Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report: Crappie, fall surprises and bonuses (could early ice be near?)

Caught this one in Salt Creek at west suburban forest preserve while fishing with my kids. Just over 30 inches. Thank you Marcin Swiatek

Matt Jurkowski got these at Axehead [Wednesday] on powerboat!

Hey Dale, Here is a recap of this past week’s fishing. Area lakes-crappie continue to be excellent . Use search baits to find the active schools. Minnow baits and micro spins are the best bet. The bass bite continues to be good. Lipless crankbaits, jigs with craw trailers, and jerk baits have all produced good numbers. Midday hours have been the best bet. — Ken Husker O’Malley Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team

Hi Dale, Hope all is well! Chain o lakes crappie 11in Didn’t know if you wanted to write about it Crappie starting to Stage up back channels

Decided to go back to my special bait combo, this big boy came in at 10 lbs 3 oz

Delavan Lake 10/26/20 through 11/2/20 The good news is that the fish are still biting pretty decent on Delavan Lake. The bad news is that the weather is making it tough to get out on the water. We’ve had some pretty aggressive winds and several days with rain. The most consistent bite on the lake right now is the largemouth bass. They can be caught in 12-16 ft of water off the weedlines. The best bait continues to be lindy rigged nightcrawlers. There aren’t as many schools of fish as there normally are, but when you find one, you can usually boat several fish and the size of them has been pretty decent. Smallmouth bass are also biting okay. Most of my fish are biting on split shot rigged nightcrawlers or very light lindy rigs. The average size of the fish is only about 12 inches. This is a very good prospect for future years to come. The best location has been Belvidere Park or by the Yacht Club. Walleye have been biting on either trolled crankbaits or lindy rigged fat head minnows. For the crankbaits, I use 300 series Walleye Bandits or Wally Divers, the colors of choice are fire tiger and pearl. The fish are located around the Yacht Club or the island. The fish are located in 15-20 ft of water just outside the weedline. Northern Pike are being caught in two locations. One is the 10-12 ft deep weed flats and the other is on the weedline in 15-20 ft. Look for the fish by the island or by Assembly Park. The deep water fish are being caught on lindy rigged suckers. The shallow, 10-12 ft, fish are being caught on jerk baits or spinner baits. The best color is pearl and the best pattern is fire tiger. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050

Bill Meyer emailed the photos above and below, and this, on Thursday: Dale, Hit the Fox at Silver Springs and at Ayer’s Landing this week. No action on artificials but some hogs were hitting crawlers. Fat shorthead redhorse to 22 (state record potential?), plenty of channel cats to 28, a few tank common carp to 30, and one bruiser grassie of 33. And beautiful colors along the Dells of the Fox. Hope you’ve been getting out and around. ReGARds, Bill

Lake Geneva Fishing Report 10/26/20 thru 11/2/20 Now that fall has officially arrived, it’s very difficult to get out on the water. The short days, cold temps, kids activities and hunting season all add up to close my 2020 fishing season. Northern Pike are in the shallows in about 8-10 ft of water. They are being readily caught on white spinner baits. The best location has been Trinkes and Williams Bay. Another approach that is having some success is slip bobbering large golden shiners. I prefer casting that way you can cover more water. Smallmouth bass are in the shallows. They are concentrating on the main lake points in 4-10 ft of water. Conference Point, Black Point and Cedar Point are great locations this time of year. The best approach is Carolina rigging Arkie Crawlin Grubs or casting darter heads with small smoke colored twister tails. With the water being so cold, slow retrieves are the best. Perch are now schooled up in the 8-10 ft depth range. Look for the fish by Knollwood or by Rainbow Point. It is not very hard to catch a limit of fish but some sorting is required. The best approach is slip bobbering small fathead minnows or fishing ice jigs tipped with wax worms. Purple or chartreuse are my favorite colors. Walleyes can be caught at night while trolling large stick baits. I like the Walleye Bandit or large Rapalas. Look for the fish in 12-15 ft of water by Trinkes or by Fontana. Bluegills are again shallow. They are being caught on small leaf worms or on ice jigs tipped with wax worms. Good locations are Geneva Bay by the Riviera Pier or by Knollwood. I’ve been fishing them in 6-8 ft of water. Good Luck and I’ll see you on the ice, for ice and spring guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050

Fishing Report 10/23/2020 Mike Norris Big Green Lake – The smallmouth bass fishing was steady last week but the arrival of a cold front with snow flurries last weekend slowed both angling pressure and fishing action down. This bite should resume when stable weather returns midweek. Local anglers on Big Green will be casting stick baits after dark for walleyes that move into shallow bays as November descends upon us. The public access area adjacent Lawson Drive and along County Hwy A are popular spots to fish after dark. Look for neckdown areas where current flow and public access come together. Beaver Dam Lake – Anglers are still catching perch up to 11 inches along shoreline areas where baitfish are present. Try a floating a minnow 12 to 18 inches under a float and fish shoreline areas where the water is stained, and the fish will not be spooked. A few crappie, perch and walleye are being caught casting below the Beaver Lake Dam with jig and minnow combos. Fox Lake – Anglers trolling for walleye are doing well on Fox Lake. Try trolling crankbaits right down the middle of the lake. Select crankbaits that will run at least ten feet deep. Phone me at 630-842-8199 to book a guided fishing trip or contact me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

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.

