this morning. I did not get a chance to speak with them.Some more anglers fished somonauk bay and said the ice there was around 5 inches.I drilled some holes in the boat rental bay and found around 5 inches as well.I do not have any reports south of the baitshop.As always no ice is safe ice and ice thickness can vary quickly. Always check thickness for yourself.Lakeside Bait and Tackle will have bait delivered tomorrow Tuesday Jan 22nd mid day. Lakeside will be open seven days a week 8 am to 2 pm. We have a full line of bait, a large selection of ice fishing tackle and rental equipment. Rental equipment includes flashers, cameras, power auger and one man tent.