Surprises, some ice fishing and some Chicago perch: Midwest Fishing Report

Same on perch good action and fair size xl fatheads best bait orange perch Fly rigs have been good fish being caught from mouth of river all the way up to around ford plant

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing. Area lakes- waiting. Ice is around inch and a half and not safe yet. The extended forecast does not look good for making ice. Rivers may be a better option. TTYL

Good Morning from Hermann’s! We have about 2 1/2-3 of ice reported on the back channel! Please stop in to pay $5 for parking. Warm up with some chili or a burger- our Weekday Retro Lunch Special from 12-2pm includes a burger, fries & a 10oz draft or pop!

Absolutely! Please tell anyone who wants to opt in to this service they can text ice conditions to (847) 309-2225.

Fishing Report – 12/16/2019 Mike Norris Three inches of ice formed in Beyer’s Cove on Big Green Lake last week, but ice anglers are waiting for the big bluegills to show up. The Cove is known for big bluegills during the early ice period before hordes of anglers show up and spook them out of there. The main lake on Big Green is still wide open and should remain that way into January. A small contingent of diehard anglers are still launching boats there on windless nights and targeting walleyes in open water while trolling crankbaits in the east end of the lake. On Little Green Lake ice anglers are drilling holes around the Island for crappie and bluegill and setting tips-ups over weeds in 5 to 6 ft. of water for northern pike and walleyes. Wedges Bay and Town Park on Fox Lake have up to 5 inches of ice. Northern Pike on tip-ups with medium sized roaches is main bite in Wedges Bay while anglers are targeting bluegills with micro jigs and plastics in the bay near Town Park. Ice thickness should improve on most area lakes this week with the arrival of colder temperatures. Contact Mike Norris, Wacky Worm Guide Service, at 630-842-8199 for Big Green Lake and other south-central Wisconsin guided fishing trips.

Good afternoon fellas…Here is a quick update as far as ice fishing is concerned We are just starting to get ice on some of our shallow bays which includes Little Sturgeon, Riley’s Bay and Sawyer Harbor along with in and around the marinas downtown. So with that said, there are some ice fishermen tip-toeing out in some of those areas chasing some early season Pike and Perch and are having some success. With some cooler temps in this weeks forecast, I anticipate some thicker and a bit safer ice which in-turn should make for some pretty good early season opportunities. For the Perch, fishermen will spread out tip ups and suspend minnows under tip-ups along with jigging with a wide variety of jigs tipped with minnow heads, wax worms and spikes. And for the Pike, most fishermen with spread tip-ups and Automatic fishermen and suspend Large Golden shiners and sucker minnows throughout the water column. And if the cool weather stays and the strong winds stay away, thousands of fishermen will be heading out chasing the mighty Whitefish. As for the Whitefish, they are pretty much all over the place from as shallow as 5 feet of water all the way out to that 60 plus foot range once we get good ice cover. Best baits for Whitefish include…Rapala jigs, Howie’s Whitefish jigs, Sweedish pimples and Jiggin shad raps just to name a few. Tip your jigs with waxies, spikes, minnow pieces and plastics all work great for Whitefish Thanks; Lance LaVine Howie’s Tackle 1309 Green Bay Rd Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Ph: 920-746-9916

4) Snagging for chinook and coho salmon only is permitted from the following Lake Michigan shoreline areas from October 1 through December 31; however, no snagging is allowed at any time within 200 feet of a moored watercraft or as posted: A) Lincoln Park Lagoon from the Fullerton Avenue Bridge to the southern end of the Lagoon. B) Waukegan Harbor (in North Harbor basin only). C) Winnetka Power Plant discharge area. D) Jackson Harbor (Inner and Outer Harbors). d) Disposition of Snagged Salmon and Paddlefish. All snagged salmon and paddlefish must be removed from the area from which they are taken and disposed of properly, in accordance with Article 5, Section 5-5 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code.

Ice thickness, safety and mobility are the biggest concerns to anglers as of this time (12/16). Thickness varies greatly from lake to lake and even on different parts of each lake. We have reports of as little as two inches coming in this morning, as well as 10 inches on others. Small lakes that froze early have it the worse. Not enough ice (6 avg) to support the weight of that first heavy snow. Larger lakes and off shore basins that remained open during first two snowfalls before locking up have stronger (yet not always thicker) ice. Areas of higher traffic are mixed with some areas of more slush, yet also areas of less slush due to snow being trampled and freezing up. Crappies: Good - Most focus on this species, though action up and down. Slow dropping plastics best on areas that aren’t too hard to move around. Some tip-down bites on small minnows. Northern Pike: Good-Fair – Action a bit slower than previous week. Large shiners best. Bluegills: Good-Fair – Again, not up to par with previous weeks fishing. Most anglers reporting action fish with fewer keepers. Live bait doing best with waxies, mousees over plastics and a very inactive jigging sequence. Walleye: Good-Fair – Just prior to dark on 3-4 sucker minnows best. Mostly tip-up bite, Eyes somewhat inactive, could be moon (full) period. Perch: Fair – Still a shallow water bite. Small Bluegill shaped jigs tipped with waxies or crappie minnows best. Largemouth Bass: Fair – Some Bass on jig poles set-up for Gills, some on medium shiners on tip-ups. The forecast of a couple more nights of below zero combined with no more snow for the next 10 days bodes well for making ice safer and less troublesome for traffic Keep eye on our FaceBook page for ice updates! Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop Like us on FaceBook

Same on perch good action and fair size xl fatheads best bait orange perch Fly rigs have been good fish being caught from mouth of river all the way up to around ford plant Steelhead doing fair throughout the tributaries voodoo jigs best but spawn saks taking fish too Some keeper coho have been caught from boat and shore fisherman recently nice surprise