Good morning Dale not many fishermen with the weather lately but the few guys that I know are fishing are still getting steelhead for sure Montrose, Belmont and Diversey Harbor. One guy using tinsel jigs with spikes, another casting a bucktail spinner with spikes or wax worms. Then of course the other obvious baits crawlers, medium roaches Etc..The fall end of October bluegill at Diversey have showed up . That always makes me think of my dad and Bill Ross guy that worked here for us. They used to get a kick out of catching those bluegill at Diversey at this time of the year.Just hoping those perch show up here in a couple weeks.

About the same as last week, it’s been cold, I guess guys are being whimpy, they don’t want to get cold! Aug is at sand pond again, I’ll let you know how he does

Few lake trout around the mouth of trail creek and up to the draw bridge casting spoons, crankbaits and blade baits best Steelhead are starting to trickle in the local tributaries and gets better thru November the lower stretches using spawn and steelhead jigs tipped with waxworms is the baits to use Crappie at lake George in Hobart on crappie minnows around the bridges

Hi, Dale. Hope you’re staying warm & cozy. Here’s what I’ve got for this week: ~Pike/Muskie: Good; being caught on Nightcrawlers, Suckers, & Rapalas. Wolf & Pine & Stone Lakes having success lately. ~Salmon/ Steelhead: Salmon still being caught; darker in color now generally. Skein, Spawn Saks, cut Salmon, & Golden Roaches working well. Steelhead action much better now with the more consistent cold front the last few days. ~Catfish: Excellent on both the lakefront & local ponds/lakes. Stinkbait, Weed Grubs, & Cutbait getting good action. ~Bass: still going strong, being caught on Nightcrawlers & Golden Roaches. ~Crappie/Perch: Moderate; minnows, beemoths, & redworms working wonders. ~Trout: fish are very active; catching still taking some patience. Powerbait, Spawn Saks, & Trout Worms working best.

Rain in the area during the week raised water levels by a few feet. Flows were high over the weekend, and water clarity was low. The change in river conditions also caused most anglers to stop fishing in Lincoln Park and start fishing at the Horlick Dam. Anglers began targeting steelhead and brown trout along with the spawning salmon. A healthy mix of brown trout, steelhead, coho, and chinook were caught on flies, yarn, and fake eggs. Fishing should continue to improve as coho, browns, and steelhead continue to come into the river. The water temperature near the mouth at the end of the week was about 46 degrees.

Attention Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing Enthusiasts: The license deadline for purchasing sturgeon spearing licenses for the 2021 Lake Winnebago spearing season is less than two weeks away! Spearers must purchase their licenses before Oct. 31, 2020. The 2021 sturgeon spearing season will open on the Winnebago system on Feb. 13, 2021 and run for a maximum of 16 days or until any of the pre-determined harvest caps are reached. The minimum spearing age is 12 years old. Youth who turn 12 years of age between Nov. 1 and the last day of the 2021 spearing season are eligible to purchase a spearing license after Oct. 31. Military personnel home on leave can also purchase a license after Oct. 31. While there are unlimited licenses available for Lake Winnebago, the Upper Lakes fishery is managed by a preference point system and limited to 500 spearers. Only those who have already received eligibility through the drawing may purchase a license. Applicants authorized to purchase an Upriver Lakes sturgeon tag may only purchase that license and cannot purchase one for Lake Winnebago. Licenses are $20 for Wisconsin residents and $65 for nonresidents and can be purchased through the GoWild system or at any license sales location. For more details, please visit the Lake Winnebago sturgeon fishery on the DNR’s fisheries webpage.

Hi Dale With the boat pulled out of the water I did some shore angling Saturday morning in Merrill. I walked the River Bend Trail in Merrill where the Prarie River empties into the WWisconsin River near the Grandfather Dam. I caught some nice pike wading the shallows and casting spinnerbaits and chatterbaot into reeds and still green eel grass. The colors were Black, white and chartreuse.The water temps were hovering around 40. Earlier in the week my friend Roy Coackley stayed at my place and fished Lake Alexandr connecting with a big 44 inch muskie. The fishing can continue till ice up for those willing to brave cold mornings in the Northwoods. I met with Cathy and Cal Hinz the owners of Club 54 and the gig has been booked for November 14th. Hopefully this will be the beginning of some future Summer gigs on the river. This weekend and next will be home in Melrose Park for music rehearsals and recording. Tight Lines and Good Health, Rob

Water level came up 12 in the Fremont area since the last rain. Walleye action slowed, but as the water stabilizes, it should pick up again. Some bigger fish reported down river near Lk Poygan